"Our Unfolding Potential" by Shobana Nuland, LMHC
The dictionary defines "potential"
as the inherent ability or capacity for growth, development or coming
into being. As humans, we are innately born with the potential to
realize our true self - our divine nature. Although saints and avatars
come in every age to demonstrate this divinity, it appears that the
rest of us are here attempting to remember this truth.
Those of us consciously choosing the spiritual journey must meet the responsibilities and challenges of continually becoming more than we believe ourselves to be. This process of unfolding potential then becomes the core of our life's work.
Life,
with its varying amounts of painful experiences, becomes the classroom
for us to understand our limitations and to then use this understanding
to catalyze our transformation. In reflecting upon the image of the
yin-yang symbol one sees that within the black shape there is a speck
of white and within the white, there is a speck of black. Similarly,
latent within the darkness of our limiting and fearful experiences, are
the seeds to our freedom.
Many
years ago, when I was first learning sandtray as a therapeutic
technique, Edith Sullwold, my mentor and wise elder, showed slides of a
sandtray done by a young girl with whom she had worked. The child had
filled the 2 by 3 foot box of sand with an inordinate amount of
miniature figures. Rather than creating a scene, which usually occurs,
there was instead total chaos. The clutter was so profound that one
could only feel utter hopelessness in observing the tray. The
consciousness of this child was obviously in a state of great turmoil
and despair.
A
fellow student, feeling her own sense of helplessness as to how to deal
with the situation, asked Edith how one could possibly find healing in
such extreme pain. Edith's profoundly simple answer, that the healing
potential is literally within this chaos and despair, speaks directly
to the heart of our unfolding process. Hidden within any dense and
frightening emotion is the key to realize potential happiness peace and
love.
Four
years ago, I participated in several workshops with teacher and author
Vernon Woolf, PhD. In experiencing his work, I felt he had created an
extremely effective method for bringing forth light and clarity from
emotional pain. It was the first time in all my years of working on
myself that I consistently experienced movement through emotional pain
and suffering to a freer and more expansive state of consciousness.
It
was at these workshops that I learned to facilitate myself and others
in unfolding potential through a process referred to as "tracking".
Tracking necessitates intuitively guiding oneself or another through
several specific steps in consciousness.
A
38 year-old male client came to the session one day feeling very
fidgety and anxious. After giving him full permission to be with his
discomfort, I asked him to allow an image to present itself which would
be a pictorial representation of his emotional discomfort. The image
of a black sword appeared.
In
communicating with the image, it was disclosed that the black sword
first appeared in this man's life when he was a fetus. During that
time he often heard his parents discuss how much they did not want a
child. The black sword image reappeared at one year of age when the
client's parents left him with a grandmother for an extended period of
time. The client subsequently grew up feeling unwanted and abandoned.
In
dialoguing with the black sword further, the client discovered that the
true intention of the image was to protect him. Because the image was
an "immature" one, it was simply incapable of providing genuine
protection.
I
then asked the client to allow a fully potentialized image of
protection to appear, at which time a Christ-like figure presented
itself. This new figure not only fully embodied protection, but it
also has the inherent qualities of unconditional love, strength, peace
and compassion. The energies of this mature image gave the client a
sense of protection appropriate for this time in his life. His body
relaxed. The tenseness on his face softened. He had imbibed the
energies of the Christ-like image.
From
this vantage point, the client was now able to compassionately
understand the limitations of the black sword. In this new state of
awareness, he was then able to allow the black sword to transform by
having all of its energies dissolve into the Christ-like image. By
deeply examining the source of his pain, this client was able to move
beyond it to a more expansive place within himself.
I
have found that tracking is an extremely powerful tool for breaking up
old patterns and for opening to ways of being in ourselves we had
previously thought unattainable. As in the example, the moment that
the client felt the expansive energies of his Christ figure, he
realized himself to be more than his limited beliefs would previously
allow.
We
know we have "let go" of a burden when we feel lighter, more expansive
and loving. If we attempt to let go with the mind alone, sooner or
later we will realize we have been fooling ourselves. We must delve
deeply into our feelings to discover what is keeping our hearts
closed. What are the positive intentions of our long-buried wounds?
Once we experience the freedom that is possible by deeply engaging with
our emotional selves, the journey becomes a place of familiarity and
comfort.
As
evolving souls, we can fight the process or choose to assist in the
journey with as much consciousness as possible. There are numerous
valuable and effective tools to accelerate our growth. What's most
important is that we first commit to uncovering the potential
expressions of love within us and in so doing, that we next discover
what techniques most suit our personal needs.
I
have heard it said that if we take one step to God, God will take ten
steps towards us. In being willing to transform our pain, we create
the space for God to come forth and thus we become conscious
co-creators on the journey of unfolding potential.
For more information about tracking: http://www.holodynamics.com
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For more information or to make an appointment, call Shobana Nuland, LMHC 206-546-5390