This is an overview of The Four Levels of Healing: A guide to balancing the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical aspects of life by Shakti Gawain. She is a bestselling author and international teacher whose books and workshops inspire people to live by their inner truth.
Shakti outlines paying attention to each of the four levels of existence. These are spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical. All healing begins by acknowledging and accepting the present occurrence and being open to other possibilities. This book provides a wonderful overview of working with each of these aspects and will prompt the reader to discover the areas which they might have been neglecting. It also provides clues as to how the areas are intertwined and may show corresponding patterns. It gives a clear voice to principles that you may want to live by. There is a gentle reminder and reiteration of values that you will appreciate for committing more fully to these intentions.
The four levels of healing are as follows:
Spiritual level of healing
The spiritual aspect is our connection with our essential being. “The wise, loving powerful, creative entity we are at our core.” Healing here brings peace through increased safety, trust, and fulfillment. We connect to our source within rather than looking for love outside ourselves.
Mental level of healing
The mental aspect is our awareness of thought patterns and underlying beliefs. This often presents as an overactive inner critic that prevents free expression and creativity. It arises when our abilities are not honored by others and we are told that we are not enough in some way which leads us to discount our worth and what is possible. This is experienced both mentally and emotionally. Healing here is intentionally operating from thoughts that support and honor your personal growth and well-being.
Emotional level of healing
The emotional response depends on allowing and acknowledging emotions whilst not getting caught up in either repression or overwhelm. In other words, not resignation, but validation and acceptance. Healing occurs here when we are able to love and experience the gifts in all of our emotions.
It is my view, any polarity of emotions has to be experienced in order to move beyond either or interpretation and into coexistence. To illustrate this, each negative emotion has its positive counterpart intertwined. We wouldn’t be able to appreciate either one without the experience of the other.
Physical level of healing
This is when we honor the needs of our bodies and begin to view the body as a vessel that allows us to have a physical experience. We switch from having a body to serve our needs to instead having a body to serve.
Often denied emotions shows up physically along with related thoughts of loss of empowerment. Material success is also often related to embodiment and appreciation for your physical existence. Healing occurs here by allowing yourself to tune back into the natural awareness for your body’s needs and trust your intuition for what is needed and for how long.
Shakti suggests being willing to explore and employ multiple modalities for each of the four levels of healing. She also says don’t feel guilty if you haven’t recognized the signs from any of the levels and allowed yourself to suffer for longer than you would have wished in hindsight.
I totally agree that we have a tendency to judge our past based on our current level of understanding. I also do this myself! Show compassion for yourself in the knowledge that you are doing your best at any one moment. For me, each of these levels is a way to reconnect with our divinity.
This is a great coaching resource especially for those who want to nurture every level of their being. Most people focus on the physical aspects of self-care and this book also emphasizes intentionally addressing the way you think, feel, and appreciate yourself. Engaging on all four levels is key to accelerating your growth and maximizing your potential. Each of these contributes to improved self-regulation and this means that your horizons broaden.
Check out my Self Alignment Program to learn more about up-leveling your own use of the Law of Attraction.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
