The Phases of Healing: A Living Spiral
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Healing tends to move through recognizable phases—not in order like a checklist, but in cycles, like a spiral.
You revisit them over and over, each time a little deeper.
Phase 1: Inspiration – The Spark
Something stirs.
A book, a conversation, a lab result
A moment of “I can’t keep living like this”
A quiet whisper: “More is possible.”
This phase is fueled by possibility. You feel a little more awake. Motivation rises. You might start gathering information, looking into new ways of eating, moving, thinking, or relating.
Inspiration is the door opening.
Phase 2: The Catalyst – The Disruption
Then comes the shake-up.
This could be:
A health crisis
A diagnosis
A breakup, burnout, loss
Or even a deliberate shift—a new practice, a new boundary, a new treatment
The catalyst phase is uncomfortable. Old patterns are exposed. Your nervous system protests.
The body may flare before it settles. You might feel worse before you feel better, not because you’re “failing,” but because long-buried material is coming to the surface.
This is the part most people try to skip. It’s also where deep healing actually begins.
Phase 3: Peace / Comfort – The Resting Place
After the storm, there’s a settling.
You feel:
More clarity in your mind
More emotional space
A sense of “okayness,” even if everything isn’t “fixed”
This phase is primarily mental and emotional. It’s a state of well-being, not perfection. Your body might still be in process, but your relationship to yourself has softened and strengthened.
This is the rest phase before the next layer of work. It’s not “the end.” It’s integration.
Healing Is Perpetual, and That’s Not a Failure
We like neat finish lines:
“When I lose the weight, I’ll be done.”
“When the labs are normal, I’ll be done.”
“When I stop feeling sad/anxious/angry, I’ll be done.”
But healing isn’t a project with a deadline. It’s a lifelong process of spiraling deeper into who you truly are.
You will:
Revisit old wounds with more wisdom
See the same pattern from a new angle
Meet your body’s signals with more curiosity and less panic
That’s not regression—that’s evolution.
Each cycle through inspiration, catalyst, and peace adds another ring to the spiral. More depth. More nuance. More wholeness.
The Physical Body: Messenger, Not Monarch
Physical symptoms matter. Pain, fatigue, digestive issues, inflammation, menstrual changes, skin flares—all of these are real and deserve respect.
But they are also messages:
Pain might be a signal of mechanical strain and stored emotion.
Fatigue might be about mitochondrial function and years of self-abandonment.
Weight gain might reflect hormonal shifts and a nervous system coming down from chronic hypervigilance.
The physical is often the language your deeper self uses when it has run out of other ways to get your attention.
When we only chase physical symptoms and ignore the mental, emotional, and spiritual layers, we can:
Suppress the signal without addressing the source
Swap symptoms instead of truly healing
Feel “better on paper” and still deeply unwell inside
Redefining Health for Yourself
A more honest definition of health might sound like this:
Health is the ongoing integration of body, mind, and spirit into a relationship that feels truer, kinder, and more aligned with who you really are.
In that frame:
You’re allowed to be in process.
You’re allowed to have layers.
You’re allowed to circle back to old work with new eyes.
