Mr. Chow would sometimes say that there were three levels of T’ai Chi. At the first level we might use it to heal ourselves. At the second, we might be able to use it for self defense. At the third level we might be able to heal others.
Creating a safe space
During my internship as a mental health counsellor, a few years back, I worked with adolescents and kids who were in the middle. They were not in residential programs and, at the other end of the spectrum, they were not in a stable enough situation to come into a clinic for therapy. I traveled to their homes, schools, or met with them at a library near their homes that was able to provide a room for therapy.
The process of therapy often involved creating a space in which the patient could feel safe expressing their thoughts and feelings, sometimes through speech, but often through their actions, or ‘play’ therapy of various types.
I later found that, if troubled people of any age were given the opportunity to ‘Let their hair down’, or let out what was bothering them, then they were less likely to need to act out their problems in school, at home, or in other, less appropriate situations.
PTSD like stressors seem to be endemic in many people’s lives in our modern world, and the need for a safe space in which people may find their balance seems more important than ever if our planet is to move toward healing.
Part of this process involves ‘not reacting’ to what transpires out of fear or anger, but instead, coming from our own place of sanity and balance.
Sometimes this may be challenging. When someone throws their irrational anger and fear at us, our first impulse might be defend ourselves, or to run away, or to fight the anger with our own anger.
Instead, what is required for the healer, no matter how difficult this is, is to not respond out of anger or fear. Sometimes, if we don’t react at all, the behavior doesn’t seem to work for them, and tends to be left behind. We call this healing.
When we forgive these expressions of anger in others, we may find that it is possible to also forgive our own imperfections, and find ourselves outgrowing them.
The balance we create within ourselves may thereby spread and heal others.
As Mrs. Chow used to say, “To teach is to learn twice.”
Namaste,
Daniel
