“But is this enough to sustain the wounded traveller along the length and breadth of the healing journey?
I can totally relate to the ‘heavy heart’ aspect. When John was diagnosed — we had recently done the tree change, had my mother with us etc. I was totally overwhelmed — the therapist was ill equipped, arguing with me that I should put my mother into aged care to alleviate my burden. Needless to say, I didn’t last long with a therapist unable to listen.
I had previously visited a therapist who helped me (in my mid 40s) re a workplace situation which triggered a childhood trauma. I went back to her after John died, though she wasn’t able to help, (by her own admission) — other to say she would “want someone like me”, if she had a terminal illness and wanted to die at home. So, my time with therapists was done.
My own inner work started with utilising my intellect — study being a space of comfort and curiosity for me, and affording a sense of control in relation to deconstructing literature etc. Coupled with meditation and spiritual seeking, the (unexpected) gift was the opening guidance to the other realm of existence (the team). For that I am grateful as it coincided with my growing discomfort in the mainstream-ness and egotism prevalent in both mainstream and spiritual and healing circles. And I had enough of giving my power over to others — the old trauma response. Though, I was also a little bemused with myself, that I was edging away from my intellect — the more the portals opened to the team. Until I understood that it wasn’t an either, or, choice. I just needed to go in with an openness and willingness to challenge some of my own beliefs — and trust. The intellect lead me there ... and back to nature. And nature expanded the portals that had opened in meditation. My body receives and my mind gives me the language to share the experience of recovery — and healing. My enthusiasm for learning continues, such is creativity and curiosity. A spiral.
Thank you so much for the clarification and knowledge you share. Your wisdom brings further assurance and empowerment to self.
“In other words, healing is not a matter of mind or body. The synergy of all Faculties can achieve near miraculous results.”
“Wholeness can only thrive while recognising the gifts, contributions, and interactions of all Faculties.”
The questions you pose around our ‘monkey mind’ are fabulous. The Chinese xin, how interesting. And ...
“What if the Intellect needs to move around the evolutionary spiral of being, again and again, to grasp the meaning of it all?”
“Kant basically managed to show and explain that the Intellect doesn’t function without Instinct, Imagination, Intuition, Inspiration, Soul, Will and Body”
“And yet, defying all logic and evidence, the anthropocentric paradigm is clinging to the thesis that logic is superior to the non-logical Faculties.”
“Developers and disciples of the Digital Age lean heavily on pure logic. The Intellect is, yet again, summoned to carry the main burden of what the vital organs of the living organism of human Consciousness are made to share.”
“ ... this new religion of digital technology ... this is a late stage of the anthropocentric era, clinging to the doctrine of ‘salvation by logic’.
I am thoroughly enjoying the journey home. Thank you for enriching it — your knowledge and work in weaving it together what you offer us. A gift
“As a result of this loss of home, the Inner Expert has been overburdened with tasks which are beyond his capacity and charged with responsibilities which were never designed to be fulfilled by him alone.”
Currently revisiting Ch 15 — I keep coming back, so much to consider learn, through all faculties ... and realms of being, with the team. Thank you. 😊 🙏 🌀 🌱 💜
Oh Simone! What a delicious, juicy response. I just want to give you a huge warm hug!!!
Isn't it sad and disheartening that we couldn't find what we needed in the forests of the healing professions and spiritual teachings? Isn't that a prime expression for the loss of elders in Western culture?
Like you, this inability to find what I needed, propelled me into doing this work, finding out for myself. This is what catapulted me into studying homœopathy in my mid thirties (to understand what I needed to do to bring up healthy children) and in my early forties, after a massive life crash, to start writing, delve deeper into psychosynthesis practices and develop my own practice (to save myself from drowning)
"study being a space of comfort and curiosity for me, and affording a sense of control" — this is such a great example for the comfort and healing the Intellect can offer.
Creativity and healing can thrive when all Faculties are nourished!
It has taken me an unexpected loooong time before I was able to present this work to 'the public', partly because it's taken so long, and so many versions of writing, before I understood it fully enough myself, partly because I needed to become a reasonably good writer, and in big part because I needed to develop Synchronosophy and the Kairotrophic practice enough to explain what is so fundamentally different about it...
Your response is telling me that I'm finally getting there. My heart is smiling with gratitude 💗 🤍 🙏 ✨
All hugs welcome and gratefully received — and returned 🙏 💜
Yes, the loss of elders in Western culture is a wound that continues to fester. I recognise the ancient-indigenous wisdom of the first nations people in this country — with a deep respect for their kinship and teachings. I still have much to learn. Their relationship in being of country is nourishing and healing — why aren't we tapping into that, in each place, to meld with western practice? A collaboration of learning — being?
"Creativity and healing can thrive when all Faculties are nourished!" Yes 🙌
I feel and read the dedication in your work and practice, offering us a process so empowering, a framework where people can delve into your researched approach, as per their want and needs. That is just WOW Veronika. It really is a gift. People can keep coming back at each new level of their understanding, and of being — at their pace. You build self autonomy, in and with community 🙏
that is precisely my intention... or what I feel I am called to do. Offering a path to self-autonomy to whoever is seeking and resonates with it 💚 🌀 🌊 xxx
There’s so much here I need to just keep reading and reading . This is such a gift. I love reading the comments. Totally agree healing is making whole. As a physiotherapist and a bodyworker professionally this all collides beyond just thinking. So much is connecting here and I love your diagram and your download. I love how you reason through all of this. You share resources I immediately want to dive into. Thank you for the opportunity to practically apply it. It’s definitely a collision on a wild path. A labyrinth. A spiral. A widening circle.
The Noctarine!
Thank you for being here. Living into the questions. Your writing takes me to places way beyond thinking. 🙏❤️
You are most welcome, Jamie 💗. I am delighted that my writing speaks to you, and the practice feels inviting to dive in. "A good theory is only as good as its practice," (or something along these lines Josh always tells me)
The image of the path through the labyrinth came to me only during the final edit and enabled me to put together the sequence I'm sharing in the practice sheet. I always do the practices myself, as I write them. So my writing also takes me to places beyond... Living into the questions indeed.
And I'd love to hear how the practice works for you... did I ask 'the right questions'?? xx
I feel both thrilled and relieved to open the cognitive field up to more than solely the Intellect! And I can’t ignore the implications of this—if we begin to value the spiraling, diverse, even hidden, layers of cognition, we may also then be more open to learning from the neurodivergent and elderly populations.
Thank you Kimberly 💗 🙏 ✨ ...begin to value the spiraling... layers of cognition... Absolutely! For me it always starts with being open to and learning from the neurodivergent and immature populations within myself.
Dear Veronika, as a psychotherapist married to a physiotherapist, we quickly learned that healing works best when approached holistically. Over three decades in both our fields, we’ve seen that mind and body are deeply intertwined and true healing requires more than talk - it asks for movement, stillness and reconnection with instinct. All traits of the restless Inner Expert, who coils their collections in spirals - gathering wisdom through experience, reflection and the cyclical nature of healing itself.
Long before therapists existed, people sought healing in nature - rivers, meadows, forests and mountaintops, letting wind, birdsong and shifting light work their quiet magick. I do the same, centuries later - walking through parks, sitting in gardens, feeling the deep restoration nature provides. Even my friend, in her final days, wanted only to sit in the hospice garden and listen to the birds.
All therapies have limits, but for me, healing lies in embodying wisdom rather than merely discussing it. A juicy approach - one that feels fully alive - must embrace both intellect and instinct. The intellect, as explored in your work, thrives in collaboration with other faculties of consciousness. Thought is an interwoven, cyclical process - not a linear act - reflecting what we witness in therapy. Healing is never just rationality or logic; it requires a deeper homecoming to the self.
Many therapists recognise this balance. Several of my colleagues now offer ‘walk and talk’ therapy along seafront promenades and through country estates, mirroring how movement and nature facilitate deeper healing. Body therapists, too, understand that talking can be part of healing - much like Fogg’s obsession with learning about the hand after her accident.
We’re getting there, gradually finding equilibrium - holding the tension between reason and instinct, giving each its rightful place. Because in the end, balance is key. Healing isn’t a rigid path but a cyclical journey - returning to oneself in ways that feel organic, restorative and whole.
Once I start writing, it’s hard to stop as healing is a topic that deeply fascinate me. (You can probably tell!) Which brings me to thank you so much for this rich and insightful post.
OH YES! Thank you so much for this thoughtful, heartful, soulful, mindful, fullbodied response and resonance.
Having studied and trained in classical homœopathy, Psychosynthesis, some Alexander Technique and a smidgen of Trager Work, and being married to an Alexander teacher, I was fortunate to be introduced to the holistic approach to healing in my 'primary modality' (classical homœopathy), am familiar with people rejecting 'talk therapy' and surprised by practitioners who claim that AT or TW can 'heal everything'. I know things have moved on since then... while some opinions remain stubborn... (sadly, we've also met some therapists who'd rather die than revisit their theories...)
Healing requires a deeper homecoming to the self! Beautifully said.
In the theory and practice of Synchronosophy/ Kairotrophy, the most important practice is keeping an open mind. I constantly learn how much I need to learn...
Only today, doing the 'Labyrinth' practice session (in the download) before posting it, my own answers hit me in the face, making me realise how little we know about indigenous and communal living (for example). I mean real knowing! From generations of experiencing and akenning.
There is no way we can simply 'snap ourselves back to a wholesome way of life', if it only exists as a nostalgic image in the realms of our dreaming.
Healing IS a fascinating topic! For me too, so I totally understand. Healing is Making Whole. We may not be able to 'return to the old ways' because there is nothing to return to. But thanks to the spiralling movement of life itself there is always the option to meander forward, to grow into the wholeness we remember in our bones and the interstices of the mind. 🤍 🙏 ✨
It’s wonderful to glimpse a little more of your story, Veronika. When I met my wife and discovered she was a body therapist, I told her, ‘Great, that’s mind and body taken care of. Together, we’ll find soul.’ And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing ever since. What a serendipitous and magickal journey life is!
Oh, I missed the download part, I'll take a look later. Thanks so much. 🤍 🙏 ✨
Each of the chapters in this series will have a downloadable practice session. One each for the 8 vital Faculties of Consciousness... I'd be very curious and most grateful to hear how they work for you (especially from you as a fellow therapist!) and of course also what doesn't work...
I really, really like your writing here Veronika. How you connect the "chattering Acknow gatherer" and the Zugunruhe of the intellect directly to the idea of a colonized inner world. The Weber quote brings it all home. It reframes the "monkey mind" not as a flaw to be silenced, but as a symptom of a deeper displacement. The call to "become wild again" by trusting our "indigeniality" is a powerful antidote to the fragmentation described.
You are right about how deeply this "internal colonialism" is reinforced by our modern world, especially the "Digital Age". Paul Carus who I wrote about would have called this "bankruptcy of thought."
Thank you Colin! Yes, it is easy to think that only the 'other faculties' have been neglected and the 'intellect is the strong one' because it has been placed at the helm of the mind. But that's not true, as you also observe in your own work. Consciousness doesn't work like that... When the intellect is overburdened with functions which are meant to be fulfilled by other faculties, it is no wonder that people suffer from 'mental burnout' that they can't think for themselves anymore. Everything collapses...
This reminds me of a common saying in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and other addiction recovery groups (circles?), "your best thinking got you here".
There is indeed something to be said about the power of the intellect, but also the 'other' 'unexplainable' side to your self, soul, and spirit. There needs to be a marriage between them and until humanity is able to do so, we will look outside for validation and healing.
This from Weber is just perfect too "“We must decolonise ourselves, our soul, our thinking. We must rediscover the indigeniality in ourselves, invite it, trust it, We must become wild again — wild does not mean without rules (as Hobbes assumed), but open for exchange in a world of reciprocity.” I couldn't agree more. As usual a fascinating read, one which I will have to read again, loved so much of this Veronika. Thanks so much for your amazing writing and apologies for not having engaged more recently :)
Hi Veronika,
“But is this enough to sustain the wounded traveller along the length and breadth of the healing journey?
I can totally relate to the ‘heavy heart’ aspect. When John was diagnosed — we had recently done the tree change, had my mother with us etc. I was totally overwhelmed — the therapist was ill equipped, arguing with me that I should put my mother into aged care to alleviate my burden. Needless to say, I didn’t last long with a therapist unable to listen.
I had previously visited a therapist who helped me (in my mid 40s) re a workplace situation which triggered a childhood trauma. I went back to her after John died, though she wasn’t able to help, (by her own admission) — other to say she would “want someone like me”, if she had a terminal illness and wanted to die at home. So, my time with therapists was done.
My own inner work started with utilising my intellect — study being a space of comfort and curiosity for me, and affording a sense of control in relation to deconstructing literature etc. Coupled with meditation and spiritual seeking, the (unexpected) gift was the opening guidance to the other realm of existence (the team). For that I am grateful as it coincided with my growing discomfort in the mainstream-ness and egotism prevalent in both mainstream and spiritual and healing circles. And I had enough of giving my power over to others — the old trauma response. Though, I was also a little bemused with myself, that I was edging away from my intellect — the more the portals opened to the team. Until I understood that it wasn’t an either, or, choice. I just needed to go in with an openness and willingness to challenge some of my own beliefs — and trust. The intellect lead me there ... and back to nature. And nature expanded the portals that had opened in meditation. My body receives and my mind gives me the language to share the experience of recovery — and healing. My enthusiasm for learning continues, such is creativity and curiosity. A spiral.
Thank you so much for the clarification and knowledge you share. Your wisdom brings further assurance and empowerment to self.
“In other words, healing is not a matter of mind or body. The synergy of all Faculties can achieve near miraculous results.”
“Wholeness can only thrive while recognising the gifts, contributions, and interactions of all Faculties.”
The questions you pose around our ‘monkey mind’ are fabulous. The Chinese xin, how interesting. And ...
“What if the Intellect needs to move around the evolutionary spiral of being, again and again, to grasp the meaning of it all?”
“Kant basically managed to show and explain that the Intellect doesn’t function without Instinct, Imagination, Intuition, Inspiration, Soul, Will and Body”
“And yet, defying all logic and evidence, the anthropocentric paradigm is clinging to the thesis that logic is superior to the non-logical Faculties.”
“Developers and disciples of the Digital Age lean heavily on pure logic. The Intellect is, yet again, summoned to carry the main burden of what the vital organs of the living organism of human Consciousness are made to share.”
“ ... this new religion of digital technology ... this is a late stage of the anthropocentric era, clinging to the doctrine of ‘salvation by logic’.
I am thoroughly enjoying the journey home. Thank you for enriching it — your knowledge and work in weaving it together what you offer us. A gift
“As a result of this loss of home, the Inner Expert has been overburdened with tasks which are beyond his capacity and charged with responsibilities which were never designed to be fulfilled by him alone.”
Currently revisiting Ch 15 — I keep coming back, so much to consider learn, through all faculties ... and realms of being, with the team. Thank you. 😊 🙏 🌀 🌱 💜
Oh Simone! What a delicious, juicy response. I just want to give you a huge warm hug!!!
Isn't it sad and disheartening that we couldn't find what we needed in the forests of the healing professions and spiritual teachings? Isn't that a prime expression for the loss of elders in Western culture?
Like you, this inability to find what I needed, propelled me into doing this work, finding out for myself. This is what catapulted me into studying homœopathy in my mid thirties (to understand what I needed to do to bring up healthy children) and in my early forties, after a massive life crash, to start writing, delve deeper into psychosynthesis practices and develop my own practice (to save myself from drowning)
"study being a space of comfort and curiosity for me, and affording a sense of control" — this is such a great example for the comfort and healing the Intellect can offer.
Creativity and healing can thrive when all Faculties are nourished!
It has taken me an unexpected loooong time before I was able to present this work to 'the public', partly because it's taken so long, and so many versions of writing, before I understood it fully enough myself, partly because I needed to become a reasonably good writer, and in big part because I needed to develop Synchronosophy and the Kairotrophic practice enough to explain what is so fundamentally different about it...
Your response is telling me that I'm finally getting there. My heart is smiling with gratitude 💗 🤍 🙏 ✨
Hi Veronika,
All hugs welcome and gratefully received — and returned 🙏 💜
Yes, the loss of elders in Western culture is a wound that continues to fester. I recognise the ancient-indigenous wisdom of the first nations people in this country — with a deep respect for their kinship and teachings. I still have much to learn. Their relationship in being of country is nourishing and healing — why aren't we tapping into that, in each place, to meld with western practice? A collaboration of learning — being?
"Creativity and healing can thrive when all Faculties are nourished!" Yes 🙌
I feel and read the dedication in your work and practice, offering us a process so empowering, a framework where people can delve into your researched approach, as per their want and needs. That is just WOW Veronika. It really is a gift. People can keep coming back at each new level of their understanding, and of being — at their pace. You build self autonomy, in and with community 🙏
Thank you, my heart is full of gratitude. 💚 🌀 🌊
that is precisely my intention... or what I feel I am called to do. Offering a path to self-autonomy to whoever is seeking and resonates with it 💚 🌀 🌊 xxx
Veronika!
There’s so much here I need to just keep reading and reading . This is such a gift. I love reading the comments. Totally agree healing is making whole. As a physiotherapist and a bodyworker professionally this all collides beyond just thinking. So much is connecting here and I love your diagram and your download. I love how you reason through all of this. You share resources I immediately want to dive into. Thank you for the opportunity to practically apply it. It’s definitely a collision on a wild path. A labyrinth. A spiral. A widening circle.
The Noctarine!
Thank you for being here. Living into the questions. Your writing takes me to places way beyond thinking. 🙏❤️
You are most welcome, Jamie 💗. I am delighted that my writing speaks to you, and the practice feels inviting to dive in. "A good theory is only as good as its practice," (or something along these lines Josh always tells me)
The image of the path through the labyrinth came to me only during the final edit and enabled me to put together the sequence I'm sharing in the practice sheet. I always do the practices myself, as I write them. So my writing also takes me to places beyond... Living into the questions indeed.
And I'd love to hear how the practice works for you... did I ask 'the right questions'?? xx
"There's nothing so practical as a good theory". :)
that's what it was 🙏 🤭
I feel both thrilled and relieved to open the cognitive field up to more than solely the Intellect! And I can’t ignore the implications of this—if we begin to value the spiraling, diverse, even hidden, layers of cognition, we may also then be more open to learning from the neurodivergent and elderly populations.
Thank you Kimberly 💗 🙏 ✨ ...begin to value the spiraling... layers of cognition... Absolutely! For me it always starts with being open to and learning from the neurodivergent and immature populations within myself.
Ah! I love this!
Dear Veronika, as a psychotherapist married to a physiotherapist, we quickly learned that healing works best when approached holistically. Over three decades in both our fields, we’ve seen that mind and body are deeply intertwined and true healing requires more than talk - it asks for movement, stillness and reconnection with instinct. All traits of the restless Inner Expert, who coils their collections in spirals - gathering wisdom through experience, reflection and the cyclical nature of healing itself.
Long before therapists existed, people sought healing in nature - rivers, meadows, forests and mountaintops, letting wind, birdsong and shifting light work their quiet magick. I do the same, centuries later - walking through parks, sitting in gardens, feeling the deep restoration nature provides. Even my friend, in her final days, wanted only to sit in the hospice garden and listen to the birds.
All therapies have limits, but for me, healing lies in embodying wisdom rather than merely discussing it. A juicy approach - one that feels fully alive - must embrace both intellect and instinct. The intellect, as explored in your work, thrives in collaboration with other faculties of consciousness. Thought is an interwoven, cyclical process - not a linear act - reflecting what we witness in therapy. Healing is never just rationality or logic; it requires a deeper homecoming to the self.
Many therapists recognise this balance. Several of my colleagues now offer ‘walk and talk’ therapy along seafront promenades and through country estates, mirroring how movement and nature facilitate deeper healing. Body therapists, too, understand that talking can be part of healing - much like Fogg’s obsession with learning about the hand after her accident.
We’re getting there, gradually finding equilibrium - holding the tension between reason and instinct, giving each its rightful place. Because in the end, balance is key. Healing isn’t a rigid path but a cyclical journey - returning to oneself in ways that feel organic, restorative and whole.
Once I start writing, it’s hard to stop as healing is a topic that deeply fascinate me. (You can probably tell!) Which brings me to thank you so much for this rich and insightful post.
OH YES! Thank you so much for this thoughtful, heartful, soulful, mindful, fullbodied response and resonance.
Having studied and trained in classical homœopathy, Psychosynthesis, some Alexander Technique and a smidgen of Trager Work, and being married to an Alexander teacher, I was fortunate to be introduced to the holistic approach to healing in my 'primary modality' (classical homœopathy), am familiar with people rejecting 'talk therapy' and surprised by practitioners who claim that AT or TW can 'heal everything'. I know things have moved on since then... while some opinions remain stubborn... (sadly, we've also met some therapists who'd rather die than revisit their theories...)
Healing requires a deeper homecoming to the self! Beautifully said.
In the theory and practice of Synchronosophy/ Kairotrophy, the most important practice is keeping an open mind. I constantly learn how much I need to learn...
Only today, doing the 'Labyrinth' practice session (in the download) before posting it, my own answers hit me in the face, making me realise how little we know about indigenous and communal living (for example). I mean real knowing! From generations of experiencing and akenning.
There is no way we can simply 'snap ourselves back to a wholesome way of life', if it only exists as a nostalgic image in the realms of our dreaming.
Healing IS a fascinating topic! For me too, so I totally understand. Healing is Making Whole. We may not be able to 'return to the old ways' because there is nothing to return to. But thanks to the spiralling movement of life itself there is always the option to meander forward, to grow into the wholeness we remember in our bones and the interstices of the mind. 🤍 🙏 ✨
It’s wonderful to glimpse a little more of your story, Veronika. When I met my wife and discovered she was a body therapist, I told her, ‘Great, that’s mind and body taken care of. Together, we’ll find soul.’ And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing ever since. What a serendipitous and magickal journey life is!
Oh, I missed the download part, I'll take a look later. Thanks so much. 🤍 🙏 ✨
Each of the chapters in this series will have a downloadable practice session. One each for the 8 vital Faculties of Consciousness... I'd be very curious and most grateful to hear how they work for you (especially from you as a fellow therapist!) and of course also what doesn't work...
Yes, I'd be more than happy to take a look later in the year, Veronika, as we’ll soon be travelling and offline for most, if not all, of July.
I really, really like your writing here Veronika. How you connect the "chattering Acknow gatherer" and the Zugunruhe of the intellect directly to the idea of a colonized inner world. The Weber quote brings it all home. It reframes the "monkey mind" not as a flaw to be silenced, but as a symptom of a deeper displacement. The call to "become wild again" by trusting our "indigeniality" is a powerful antidote to the fragmentation described.
You are right about how deeply this "internal colonialism" is reinforced by our modern world, especially the "Digital Age". Paul Carus who I wrote about would have called this "bankruptcy of thought."
Thank you Colin! Yes, it is easy to think that only the 'other faculties' have been neglected and the 'intellect is the strong one' because it has been placed at the helm of the mind. But that's not true, as you also observe in your own work. Consciousness doesn't work like that... When the intellect is overburdened with functions which are meant to be fulfilled by other faculties, it is no wonder that people suffer from 'mental burnout' that they can't think for themselves anymore. Everything collapses...
This reminds me of a common saying in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and other addiction recovery groups (circles?), "your best thinking got you here".
There is indeed something to be said about the power of the intellect, but also the 'other' 'unexplainable' side to your self, soul, and spirit. There needs to be a marriage between them and until humanity is able to do so, we will look outside for validation and healing.
Another knock out essay, Veronika. 🙏🌟🥰
thank you Lani 💗 🙏
This from Weber is just perfect too "“We must decolonise ourselves, our soul, our thinking. We must rediscover the indigeniality in ourselves, invite it, trust it, We must become wild again — wild does not mean without rules (as Hobbes assumed), but open for exchange in a world of reciprocity.” I couldn't agree more. As usual a fascinating read, one which I will have to read again, loved so much of this Veronika. Thanks so much for your amazing writing and apologies for not having engaged more recently :)
Oh, thank you so much for dropping in, Jonathan. I'm sure you had plenty of other things on your mind and plate...
I'm delighted that it speaks to you 🤍 🙏
yep. direct spot on accurate express-i-on of infinite boundless unbound love pure wholly holy and complete innocent goodness <3
Thank you Christine! 🤍 🙏