Jack Kornfield, a wonderful and inspiring Buddhist teacher says in his book “After the ecstasy, the laundry” (2001) that after years of emptiness practice unresolved childhood issues still emerged when he was back with his family. He said, he needed a therapist to be the compassionate witness to help heal those wounds.
He believes BOTH meditation and therapy are required for wholistic growth. That we do our practices AND have space with a skilled, compassionate witness to heal.
This has been my experience too. I have found the need to work on unresolved traumas, to heal deep parts of myself that cannot be washed away through spiritual practice. I have seen people dive into deep spiritual practice and NOT do the therapeutic work and get stuck. That getting stuck may look like being on a weekend retreat and spending hours in meditation, then sitting at lunch and someone being cross with you because you have not helped in the kitchen. Suddenly you are transported back to your childhood guilt of not helping your mother, the way she looked at you, the screaming. You see the screaming in that other person’s eyes, and you want to run for the hills, or slap her. You are busy transferring all your unresolved mother anger onto this poor person, who maybe didn’t expect you to help in the kitchen at all.
That is how we get stuck. And this is where some kind of therapy, energetic healing, co-facilitation is GOLD. We sit before the compassionate witness and unravel the deep wounds that are present. In my view spiritual practice and therapy / healing go hand in hand. This is why the Golden Woman Mastery Facilitation Program is so close to my heart. It enlivens BOTH the right and left brain bringing more internal balance, it contains deep spiritual and mystical practices that reconnect women to their innate Divine feminine power and potency. It trains women to work with themselves and others as the compassionate witness using powerful and proven psychotherapeutic techniques. It is the whole package. A deep 9 months of transformation and fun!
May you be blessed on your spiritual journey and may you find the guides you need when you need them.
Much love Jennifer / Shekinah