Bea limped down the street, passing a number of specialist hospitals on the way to my office. She walked with a cane and with some difficulty.

Clearly she had come wanting physical healing and she described how her back had become progressively more painful over the previous ten years. She was afflicted with constant pain and her mobility was significantly impacted.

Our bodies hold the memory of our injuries, even in cases when, consciously, we are unaware of root causations. This memory is carried by our bodies subconsciously. There are various modalities and methods that can help us to tap the subconscious for this information. Information which can sometimes be the key to achieving healing.

I watched as my colleague, Don, used the simple modality of listening to explore Bea’s problem. In the course of their conversation something prompted Don to ask Bea what appeared to be a random question. He invited her to talk about her family. It quickly became apparent that Bea hated her father. Her body tensed visibly and appeared even more immobile as she spoke of her father’s many faults. It wasn’t a story of abuse as such but it was easy to see why her father’s particular behaviours had left Bea feeling hurt and resentful. As she expressed her grievances with her dad Bea’s scrunched up posture became more pronounced.

Don then asked if Bea wished to be released from all the effects of the resentment that she had carried with her on account of her father. She answered that she did. To achieve this release we asked Bea simply to verbalize an intention to forgive her father, and vocalize a decision to stop investing into her anger towards him and stop harboring any desires for bad karma or retribution.

If I had met Bea a few years later I might have told her “Sometimes we mull past hurts over in our minds as if we can somehow make ourselves feel better about what happened by re-understanding it or repeating the injustice of it to ourselves. But forgiveness means abandoning all hope of a better past!” I find that this way of seeing forgiveness clicks with a lot of people.

So we said, “As well as you can, with whatever level of sincerity you can feel, speak as if your father were sitting right here, and in your own words tell him that you are leaving his wrongdoings and all your hurt feelings behind, that you forgive him, and that whatever your relationship will or will not be moving forward, you wish him well.”

This she did. And the relief was obvious. Immediately Bea visibly straightened up and began breathing more deeply. Her breathing slowed and she began to relax. Then after a few moments of silence and self-composure Bea bent down and picked up her cane to go. However we still hadn’t addressed her back so I quickly offered to give some attention to her back pain. Bea looked up and beamed. She moved her arms and legs and flexed her back.

“Oh My G-d!!” she cried out. “My back’s completely better!”

So we prayed together. But it wasn’t a prayer for healing. It was prayer of thanks to God for releasing the emotion that had become so badly trapped in Bea’s back all those years. As soon as the trapped emotion was released, and all the negativity energy of anger, hurt and resentment were let go – and in such a simple way – all her pain and posture problems vanished. That was 30 years ago.

I learned a great lesson from Don and Bea. Sometimes the simple art of listening changes the story and creates the opportunity for a new beginning. From that time to this I always use the basic modality of listening when people come for healing. Listening to the person. Listening to my and their subconscious, and being ready to offer what might seem like a random question.

Sometimes what emerges from that listening and questioning is the awareness that a physical problem is the presenting symptom of a trapped emotion. Which is why in my involvement with healing in Australia today the healing of trapped emotions remains a vital aspect of my practice.