Inner Peace…Inner Stillness

Vanessa Cayle

I always knew my career should be in health care.  From the ripe age of 4, until the age of 20, I was resolved that medicine was my calling.  That shifted when some older friends were going through medical school.  I quickly decided that the “fix it with a prescription” was not the connection that I wanted with my patients.  Physical therapy was the natural solution.  As a physical therapist I was given the opportunity to get to “know” my patients, to truly connect and learn what their health and life goals were.  It has always been very rewarding.  I have been blessed with seeing patients walk for the first time, when it was thought they never would; and seeing a patient lift his head and speak from a coma when medicine had written him off.  The touching moments are too many to mention, but have clearly assisted in my own personal growth on all levels.

As I was introduced to “gentle modalities” such as craniosacral therapy and lymphatic drainage, it opened my eyes to a much more integrative model of healing.  One gift of these “gentle modalities” is that it offers the opportunity to heal on all levels…be it physical, emotional or spiritual.  As I have traveled my own path of health and well-being, I have encountered many lessons and messages.  I have seen these same messages mirrored in the healing processes of my clients. 

One of the many lessons learned is this:  Healing is about Peace.  In this place of peace or stillness lies all the answers to each person’s healing process.  This is easy for us to envision within the realm of spirituality.  We can hold that vision of spiritual connectedness and the peace that we feel in those moments.  In the same way, finding peace with our emotional challenges can also bring harmony.  I feel that this same Peace and Stillness can assist with physical healing.

I have seen a common theme in clients and myself.  It is in the ability to relinquish the idea of control.  As we walk our journey, many of us have realized that we “control” very little (if anything).  We cannot control the weather, current events, or accidents.  We certainly cannot control others (although we often try).  Those I have witnessed with the most profound (even miraculous) healing processes are those who have relinquished the need to control and embraced a life of “trusting the process”.  For those who have truly incorporated this concept into their being, their reward has been inner peace…inner stillness.  For some, it is a long, or even lifetime, journey.  For others, I have witnessed beautiful transformations in very little time.  I do not make judgments, as I believe that it is important to honor each journey as its own.  I also honor the possibility that it takes only as long as we choose.

Each person must find their own peace.  While some find it with yoga, meditation, exercise or religion, each must find his own way.  Just as we are the beautifully unique individuals that we are, so is our journey to stillness by our own unique path.

As we find our peace, we transmit it to others around us.  As they too, transmit it to others, the shift towards Peace will occur.  Be the Stillness…Be the Peace that is YOU.

Vanessa Cayle, MSPT is a physical therapist and owner/director of the CranioSacral Institute of MI., LLC.  She teaches and presents craniosacral therapy and Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM).  She is part of the National Advisory Board for FSM.