The meaning behind Wisdom Heart Healing.

The name Wisdom Heart Healing was inspired by the work of Jack Kornfield, a Buddhist meditation teacher, and by Joanna Macy, an activist and scholar of deep ecology and Buddhism. They both teach about the spiritual journey having many twists and turns, and how inquiring into suffering, both personal and collective, allows us to find the sacred in the brokenness. In cultivating deep awareness and compassion, we can get in touch with truth and wisdom that is available in the depths of our heart.

Macy (2001) writes that there is a dynamic dance between compassion and wisdom. With compassion, we are able to look deeply into the pain and find the strength to do what is necessary to heal. Meanwhile wisdom allows for an understanding that we are interconnected with all that is and that we can find inner peace in the process of our inquiry. As Kornfield (2009) writes: "We discover that our identity is more tentative, fluid like a river, each moment born anew. Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows."

As I was recreating my business to incorporate more of a coaching component, I realized that the name has additional significance. Accessing the wisdom of the intuitive heart leads to finding clarity and vision in knowing what it is one wants to create. Connecting to the guidance of the heart allows for a soulful knowing of authentic dreams and desires. Wisdom Heart Healing is about going beyond what the mind thinks it knows and finding a deeper intelligence that opens doorways to new possibilities.

Sometimes I struggle with the word healing in the title. Who is doing the healing? Is this about healing or transforming? Am I offering coaching or therapeutic services? As I sit with these questions I realize that the offerings I am preparing are about weaving so many modalities and practices together that it's hard to find the right one word to describe it. Healing is a part of it, but it's the healing capacity that we have in us when the wisdom of the heart is awakened. When this happens, trust in our intuition trumps the many stories and expectations that have been programmed within our psyche throughout life. An awakened heart can help us make decisions that allow for creating a fulfilling and enriching life. Self-compassion and the wisdom of trusting the interconnectedness of all things brings a natural unfolding of a beautiful path forward.

References:

Kornfield, J. (2009). The wise heart: A guide to the universal teachings of Buddhist psychology. New York: Bantam Books.

Macy, J. (2001). The wings of the bodhisattva. Retrieved from: https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/the-wings-of-the-bodhisattva/