What is your name & location?
Emma Cardinal – Toronto
How do you heal yourself? What is your favorite form of self-therapy?
Anything from crystals to herbs; psychotherapy, yoga and meditation; painting, dance, water (in all forms), energy/light work, & nature * always nature. Sound healing is resonating with me very strongly at the moment;
- - - * I am in a place; Now; where everything is healing, everything is my medicine. That is the ‘Being’ aspect of life that I so wholesomely connect with, that we all connect with. My life, your life, our life – it’s all the same life, as we are all One. One in the same, and all there is – is Now, then the only way to heal is to stay present and Be. -- Every day is a new opportunity to heal some undiscovered facet of myself. So with that in mind, why would I stick to one mode of healing when there are so many beautiful modalities that I connect to, & every different aspect/facet of myself requests a different combination of tools to assist in my growth.
When/what was the catalyst that made you start?
… There was no catalyst. No big event or trauma that started me on this path or journey. I’ve always been doing this work, always. I could bring it back to the day my brother passed away, or the 2 year long depression, or traumatizing childhood events with my father; but it wasn’t any of that. I have always been here, on this journey – doing this work. My mother raised me with self-healing and There was a time back in early 2013 though that I was forced into a deep healing state. All within a month I had decided to quit university, lost my job, I terminated a pregnancy, ended a long-standing & unhealthy friendship, and I had started a long-distance relationship with a guy that would go on to last for 4 years. At that time I felt extremely lost, without a logical clue of where to go or what to do. It was soon after that that I was gifted a deck of tarot cards. ** So while I was always on this self-healing journey, there have been times that have catapulted me toward an in-depth healing & growing phase. The amount of healing has grown, and I’ve done a lot of the big work there is to do, but as long as I am here, there will always be more healing to do. That is the beauty of this human experience. We learn and grow and help others to heal alongside us. That is to say that when we assist another in their healing journey we are effectively healing ourselves, which naturally raises the vibration of this planet and heals more and more people {past, present, and future}. I am studying to be a holistic health practitioner, and that requires me to do my own personal work.
How has this form of healing helped you?
All of my self-healing affects my body, mind, & soul; what I find fascinating is when you heal yourself with holistic methods, nothing is limitless. When you heal an emotional wound, it affects your physical body, when you heal a physical blockage, a spiritual blockage is released. Everything is connected in such a beautiful way; science is how the universe expresses itself mathematically, Therefore when you create one change, in a way that nature understands, it creates a ripple effect outward and effectively helps to change several other things in every area of ones life. This is how my self-healing journey has helped me.
What does your process look like? (Please share what you feel comfortable sharing)
I always start & end with the breath. It used to start with big emotions that would lead me to needing to look inward, instead now – I always stay with the breath and I choose to look inward with every breath. I check in quite often with where I am, & what season of life I am in. Literally. I am so connected to the seasons that I work with them. When winter rolls around – I take the opportunity to spend more time with my thoughts & feelings. I look deep within, and do more shadow work. When spring comes around, I feel the need to detox my body, and gain more energy and tend to feel better with the internal work I’ve done. At that time, I adapt new ways to be healthy and to grow; I sew seeds for the ‘future’ me to gain knowledge from. In the summer, I enjoy all I’ve learned and live more carefree. Finally, around autumn, I begin to let go of what no longer serves me, old beliefs, habits, ideas, people, etc. Sometimes though, the seasons don’t correlate with the planet, and that is okay. I simply create a space of Allowing and experience whatever season I am in at that time. Right now, I feel like I am experiencing them all at once. I feel the growth, and letting go. I feel the summer in the winter, & the autumn in the spring. I am experiencing it all, & that is a beautiful thing.
How does it make you feel when you are healing yourself?
Sometimes I can get very emotional, { sad, angry, confused, protective }, other times I get energized and expansive. It really depends on what is being healed at the moment and where I am on my journey. Healing myself, typically, feels like I am breathing a sigh of relief that I can feel throughout my body, in my aura, and filling my soul.
Why is what you do so important? Why is this form of self-helping important to you?
Taking care of my self (body, mind, heart, and soul) is important to me because it is such a big part of my journey, as a human being. We come here, as a bright luminous soul to understand what being human is. We come here to understand the shadow side of life & of light. This experience is to grow and help others to grow, and to raise consciousness to assist in the elevating vibrational frequency. When I do my own self-healing, and soul work, I am better able to be there for others.
What is your inspiration to continue doing what you are doing? What is the fuel that keeps you going?
Someone once told me that every time you meditate you raise the vibration of the planet, and assist others in a very covert [ yet direct ] way. I feel that way about healing. Every time you heal part of yourself, the world receives healing too.
What are your visions &/or goals?
I will be completing my holistic health education in June of this year, after which I will be studying spiritual direction and shamanism, which I am sure, will also be very strong influences in my self-healing journey. I cannot wait to open my practice and help others in the multitude of ways that I’ve healed (and continue to heal) myself on this beautiful journey. Assisting others on their healing journey and bearing witness to their progress will be a wonderful honor. My plan is to buy a piece of land in small town Ontario where I can start my practice. I will be growing my own herbs, which I will be using in cooking, tinctures, tea, bath infusions, and many other exciting things for my future business and personal wellbeing.
Tell us a fun fact about your form of healing, what it is that you do, or something people may not know.
We are all so much more than this physical form, & we are all so much less. When I say that I mean, our energy is expansive and is not restricted to our physical form, & at the same time we are weightless, we are light. Our soul is not part of this dimension and does not play by the same rules that we do here. Our soul, our inner light, God - take up no space and so we are equally much less than the space we take up in our physical body. * * I use this idea daily with my clients & myself. I feel it helps to bring perspective – especially on those days when our minds tend to outrun our heart.
In one sentence, what is your message to the world?
Love, Be Present, & know that in this moment, you have everything you need. * repeat
Is there is anything else that you would like to share about yourself or what your form of self-healing?
The beautiful thing about life, is even when you think something is over, your healing is done, or there is no more work to do… the universe will show you a facet that has yet to be discovered, yet to be unraveled. Even if or when your self-healing journey is done, you may need to be there for someone else, on their journey.
You can reach Emma at emmacardinalhealing@gmail.com and on Instagram @emcardinal.