We are living in a world of polarities. There is no cold without heat and no dark without light. If we feel a strong resistance to something or somebody we usually don’t like that feeling at all. Yet this feeling can be the key to some valuable insights into our deeper, unconscious processes. This can help us to live in better balance in our lives.
For example, if we fall in love with somebody and worship the ground they walk on, we love and cherish everything they do to start off with. A few years into the relationship we become very sensitive to some habits or behaviour we once were so in love with. This is not a one-off situation but a human pattern.
For example, if our partner chews very loudly we once were maybe delighted to hear that sound or gave no attention to it at all. We unconsciously may have connected many positive attributes to it, like somebody being very free, unsuppressed, maybe even powerful or particularly strong. It could be anything really, – just keep in mind that we created these ideas in the first flush of your new love!
Now, a few years down the line, all we can think is: ‘OMG, can’t she/he chew more politely!’ or ‘Why is this so loud? It’s rude and it goes on my nerves!’
What happened? We stepped into the shadow and we don’t like it!
The shadow is the unknown, dark side of our personality. The space where we ‘hide’ the parts of us we reject and do not like, the untamed part of our civilized exterior.
We might react by starting to complain: ‘Do you have to chew so loud? , or ‘Don’t you have table manners?’
The reality is most likely to be this: Our partner always chewed in the same way. Nothing changed there. We are just confronted with a part somewhere inside ourselves that does not feel free, unsuppressed, powerful or strong at this moment.
So, the case I am making is that instead of correcting the chewing habits of our spouse in a confrontational way we could bring the issue back to our own doorstep and have a little look around in which areas of our life we experience this un-free feeling or the sense of powerlessness etc.
All these emotions have a polarity within themselves. Power can be beautiful or it can be abusive – but once we visited the shadow and acknowledged its right to exist, we can creatively think about how we can transform these feelings into light!
When working with clients I use the expressions of polarity extensively as it can lead me to observe energetic patterns that are really helpful for my task of choosing a correct remedy.
By exploring difficult feelings and blocked patterns with my clients in the room we can find already a space for witnessing and being with ourselves in a new way.
Homeopathic remedies connect to the core processes of our being and bring healing from a very deep level. Sometimes body symptoms need some time to cease to exist and may be the key to the patients healing lies within the psyche; at other times the body symptoms are all that are guiding me and resolution is found there, at the somatic level. To me it’s all one, a unity of body, mind and spirit that needs to be attended to sensitively.