What is Inner Alchemy?
What comes to mind when you hear the word alchemy?
If you were raised in a Western European dominant culture, chances are that you associate the word alchemy with the image of a wizard or another magical authority figure transforming base metals into gold. However, Western European culture does not have a monopoly on this concept. Eastern Asian cultures associate the concept of alchemy with yogic practices included within a variety of spiritual traditions. In fact, the idea of inner alchemy is most closely associated with Eastern traditions and takes the external transformation that we see in turning lead into gold and extends it to working with our internal states. Instead of chemical transformation, the focus is on internal transformation.
Alchemy is everywhere. Alchemy is nature herself. It is a constant energetic flow.
All we have to do is look around to see that the world is in a continuous process of change. We see it in the shifting of the seasons, the phases of the moon, the tides, in the process of birth, growth and decay...and the human experience is an integral part of it. Our relationships, our identities, our beliefs, our values, our behaviors are all subject to these same sorts of processes.
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From a very early age, most if not all of us are given a prescribed set of instructions on how to live life “correctly”. Some of these instructions are useful, though many are based upon outdated cultural, systemic and societal norms that we are encouraged not to question, cutting us off from natural change processes and disempowering us from our genuine sense of agency and discernment. In short, most of us have not been given the full opportunity to cultivate our own unique inner wisdom, leaving us feeling generally disconnected from ourselves, our needs, our desires and the natural flow of life.
Inner alchemy starts with the acknowledgment and acceptance of being on this ride of constant change whether we like it or not! In fact, there is no way to distinguish between ourselves and the cycle of life and death. We are born out of it. We ARE it. When this is fully recognized and embodied, you begin to understand your inherent belonging in this world and the creative power that you have within you to direct the course of your life. You cannot control what arises within or around you, but you can control how you hold it in your hands, how you move with it, how you use its energy to keep flowing, growing and learning.
Inner alchemy is agreeing to be in process with yourself without being overly focused on outcome. It is moving away from treating yourself as if you are broken and need to be fixed. It is allowing whatever is within you to arise and be seen so that you can feel whole again. So that you can keep growing. As bad as it can get, life truly is filled with possibility. Our big, beautiful thinking minds just get in the way.
What are some of the ways that you see alchemy showing up in your life?
What are some of the ways that you allow your mind to get in the way of letting life unfold?