The Power of Now To Heal The Past

By Surja Jessup

As a holistic practitioner who uses hypnotherapy, acupressure and counseling in my private practice, understanding "body/mind" health and wellness becomes very important in order to support my clients in finding healing resources in all arenas of their lives. The word "health" is actually derived from the root word "kailo" which means "wholeness."

A healthy child embodies this sense of wholeness. We can see when we look at a child interacting with the world he or she is totally connected in the moment to his experience just as it is, without any pre-conceptions. As adults we long to come back to this direct experience of life, because happiness is connected with being totally present with a sense of ease and acceptance. However, our "conditioned mind" which analyzes, judges, and references the past no longer allows us to have a direct experience of what is. Instead, we are conflicted about our own experience, often feeling guilt, shame, or judgment, which takes us totally out of this moment.

A few years ago I read the book, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, and was very moved by the profound tools he offered for returning to a state of "wholeness." As his book describes, Tolle actually was in a state of suicidal depression when he was 29 years old. Through inquiring into what was real, he saw that the suicidal voice was an illusion and that what was real was awake Presence which was his true nature. Through a miraculous shift in identification from the suicidal self to the truth of his being, he naturally regained wholeness and inner peace, which has never left him. Tolle's courage to look at the truth has empowered him to become a great spiritual teacher because he points everyone back to this Presence which is everyone's true nature.

The Power of Now spoke so deeply to me that I went to several retreats with him to learn to facillitate groups called Practicing Presence. Tolle describes portals to the Now which help us all to let go of our habitual conditioned responses to life. These portals include "witnessing" our behavior and thought non-judgmentally. Other tools include being present with the breath and bringing awareness to the inner body, which can help bring our attention to this moment.

Tolle also describes the "pain body" in his book which is a term he uses to describe the accumulated energy of difficult experiences from the past held in the body. Although we are not necessarily conscious of this pain, any event can trigger the release of old emotions and programming connected with this pain, and cause reactivity, drama and suffering. We can learn to heal the "pain body" by recognizing and allowing the emotions and feelings held in the body/mind to be witnessed with love and presence, without acting them out as drama.

As we begin to unwind old habits from the past with these tools for entering the Now, it becomes easier to respond to life in this moment, with ease and relaxation. Addictive habits which form around mental conflict fall away, as we learn to be more peaceful and mor e centered. Ekhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now, is itself a portal into presence. Through Tolle's teachings I found ways to help clients stop identifing with old painful body patterns enabling them to witness and let go of the conditioning which takes away the natural joy of the moment. It seems that bringing Presence to our own process is enough for healing to happen on its own—and more profoundly to allow us to awaken into the timeless Now.