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Madeleine Eames

- Psychotherapist
- Mindfulness Teacher

In Praise of Quiet Healing

In a world that is loud, it is easy to miss the quiet, soft moments where the earth moves.

I was at a breathwork class the other night. This was not the usual deeper, slower yogic breathing, it was the activating, hard work, “go deep or go home” type of breathwork. 

I absolutely love this type of faster, forceful breathing and have seen the powerful healing and awareness that can be “achieved” through the process. I used quotes here as I think of healing more like a remembering and recovering than achieving, but nevertheless, to be healed is the greatest endless achievement. 

This class, however, was not the usual loud breathing, powerful releasing through sound (sometimes yells or screams) crying, sobbing, movement (aka pounding, kicking), or exclamations of other various sorts. 

No, it was more like warm, gentle sighs of relief accompanied by beautiful music. 

At the end it was remarked that the room was quiet. For a moment I felt like somehow we hadn’t achieved what we came here for. Did I get my money’s worth?

But afterwards, as I spoke to a few people including the ones I went with, we noticed that deep shifts had occurred in each of us in magical and subtle and not-so-subtle ways. 

My point to this is, healing happens in so many ways, so don’t discount anything.  

It is sometimes in the quiet, dark moments in the middle of the night that a new insight occurs, or a past event is re-understood, or an emotion gently departs with a tear. 

A few words written in a book sum up your life’s messy struggles in a neat package that makes sense.

It is sometimes in the wind that you hear a new name beckoning you into a new future. 

It is sometimes through your pen on paper that something releases in ink that felt like a boulder.

It can be through a smile that you know you are loved, a tree that shows you you are whole, or a piece of music that digs out the deeper, softer part that has been buried for decades. 

Healing doesn’t have to be loud and ground-breaking. But it can be. I am certainly all for the complete sobbing on the floor breakdown to breakthrough, or the giant yell from the mountaintop (or in a breathwork class) that says “I’m finished with that!”. 

The truth is, there is no right or wrong to your own healing. Only you can know what is needed, what draws you in or forward in reclamation of your truth. 

Only you can ever know whether it is science or soul that will soothe your contractions, or a combination of both.

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