1 00:00:00,900 --> 00:00:04,480 You're listening to the Feathermane Soul Blogcast, an 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,280 audio reading of the blogs posted on Feathermane 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:07,520 Soul. 4 00:00:08,140 --> 00:00:11,460 Blogs are read by Kit Kaelstow, spiritual storyteller. 5 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,400 For links or additional information associated with the 6 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:20,440 blog, please visit feathermanesoul.com slash blog and 7 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:22,320 click on the title you're interested in. 8 00:00:22,740 --> 00:00:24,500 Enjoy this blog post. 9 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:29,700 Rethinking What Healing Means, a Feathermane Soul Blog 10 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:33,540 for October 20th, 2026. 11 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,980 I've talked a lot about why I don't 12 00:00:35,980 --> 00:00:38,160 use the word healing, and in the changes 13 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:42,000 it's making to the guidelines, Yoga Alliance has 14 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,460 been extremely clear that they don't want yoga 15 00:00:44,460 --> 00:00:47,280 teachers to use the word healing or anything 16 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,280 that would relate directly to therapy, therapeutic work, 17 00:00:50,460 --> 00:00:53,500 medicine, or any diagnosis in order to allow 18 00:00:53,500 --> 00:00:55,980 yoga teachers to remain within their scope of 19 00:00:55,980 --> 00:00:56,500 practice. 20 00:00:57,020 --> 00:00:58,720 I admit I'm a bit on the fence 21 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:01,100 about the changes at Yoga Alliance, how it 22 00:01:01,100 --> 00:01:04,360 further silos yoga teachers and yoga practitioners and 23 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,540 even yoga teachers with different interests and credentials, 24 00:01:07,540 --> 00:01:10,040 but what it really has done is made 25 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:11,740 me think about my use of the word 26 00:01:11,740 --> 00:01:13,820 healing and my relationship to it. 27 00:01:14,500 --> 00:01:16,160 I think the problem lies in how we 28 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:17,000 think about healing. 29 00:01:17,220 --> 00:01:20,260 When most people talk about healing anything, whether 30 00:01:20,260 --> 00:01:22,760 that's a paper cut, a broken bone, or 31 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,400 a chronic medical condition, they think of it 32 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,320 as well like a superficial injury. 33 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:29,920 You wash the wound, treat it, put a 34 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,920 bandage on it, and eventually it goes away. 35 00:01:32,420 --> 00:01:34,000 I was reminded of this both when I 36 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,780 realized a wound that I'd received from a 37 00:01:35,780 --> 00:01:38,900 well-intentioned but bit too rambunctious cat had 38 00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:41,620 healed nicely, the scab falling off to reveal 39 00:01:41,620 --> 00:01:44,700 unblemished skin beneath this morning, and when I 40 00:01:44,700 --> 00:01:47,480 expressed to somebody recently just how deeply I'd 41 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,120 been hurt by their actions, and their response 42 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:51,800 was, I hope you heal soon. 43 00:01:52,460 --> 00:01:55,040 Healing used in that context puts the responsibility 44 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,960 on the person injured and doesn't do anything 45 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,340 to address any other person's role in the 46 00:02:00,340 --> 00:02:03,760 injury or any societal or cultural factors that 47 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,040 may have contributed to it. 48 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,419 And as I have long professed, healing doesn't 49 00:02:08,419 --> 00:02:10,440 work like that, at least not the kind 50 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,080 of healing I have undertaken as a late 51 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,240 diagnosed neurodivergent person with a long history of 52 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,000 trauma leading to complex PTSD. 53 00:02:19,900 --> 00:02:22,840 Except by denying myself the use of the 54 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,860 word or concept of healing, I've also been 55 00:02:25,860 --> 00:02:28,740 denying myself the appreciation of just how far 56 00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:31,080 I have come in my personal work. 57 00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:34,260 Healing is a very nuanced conversation. 58 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:37,880 It's also a conversation best suited to platforms 59 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,620 off of social media, in places where you 60 00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:43,280 can take the time to explain yourself, even 61 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,580 in one-on-one conversations, as each individual 62 00:02:46,580 --> 00:02:48,600 works through what healing means to them. 63 00:02:49,300 --> 00:02:51,740 Healing is not meant to be a singularly 64 00:02:51,740 --> 00:02:52,620 defined word. 65 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,080 I'm changing how I talk about healing. 66 00:02:56,580 --> 00:02:58,580 What this means is that I will be 67 00:02:58,580 --> 00:03:00,640 changing how I talk about healing, in what 68 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:02,680 context, and in what it means for me. 69 00:03:03,300 --> 00:03:04,820 Healing goes through many stages. 70 00:03:05,340 --> 00:03:07,280 It can be an extremely long road to 71 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:09,380 get from wound to no trace of it. 72 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:11,980 And in the case of larger injuries, such 73 00:03:11,980 --> 00:03:13,820 as to bones or muscles or the mind, 74 00:03:14,060 --> 00:03:16,780 those injuries may never go completely away. 75 00:03:17,420 --> 00:03:19,560 I know my tailbone reminds me when the 76 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,740 barometric pressure changes, and I broke it and 77 00:03:22,740 --> 00:03:25,080 knitted that bone back together four-ish years 78 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:25,440 ago. 79 00:03:26,420 --> 00:03:29,220 Healing doesn't necessarily mean moving toward wellness or 80 00:03:29,220 --> 00:03:31,820 wholeness either, because there is grief in healing. 81 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:33,540 There is loss in healing. 82 00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:36,260 In the person we were before, in what 83 00:03:36,260 --> 00:03:39,300 happened before, and the different changes our lives 84 00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:41,400 may have gone through because of what happened. 85 00:03:42,100 --> 00:03:44,360 The thing is, each one of us gets 86 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,100 to define healing for ourselves in a way 87 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:48,960 that feels meaningful and in a way that 88 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:51,520 feels authentic to our own lived experience. 89 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:53,980 So I encourage you to think about how 90 00:03:53,980 --> 00:03:55,920 you perceive healing and what it means for 91 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:56,200 you. 92 00:03:56,380 --> 00:03:59,060 Let's talk about it, because finding out those 93 00:03:59,060 --> 00:04:01,140 meanings for you mean that you can then 94 00:04:01,140 --> 00:04:03,360 move forward on your own terms and in 95 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:04,180 your own way. 96 00:04:04,700 --> 00:04:06,940 If you'd like to learn more about having 97 00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:09,760 the conversation of what healing means for you, 98 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,300 or to find out more about my work 99 00:04:13,300 --> 00:04:17,660 for Wild Spirit Storytelling, please visit feathermanesoul.com 100 00:04:17,660 --> 00:04:19,860 and book a discovery call with me. 101 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:21,900 You'll find the link to this blog post 102 00:04:21,900 --> 00:04:24,900 and my calendar in the show notes. 103 00:04:25,100 --> 00:04:26,840 Thank you so much for listening. 104 00:04:28,180 --> 00:04:30,720 Thank you for listening to this episode of 105 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,200 Feathermanesoul Wisdom Extra, an audio recording of a 106 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,320 blog post hosted on Feathermanesoul. 107 00:04:36,700 --> 00:04:40,280 All blogs are copyright 2025, all rights reserved, 108 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,780 by Kit Kaelstow and Feathermanesoul. 109 00:04:43,380 --> 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