“Healers can’t only focus on helping others; we must attend to our own healing as well.

I call this ‘the two-footed walk.’ I see one foot as my healer foot, and the other as my personal foot.”                                                                                          –

Unity Begins Within: Spiritual Healing Meets the Four-Petaled Flower

Healers serve people who are physically, emotionally and/or energetically suffering. We listen to their truth. Witness their pain. Hold a space for their tears and anger. But how can we do this for others in a balanced way if we haven’t gone to the depths of our own souls?

I had my first palpable memories of childhood abuse in 1995 while lying on the table of an energy healer who was referred to me from a reputable school. Not only was she unwilling (or was she unable?) to support the intensity of my shocking awakening, but she also changed the subject and engaged in small talk.

I contracted, dammed my tumultuous emotional river, and left as quickly as possible.

I soon found an extraordinary therapist to help me heal. I was scared, and it took many sessions until I was finally ready to get down and dirty and release the heavy energy—anger, rage, confusion—I didn’t know I had been storing. At the end of one, my body was so emptied out that I felt a limp rag doll.

I did this weekly for almost a year. Every Tuesday morning, I participated in a ninety-minute, therapy session. And then later that evening…did I chill, snuggle on the couch, and watch a comedy on tv? No. I taught my first ever, Spiritual Healing class.

Does that sound crazy?

It was perfect.

Gifts began manifesting almost immediately. I felt lighter, Spacious. And in class, as well as the following days in the healing room with clients, new abilities began emerging.

In addition to the expansion of my “spiritual healing medicine,” I received another gift as a result of my deep dive into personal healing— I became a fearless, compassionate witness for anyone needing to release their wounded heaviness. The opposite of my encounter with the energy healer. I believe this was possible because I had experienced first-hand how deep the seeds of pain and suffering can lodge. And how frightening it can be to feel them and discharge their strangling roots.

Thus “the two-footed walk” was born—the partnership between a healer’s gifts and very human self.

To this day, there are times I’m enjoying a long healer foot phase, and when I least expect it, hear my personal foot calling. “Hey,” it says. “You’ve gotten too far ahead. Pay attention to me.” So, I choose to stop, listen, and follow through with whatever my knowing offers. I often seek help. This process might only take a few hours, but it can last days or longer. And it never fails to amaze me—after I’ve given my personal foot the respect it deserves, energy frees up, and not only does that foot take a step forward, but my healer foot does as well.

I love the two-footed walk.

No one is just their occupation. And everyone is a healer in one form or another. We’re mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands, teachers, plumbers, farmers, midwives, accountants, friends… Whoever you are and whatever you do, I encourage you to take the time to consciously walk with both feet. This balanced gait creates a stable symmetry, one that will withstand any gale-force winds that might cross your path.

Living in these loving, aware ways not only serves us as individuals, but supports every person we meet.

“The Power of Gratitude”

Painting by Emily K Grieves. This, and others by Emily, illustrate Unity Begins Within.