Spiritual Counseling at Whole You, LLC
She sat across from me, wrapped snuggly in her warm wool sweater. This was it.
“Are you ready to say the words?”
She flinched, hiking her shoulders slightly towards her ears, just for a moment, a slight look of pain crossed her face. That line between her eyebrows popped more firmly into view. But she took a deep breath. She wouldn’t hide from this.
“OK. I’m ready.”
“I forgive myself for judging myself as not good enough.”
“I forgive myself for judging myself…” The first few words were said confidently, and suddenly it appeared as if there was not enough air in the room, like she couldn’t possibly go on. But she filled her lungs anyway and continued. “...for judging myself as not good enough.” And the last of her artificial control crumbled and she began to sob, deeply, quietly in the chair.
“Again.”
She looked up at me with terror in her eyes.
“It’s going to be ok. Again.”
“I forgive myself for judging myself as not good enough.” This time it came out in one attempt. The tears still fell.
“And again.”
“I forgive myself for judging myself as not good enough…. I forgive myself for judging myself as not good enough… I forgive myself for judging myself as not good enough…”
With each complete sentence, her energy lightened and lightened.
“I forgive myself for judging myself as not good enough…”
“Because the truth is…”
She took a deep breath and pushed through. “Because the truth is I’m a divine being having a human experience. Because the truth is I AM good enough. Because the truth is I’m a precious gift.”
Her face glistened. Was it tears or stardust? It often felt like one and the same.
She laughed when I told her so. A deep, full belly laugh, much richer and authentic than the sobs that had rumbled there just moments before.
“I get it. In this moment I really, really get it. Thank you.”
And this is why I do this work.
Spiritual counseling is not for the faint of heart. In fact, a client once told me my work should come with a warning label at the door. ATTENTION ALL WHO ENTER! THIS WORK CAN BE REALLY HARD SOMETIMES AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BRING UP YOUR BIGGEST SHIT.
The day she suggested the warning, in a grumpy, irritated tone, I smiled knowingly. I had been there. Honestly, I still find myself there more often than I would prefer. And yet, she keeps coming, just as I keep showing up for my own work each and every day. Because my clients are courageous.
Committing to this work means a commitment to accepting 100% responsibility for your experience. You are never upset because someone did something to you. No one can ever hurt you. You are upset because your issues, judgments, or limiting beliefs are bumping up against the world you see before you, and it pisses you off. This can be very difficult to swallow at first.
I’m always responsible for my upset?
But my mom hit me?
But I was abandoned?
But what about when he cheated on me?
Yep. Always. Your hurts are always your own. They are a choice.
But the gift in that is that you have the power to shift your experience. You have the power to heal your hurts, heal your judgments, and release yourself from suffering. You can’t change your mom who disappointed you, or the person who left, or the guy who cheated, but you can free yourself of the judgments that keep you in pain.
And that is such a rich gift.
Spiritual psychology holds the perspective that we are all divine beings having a human experience, living out our unique curriculum in this world in service to evolving in consciousness. Each upset is an opportunity for upliftment. Each healing is an opportunity to more fully understand the truth of who you are, pure loving consciousness.
Spiritual counseling provides a space of unconditional loving support where clients can clarify experience and understand the things that block them from their loving. Clients learn skills for clearing the way to peace and joy.
Drs. Ron and Mary Hulnick at University of Santa Monica say that “outer experience is a reflection of inner reality”. Our judgements are playing out on the movie screen of our lives. Our experiences in physical world reality give us the fuel to heal our inner wounds. It is only by changing the inner landscape, that the world will change. It is a gift and a privilege to be in service to that change.
To explore spiritual counseling as a supportive strategy for changing your inner landscape and your experience of physical world reality, contact me at Whole You, LLC.
The loving is waiting for you.