The Soul Heals

01/03/2026

Why Addiction is So Hard to Beat: Understanding the Three Layers of Self

There's a simple reason addiction is so common in our culture: it's devastatingly complicated. If it were easy, we wouldn't struggle. It wouldn't be a dragon to slay—just a puppy to soothe.

Most of us who've battled addiction start at the same place: Layer 1 - The Physical Body. We use willpower. Clear the house of food, alcohol, or substances. Avoid triggers and environments that spark our patterns. We white-knuckle our way through, believing sheer determination will be enough.

When that inevitably fails, we go deeper to Layer 2 – The Psychological or Personality Level. We use reasoning. We learn about triggers and tendencies in therapy. We work programs, develop resources, understand our shame and self-blame. We dig and claw our way toward sobriety or breaking the negative habit shaping our lives.

And for many, it works - for a while. Every approach that gets results has value. But too often, people find themselves in a maddening back-and-forth: in and out of debt, up and down the scale, cycling through substance use, trading one addiction for another.

Here's what almost no one tells you: there's a third layer, and this is where the origin of addiction can be found.

Layer 3 - The Energy Level. This is where the roots exist. This is the source that keeps producing the patterns, no matter how hard your personality fights or how much therapy you do.

You can't rip out energetic roots with willpower alone, no matter how tenacious you are. Traditional therapy works beautifully with Layers 1 and 2 - the body and personality - but it can't reach the energetic source which keeps regenerating the addiction from below.

This is why people quit overeating but become chronic debtors. Stop drinking but start compulsively overeating. Quit drugs but endlessly self-sabotage in relationships or career.

The addiction rotates because the root is still alive.

In the Art of Healing Addiction (starting January 8), we go directly to those deep roots using Eastern traditions of energy healing and meditation. We follow the habits and behaviors right down to their origination point in your Energy Field—and we pull them out at the source.

When you heal at the energetic level, your True Self or Soul can finally emerge into the light, unshadowed by dark nights and self-doubt. Free. Whole. Yours again.

Ready to go deeper than you've ever gone before? https://thesoulheals.com/events

Welcome to The Soul Heals Home of Kundalini Yoga Madison and the Yoga Nidra Madison Soul Awareness Healing with Pat Barone, Gifted Healer, Coach and Spiritual Adviser Energy Medicine for the Body, Mind, Heart & Soul You can heal… and lead a life of awareness… full of pleasure, ease, meaning, con...

01/01/2026

A moment of realization:

After intentionally overcoming a food addiction and losing 100 lbs, I thought I had mastered my relationship with food. I was managing my health, and a small portion of dark chocolate each day didn’t seem to affect me—until one day.

At the office, I opened my drawer, only to find… no chocolate. I was shocked. I quickly searched my coat pockets, purse, and anywhere else I could think of. Then, I calculated the time for my next appointment and rushed out the door—on a mission to find… MY CHOCOLATE.

But during this frantic search, something was quietly running through my mind: Why do I feel this need? Why do I do this every single day?

The truth hit me: It wasn’t the chocolate. It wasn’t even about my weight. This was about a habit—a behavior that had its grip on me. Even though I had freed myself from food addiction and maintained a healthy weight for 25 years, this one small ritual was still controlling me.

After everything I had worked through—physical, emotional, and spiritual healing—it bothered me. This one habit had power over me.

We all have something. Some use drama to control others, some play the victim, blaming life’s challenges on external forces. But what about the beliefs that keep us trapped? The ones that tell us “I’ll never win” or “I’m not good enough”? These are forms of addictive thinking that can hold us back from true freedom.

It’s not just about the chocolate. It’s about breaking free from anything that holds power over us, no matter how small it seems.

Breaking that habit meant a new rage of freedom for me, and a new sense of empowerment. I broke that habit with the meditations I’ll be teaching in my class, The Art of Healing Addiction, starting January 8!

Learn more: https://thesoulheals.com/events

01/01/2026

Are you crawling out of the wreck of 2025? Let’s tackle addiction together and live free!

https://thesoulheals.com/events

01/01/2026

We are doing it! We are moving towards health and happiness! Happy New Year!

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12/31/2025

Welcome to a New Year! The Fire Horse promises passion, daring, innovation and sustained progress. May you use the year well!

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12/31/2025

Why do automatic, jarring reactions feel so deep and happen so fast?

When an environment, person, or situation triggers us, the sympathetic nervous system—the body’s survival system—takes over. Blood flow shifts away from the thinking brain to the extremities so we can move out of perceived danger. This creates intense discomfort before we have time to think.

The pathways to survival mode already live in the body. They are shaped by trauma—emotions that were never processed at the time they occurred. Many of us were not given the space, tools, or models in childhood to process emotions in a healthy, affirming way.

Unprocessed trauma, often hidden or minimized in a culture that values suppression and toughness, creates a constant pull on our awareness. Over time, this chronic stress can disrupt the body at a cellular level and contribute to illness or debilitating conditions.

That ongoing discomfort can become so difficult to live with that we turn to addictive or numbing behaviors—not as a failure, but as an attempt to self-medicate in order to cope and survive.

https://thesoulheals.com/events

12/27/2025

Before the champagne bubbles settle and the resolutions begin, pause for a moment.

What are you actually carrying into this new year?

This week, practice radical noticing:
• What feels comfortable vs. what triggers discomfort?
• Who energizes you vs. who drains or unsettles you?
• Which environments feel nourishing vs. depleting?

Your body already knows the answers. Feelings are simply information—messengers from your Energy Field guiding you forward.

That persistent churn in your chest? It's pointing to an unhealed heartbreak. That repetitive thought loop? A limiting belief demanding to be acknowledged. That nagging discomfort? Something embedded deep, ready for release.

The truth is simple: Every limiting belief we carry stems from one of four core wounds:

Inadequacy • Fear • Scarcity • Lack of Trust

And here's what most don't realize—these wounds show up as mental patterns (negativity, catastrophic thinking), substance dependencies (alcohol, sugar, cannabis), or misplaced energy (the belief that "life works out for everyone but me").

We don't have to roll into 2026 with the same mentality that shaped 2025.

The Art of Healing class takes a purely spiritual approach to releasing habits and addictions of all kinds. Because no one deserves to live controlled by fear, lack, inadequacy—or any substance that determines how their days unfold.

What will you leave behind?
https://thesoulheals.com/events/

12/24/2025

SSSSHHHHHHHHH! Early bird pricing is still available on the Art of Healing Addictions 11-week series starting January 8! Don't miss this opportunity to save. Via Zoom or in person in Middleton, WI.

The series can be combined with your current therapy or recovery program as an add-on to deepen your awareness. It can also be used as a mindfulness program or a tip-your-toe-into the waters of healing an addiction. Safe! Gentle! Effective!

https://thesoulheals.com/events/

12/18/2025

This is a line diagram of your crown chakra. Yeah! Just a "little bit" going on! Be gentle with yourself, especially as you come into the holidays. Blessings!

12/17/2025

The word "healing" can feel loaded. Most of us resist the idea that something within us needs attention—it can feel like admitting we're broken or not enough.

But healing isn't about being broken. It's about being human.

If you've endured trauma, navigated the world as a highly sensitive person (HSP), or grew up in an environment that didn't nurture your True Self, you've likely spent years in a defensive crouch. Maybe you've been in therapy for years, doing the hard work of understanding what happened and why.

And that work matters. It truly does.

But here's what many discover: understanding alone doesn't always release what's lodged deep in the body and energy field. Those wounds, those scars—they live in places that words can't always reach. Call it "healing" or "release" or "getting free"—whatever resonates with you. But please don't tell yourself "it's fine now" or "I've forgiven them, so I'm done" when your body is still holding the story.

Because unresolved trauma has a way of resurfacing at the most inconvenient times—just when you've finally met someone wonderful, or landed that dream opportunity. It emerges not because you're weak, but because it's asking to be acknowledged.

You didn't choose what happened to you. But you do get to choose what happens next.

You deserve freedom from what's been weighing you down. And you don't have to carry it alone.

https://thesoulheals.com/

12/13/2025

Now is the time!

The Art of Healing: Freedom from Addictions & Negative Habits begins Jan. 8 and is open for registration!

Ready to break free? Need a boost to your recovery process?

This powerful 11-week journey goes beyond traditional recovery to address what's really driving your habits— substances, drama, negative thinking, self-sabotage, or avoidance, just to name a few.

Why This Works: Full, complete healing happens on four levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. This course hones in on the spiritual aspect that calls you out of destructive patterns and into lasting transformation.

What Makes It Different: ✦ Gentle, holistic approach that uncovers what lies beneath your addiction ✦ Two powerful meditation series (16 and 40 days) designed to rewire habits ✦ Practical tools you can use immediately in everyday life ✦ Works beautifully alongside any recovery program—or stands alone ✦ Group support plus optional one-on-one healing sessions

Your Guide: Pat Barone, MCC, has been helping clients face their addictions for over 25 years. She'll help you find YOUR unique path to healing.

Perfect for beginners or anyone ready to go deeper. No specific approach required—begin fresh or boost whatever you're already doing while honoring your individual journey.

Small class size, in person or via Zoom. Space is limited!

Registration now open at https://thesoulheals.com/events