06/21/2022
Healing isn’t linear. It’s cyclical.
Day turns to night and into day again.
Spring to summer to winter to fall.
Nature consists of cycles, patterns and rhythms. Some we can see, and some we cannot. Growth, and thus healing, follow the same cyclical pattern. This is especially true if you’ve been struggling with something for a long time.
Most likely you’ll make progress, experience a setback, make progress again, another setback, and it continues. This can happen as you’re simultaneously moving in the upward direction. And if you look closely, you’ll notice that even though you’re experiencing pain again, it’s less severe or maybe it doesn’t last as long. Over time we hope that the intensity of pain decreases and the duration of pain flares decreases.
When you expect healing to happen linearly, you end up disappointed when you experience pain or symptoms again. But this isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of progress. Life happens and your body naturally goes through changes and cycles.
If you start paying attention to the subtleties, you’ll see where the growth and healing is taking place. If this is hard for you to notice, or you feel like you’ve been stuck in a plateau for ages, working closely with someone one-on-one can be an excellent way to come out of the rut.
Healing is always possible, but rarely is it linear.
