The Hollow Bone

What does it mean to be a hollow bone? This term is often associated with Shamanic traditions, particularly Native American teachings, and describes how a healer must refine themselves and dissolve the ego in order to become a clear channel through which Spirit can move.

 

But for me, this concept extends beyond the role of the healer. We all hold space in the world, and we all bring our own unique gifts and healing medicine, whether it be through working with people, animals, plants, technology, finance, to name a few. We also bring this through our everyday interactions with friends, loved ones, and strangers. There are endless ways that each of us serves humanity.

 

What does it truly mean to hollow oneself, and what does the journey to doing so look like in our life?

 

In today’s sharing, I want to explore my thoughts on these questions and also share why I believe the journey to becoming a hollow bone is a path for everyone, not just those in a healing role.

 

The Earth as a Mirror

 

When I tune into this question, the image of the Grand Canyon forms in my mind. Carving something out takes time. This majestic rock formation was uplifted through the shifting of the Earth and then slowly carved out by the Colorado River, revealing all the layers of accumulation built over millions of years.

 

The formation process of the Grand Canyon mirrors the same journey every soul takes. There eventually comes a day when our existence as we once knew it is disrupted and we are lifted up, this higher altitude offering a new view of our surroundings. A glitch in our everyday reality breaks the hypnotic monotony of our daily routines.

 

Maybe this arrives through an illness, a near death experience, a drastic life change, or another event that shakes us awake. The moment itself is unique for everyone, but the outcome for all is the same. The pressure of the experience lifts us up and we suddenly perceive something beyond what our logical mind can fully understand. Curiosity and intrigue arise, and we feel a stirring in our hearts. Often called spiritual awakening, this is when the search begins. The search for truth and deeper meaning in our lives… the search for self.

 

Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of life?

 

This is often when a person begins their healing journey because the search for truth and healing is really one and the same. This is how we hollow ourselves out. We cannot get to the core of who we are without first extracting and examining what lies within. Just as the river washed away the contents of the stone to create the Grand Canyon, we too must breach the surface so that we may reveal all the layers of our own beautiful creation story.

 

Filling Up to Empty Out

 

Once we are lifted up and answer the calling of our heart, it is as though we step into the great mystery of life. We see a flicker of light in the darkness and wonder from where does this light come from? Like the river flowing through the canyon, this acceptance opens the gate for loving and supportive energies to flow through us, guiding us along our path. The journey of healing becomes a journey of revelation as we seek to fully understand and uncover the source of this current.

 

The stirring in my own heart came when I said yes to Shamanic training. I accepted my fate and dove head first into my healing path. When I first heard the term “the hollow bone”, it felt very mysterious and somewhat abstract to me.

 

The society we live in often views the mind as a higher authority than the heart. As such, we tend to seek solutions through doing, fixing, and thinking. Like many others beginning a healing path, I believed this meant filling up with knowledge and skills. I told myself that if I read enough books and learned enough techniques, I could push out old stories, heal myself, and be equipped to help others heal.

 

We must surrender to the current and allow it to carry us where it will. Every part of the process is valid and necessary to deepen our awareness and unveil the mystery in its own way, in its own time. Eventually we learn that a bone is not hollowed by displacing its interior with external matter. It must be carved out from within.

 

Seeking external knowledge, there is nothing wrong with this. It has played a vital role on my own path and I place great value on it. But we seek because we feel something is missing from our lives. What is missing is the connection with our inner light, our Spirit Within. We see this light as something outside of us, and this search for knowledge mirrors the deep wound of separation we feel within ourselves.

 

We try to hollow out the bone by displacing its interior with external matter, just as we try to heal ourselves by filling the void with knowledge and skills.

 

But the canyon was not carved by force. It was carved by surrendering to the water, allowing the river to flow along its natural path. The same is true for our healing. It is not found outside of ourselves. It is a surrendering within. To do so, we must shift from mind to heart, for this is where our inner light resides. Thus begins the next pivotal moment of our awakening process: surrendering to the flow and allowing mind, body, and heart to connect as one.

 

Emptying Out to Fill Up

 

One of the very first books I read on my own healing path was How to Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. I read the book eagerly, taking in every word. For those of you unfamiliar, her teachings are all about cultivating self-love. A little over three years later, I found myself feeling called to this book once again, and I was curious why. This work was already “done”, so why would I need to revisit this?

 

Before I share the answer, I want to take a moment to talk about pain. We all carry pain. These are our own unique past wounds and traumas. As humans, we are hardwired to avoid pain. Most people would not willingly stick their hand in a fire and hold it there. Our painful parts are like fire, and when we begin to get close to them, we do all sorts of things to avoid them: distraction, denial, projecting our pain onto others, and even self-sabotage.

 

But the reality is that we must pass through each fire, each wound, each emotion, one by one. We do this by coming face to face with what hurts and bearing witness to all of the layers of pain we carry within us. We allow them to course through our body like a river carving through rock, slowly softening the hardened edges of our being. As we empty out, we create space, allowing our inner light to fill up and take its place.

 

This is the true hollowing of the bone.

 

I soon realized why I was being called to revisit this book. There was a lot of pain in my own childhood, many ways in which I felt unloved and neglected. I could now clearly see how I had been running from the fire. I had checked self-love off as “done” and never looked back. Outwardly, I was loving myself by aligning external aspects of my life with my dreams and goals. But inwardly… I had been neglecting this. There was a disconnect between my outer world and my inner world.

 

This moment called me to come face to face with my inner pain and acknowledge the ways I had been neglecting myself through my words, thoughts, and feelings. I speak more about moving through this in my last blog, and I invite you to read about it HERE.

 

We must feel to heal, and to do this, we must venture within. We must move toward the fire, not away from it. I think this is often why some on a healing path, myself included, can work so hard on healing, change so much in their outer life, yet still feel stuck or unfulfilled.

 

Embrace The Space

 

During my training, I was always told that the healer does not do the healing. We hold space for the client to release. At the time, I did not fully understand what this meant, but now, at my current level of awareness, I see it more clearly.

 

So often the world is filled with chaos, judgment, loneliness, fear, grief, shame, embarrassment, and so much more. It is a kaleidoscope of heavy emotions, and although they can be painful, emotions are also the language of the soul. This is often why clients seek healing. Their soul is crying out, and they are unsure how to move through or even sometimes name what they are feeling.

 

In our current times, we are rarely taught how to turn inward and connect with ourselves as many ancient cultures once did. And so, as healers, we serve as a bridge and a guide, helping others move through this moment in their healing journey while offering tools to support them as they continue forward. But we cannot truly hold space for others if we have not first created space within ourselves.

 

The space we create within ourselves serves two purposes. Firstly, these heavy emotions the client carries need a safe place to land. If we are filled up with our own pain, where will they have room to rest their troubles? We do not take on this energy. Rather, we serve as a bridge between the client and Spirit, with the assistance of our Spirit Guides, helping to filter out what they are ready to release. If a vacuum cleaner is full, it cannot properly clean the carpet.

 

Secondly, with space comes greater clarity and connection to our inner wisdom. When we turn our back on our own pain, we muddy the waters. The guidance that comes through, though well-intentioned, must first pass through a debris field of sorts before being shared with the client. As a result, the message may not reach the client in its original form.

 

To dedicate oneself to becoming a hollow bone is a commitment first and foremost to self. Whether you are a healer or not, you take up space in this world, and there are others waiting for the light you carry to enter their lives and change the course of theirs.

 

It is my belief that we are never truly “done” with our healing. If we are alive here on Earth, there is always more work to be done. When we say we are done, we stifle our own light. How can we possibly place limits on something as infinite as a Soul?

 

We must not fear the fire. We must allow our feelings, no matter how painful, to pass through and carve out our bone, much like the rivers of old carving the Grand Canyon. As we do this, we become better at speaking without projecting, listening without judgment, and viewing fellow travelers with compassion and understanding.

 

To love humanity, we must love all parts of humanity. To love all parts of humanity, we must love all parts of ourselves.

 

So keep healing and keep going within. Because we can always love more deeply and open our hearts more fully. Perhaps one day your unique spark will be the very light someone sees to lift them out of the darkness.

 

Blessings on your path,

 

Let’s Journey Together

1. Healing is a journey we don’t have to walk alone. If you feel called to explore your own path more deeply, I offer personalized sessions to help guide and support you. Learn more about healing services HERE.

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