The Co-Creative Concept

Since this is the first official post of my site, I thought it only appropriate to discuss the meaning behind the name Co-Creative Healing Arts. I discovered the term co-creative in the work of Machaelle Small Wright, the founder of the Perelandra Center. I was reading her book “Behaving As If The God In All Life Mattered” where she mentioned the nature spirits or devas. Consider a moment, that all things in nature have spirit. Spirit is not just something reserved for humans and other animals, but all life forms have spirit. It is similar to the concept that everything has Qi. As I explored this, my understanding of how nature heals itself grew deeper. Even after “natural disasters”, the sun still rises and sets, grasses and trees grow, all in nature seems to find a way to balance itself. Some might say that a natural disaster isn’t a disaster for nature, just a disaster for us. Ponder this, if we lay a sidewalk and one day a crack develops in the concrete, how is it that after a short time you see blades of grass sprouting up between the cracks? That is the power of nature with the help of the nature spirits, to keep coming back again and again, like the seasons. These devas assist to maintain the general order of things. Think of it as the inherent knowledge of our natural universe. Powerful, beautiful, invisible, and constant.

Let’s suppose another life form that approaches this type of intelligence is the human being. Imagine if humans teamed up with nature and we shared our intelligence for the good of the planet. This co-creative concept is what I learned from reading Machaelle’s book. The author was referring to a garden she was building and how co-creative gardening implied working with nature to create this garden together. I was so intrigued by the thought or concept of building something in a co-creative way. What if we all adopted a co-creative lifestyle? Suppose we do not act alone, but rather as a team and everything we do or say has an impact on every other living thing around us.

How does that translate into my therapeutic practice? My patients and I have a co-creative relationship. It is achieved through sharing information either verbally or energetically. Whether I am using Chinese medicine, energy medicine, or essential oils, there is a common intention and innate intuition that harnesses the healing essence of the treatment. Co-Creative Healing Arts is about healing via a co-creative partnership of patient and practitioner.

How does co-creative healing work? We have seen how nature heals itself, how plants and trees grow, scatter their seeds, and how their life cycles help nourish other matter. Humans also possess the ability to heal that goes beyond our immune system. Here’s something to think about when you get a cold or have aches and pains. Usually, you cough a little, sneeze a little, take some Vitamin C and know that it will resolve in a day or two because you have this great immune system built to defend against this. But now let’s say the cold lingers, or the aches and pains don’t go away and you’ve had these symptoms for 2 weeks. This is where we forget about that inherent ability to heal and need someone else to “fix” you. That is the general belief. Of course, it is good to seek help and I strongly encourage you to seek medical attention if you are not well. I’m suggesting that the healing process in the hands of a qualified practitioner is also in the hands of the patient. Co-creative healing requires us to acknowledge the part of our self we tend to ignore. A practitioner may know what acupuncture points to use and what herbs to give, but the human body and spirit is really what brings itself back into balance. When we are accessing the person’s Qi (life force) we are enabling the body to heal itself. It is something we all are capable of doing, it is our birthright. Perhaps the real role of the practitioner is to help guide us and our bodies to work together in order to restore balance and homeostasis within ourselves. Instead of believing we cannot heal, we can change our thoughts and therefore have a different experience of ourselves. Herein lies another aspect of co-creative healing, our spirit working in concert with our bodies to restore health and wholeness. The old fear-based belief becomes confounded with this new experience of ourselves. Simply put, you could say that the definition of healing is when someone has a different experience of oneself. That can happen on the emotional/mental, physical, or spiritual level. Remember we are all made of mind, body, and spirit. One cannot exist without the other. Healing can happen on any realm of mind, body, or spirit and thus affect all three.

Please take some time to reflect on this or feel free to make a comment. There is more to come on other topics in future articles. There is always more.