Learning the language of the soul of the world
“…Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything because it’s all written there.” -Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Regardless of whether you currently have a healing practice of some sort or not, having a curiosity about energy and paying attention to the ways energy flows in your own body and in the world around you is well worth exploring. Learning how to follow the energy is the same within a session as it is in everyday life. It all comes down to, “learning the language of the soul of the world,” as Coelho wrote.
If one is curious enough to want to learn this language, or if one has a deep enough desire to become fluent in the phenomenological conversation that gives rise to all things, then learning the principals and practice of Polarity Therapy can provide a wealth of opportunities. Although intuitive development is certainly a big part of grasping the subtleties of energy medicine, Polarity goes much deeper into the study of the art and language of how energy flows.
Like learning any language, there is a method that involves learning how to read the signs, symbols or artifacts. Over time one builds trust as they become more fluent. This fluency is greatly increased when you engage in the conversation on a regular basis. But following the energy, trusting your intuition to guide you to the most potent place of healing, and being willing to act on the subtle nudges that bubble up from within the field, takes a certain amount of courage no matter how experienced you are.
In private practice just as in life, this requires mindfulness and a willingness to stay alert and curious. In fact, curiosity may be the most important element of all.
After nearly 15 years of private practice, I still have a moment in almost every session when I wonder what is going on. Where is the energy? What does this person need?
How do I really know that my intuitive nudges are arising from or for them and are not just figments of my own imagination? But this kind of disorientation is really just a marker that I have entered the mystery.
Being in the mystery, I have come to realize, is just as powerful if not more so, than thinking I know the exact coordinates of where I am and where I am meant to go.
I have had to learn how to surrender to the work, surrender to the moment, in order to trust the process of unfolding. In this way, I have come to know without a doubt that the work works.
Learning to distinguish between intuition and imagination is about as subtle as determining a weed from a flower. It is entirely contextual and subjective. It’s about paying attention to what shows up in the space, and being interested in certain things over others. Where are you called? What stands out? What keeps bobbing up to the surface asking to be noticed?
When I am following the energy, I am listening with my whole body, to the body and soul of the person I am working with, to the body and soul of the world speaking through me, them, the space, the moment. I believe it is this quality of listening that generates the potential for true healing to occur. The kind of healing that happens inexplicably, not because we think we know how healing should look.
It is natural and important to question everything so we can learn how to recognize our own truth. But there is a difference between curiosity and doubt. It is good to ask yourself which part of you is doing the asking! By letting go of needing to be right about what we see or perceive, by not needing to understand or validate our intuitive insights, we cultivate the trust necessary to truly listen. By honoring things as they are without needing to prove or dissect them, we offer greater respect for the whole of things. For the soul of things.
More and more, I prefer to dwell in this state of constant curiosity, welcoming these magical moments, so I may step through the portal of mystery as often as possible. To revel in wonderment. To be constantly intrigued. In this way the work not only works, it ceases to feel like work at all. It feels like play.