"Wholeness is not achieved by cutting off a portion of one's being, but by integration of the contraries." -Carl Jung
Integration is often something we skip over in our fast paced society with all the distractions and things to do. However, we are most powerful, clear and productive when all aspects of ourselves are accepted and working together as a unified whole (e.g. masculine-feminine, mind-body, shadow-light). Each aspect plays a part in the functioning of the whole and adds to the richness and depth of who we are. This coming together is what happens when we become integrated.
When we FEEL integrated we are not distracted by what other people want us to do and by what they will think about our decisions. We feel clear and a sense of strength and conviction to move forward on our paths, literally acting in integrity. To me, this feels like vertical alignment (from the root to the crown). This happens when I am connected with the messages my body is telling me and open to the wisdom and guidance from the Divine.
Life is always guiding us to this sense of integration. The guidance can come through in some surprising ways that we may not have consciously chosen (health crisis, loss of a job or relationship). However, it’s important to remember that life creates the circumstances for our greatest growth and integration.
These opportunities help us to shed our habitual ways that are no longer a vibrational match for who we are meant to become. Through these experiences we discover new ways of being in the world based on our current circumstances and opportunities rather than situations and experiences from the past.
For example, it may be time to let our habit of not standing up for ourselves dissolve. While this may have protected us in the past, it might be currently getting in our way of actualizing our full potential. As these old habits dissolve space is created and our whole being reintegrates.
There is new energy building within us. There are new and powerful ways that this energy can come together if we allow the process of integration to happen. We must create space for integration.
As winter approaches, nature teaches us that we can step back from our habitual patterns of doing and practice BEING. To step back and let all the work that we have done sink in and integrate. We can give ourselves permission to slow down and allow our energy to catch up with us and integrate into our cells.
May this month be a time of rest, being and integration. Let us recognize the experiences in our lives as an opportunity to create new patterns and give these new patterns space to take form and lead us on our path of who we are meant to become.
Image: @mysterykidx