It wasn’t until I studied holistic therapies that I became aware of the word ‘practitioner’. For me, this meant someone that had trained in something specific, such as massage, physiotherapy, counselling or aromatherapy. If I am really honest, once I got my qualification in Reflexology and holistic therapies and started practising, there was definitely an element of “Here I am – I have finally got somewhere in my life,” even though I knew I was kidding myself and it was only the beginning and there was a lot more to learn.
Indeed, there was a lot more to learn! Even though I was a ‘practitioner’, I was not looking after my health and wellbeing, or taking care of myself. I was not eating well, I was eating on the go, and not listening to or honouring my body, which eventually led to an illness that forced me to stop being a ‘practitioner’ and go back to work in an office environment while looking at my health.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I heard the term ‘practitioner’ being used in the office workplace. People were calling themselves practitioners and at the time I felt this was really strange. Why would you do that? A practitioner was someone that had a qualification and worked in the bodywork / therapy industry, not a team Manager!
Through Universal Medicine, what I have come to realise is that actually we are all practitioners, no matter what our age, qualifications or job role; that each and every one of us has something to bring or reflect to another person.
This was made really clear to me while I was on a recent training course, where the room was set up with the person at the front of the room as the trainer ‘teacher’, and the people listening as the ‘students’.
It was a long and painful day and it wasn’t until the end of the day, when we did a group exercise, that everyone in the room came alive. The ‘students’ were talking about the young people they were working with, sharing their experiences until eventually at one point everyone in the room was helping each other with the cases they were working on.
For me this was gold and very valuable, far more valuable than everyone sitting facing one person listening to them talk. It emphasised that we are all practitioners, that is, we all have our lived experiences and know if these have truly supported ourselves and others, or not. We all have access to the same innate wisdom within us, whether young or old. It is just a case of whether we know how to connect to this or not. Being a practitioner is not a title, it is a way of living – how we live and what we learn from choices, either good or bad, that we have made. It is a forever learning and evolving.
I am continually inspired by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine who consistently reflect to me that we are all practitioners of life.
By Vicky Cooke, London
Related Reading:
I Thought I Was a Great Healer
Medicine is Life
Lesson for LIFE & Beyond – The UNFOLDING PATH
We are practitioners simply by living and inspiring others by the way that we live.
So true Rebecca, our Livingness to the best of our ability is a shining inspiration so that the reflection of what it looks like to be connected to our inner-most is felt.
For more on reflection go to;
http://www.unimedliving.com/search?keyword=reflection
This is a great reminder of the importance of our choices in our lives not only for ourselves but for all those around us and ultimately humanity.
We are all responsible for reflecting our livingness – to each and every person we may or may not meet.
I think it is essential to understand this principle that supports purpose in everything you do.
Yes, I agree, it is an important principle to understand, as then, relationships between people and even with oneself would prosper.
Perhaps if we all appreciated we are all practitioners there would be a lot less pressure on our health professionals to ‘fix’ our problems.
Absolutely, our life then becomes our responsibility on every level, from health to relationships to work to family to community … it is all one, our actions, thoughts, words … there are no segments.
Yes indeed Vicky, we are certainly all members of practitioners of life. From the moment we are born to our very last breath, we are constantly reflecting something for each other to learn and grow. Every choice we make is an opportunity to evolve, to inspire each other and to appreciate who we are and what we can reflect to humanity.
We all have so much to offer and share; sometimes one word can transform a situation for a person – I love that we are all practitioners of life.
Being a Practitioner of Life brings purpose to everything one does.
Thank you Vicky, being a practitioner of life is simply letting go of the conditions we place on ourselves of how we need to be and allow that which is innate for us to come through and be expressed in our daily living, it is simple and a choice we can make at all times and a true reflection that so needed by all.
Yep and it also brings it back to equality .. that everyone is equal it does not matter what role we have as a job.
When we bring self-honesty into our everyday conversations – it is an opportunity for another to open to the possibility of greater honesty and understanding themselves. If we keep guarded or holding back in judgment of ourselves or another, if we are waiting for another to make the move, then the opportunity to learn and grow is missed.
Approaching life as a practitioner and forever student equally helps us all learn from each other and equally embrace the responsibility to share what we have learned – bringing us all ever closer towards true brotherhood here on earth.
Love what you have shared Annie, and may I add that as a practitioner all judgment of others also drops away.
For more on judgement go to;
http://www.unimedliving.com/search?keyword=JUDGMENT
Considering ourselves as practitioners we embrace the responsibility that integrity doesn’t have an on/off switch…
When you recognise that everyone is equally a practitioner, you can’t but help notice and appreciate their own style, talents and strengths that they have in the way they express and the positive contribution they bring to something.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say we are all practitioners and clients in equal measure.
Yes absolutely learning the whole time.
There is an important message here: having a ‘title’ does not mean there is nothing more to learn in that area, life is forever offering us opportunities to deepen our understanding and awareness. And on the other hand not having a ‘title’ does not mean we have nothing to contribute, everyone is a master in the life they have lived and by that virtue have a lot to contribute, even if it is to say “don’t do any of what I did because it clearly didn’t work!”.
“Through Universal Medicine, what I have come to realise is that actually we are all practitioners, no matter what our age, qualifications or job role; that each and every one of us has something to bring or reflect to another person” – absolutely, and the greatest healing is when we leave our job title or position etc. ‘at the door’ so to speak, and enter the room equal to whoever is inside, reflecting both the necessity and responsibility of this humbleness.
“Through Universal Medicine, what I have come to realise is that actually we are all practitioners, no matter what our age, qualifications or job role; that each and every one of us has something to bring or reflect to another person.” – And hence we could say we are all role models, and also that we are all teachers in this world too!
I love the song by Michael Benhayon “we are all teachers in this world” it is so true, we all have so much to share with others.
There is a beautiful equality here in this blog, stating how everyone is a practitioner of life and bringing home the fact that not a single person is without energetic awareness and responsibility.
Since experiencing my first Esoteric Healing session, I found the practitioner had a depth and level of wisdom they could bring which helped me on so many levels, it has inspired me to see how this is possible with the profession I work in. How amazing would it be to receive this in medicine, hairdressing and at the mechanic!!
To recognise how we are all equal practitioners of life, you simply can not be in any judgment or comparison with another.
Recognising that everyone is a practitioner of life, means to recognise and claim this about ourselves too, that our own life experiences, realisations and continuous curiosity and questioning about things that matter hold a level of authority and understanding through the life experiences we ourselves have discovered. Having this sense of authority about ourselves, (not big ‘I know it ego’) brings genuine humbleness and respect without giving your power away to another.
Group work is invaluable for us all to realise we have our own expression to add from our experiences as people and as practitioners. When we all contribute, we get a greater reflection of learning from many others, not expecting the practitioner to heal us. We heal ourselves.
Thank you Vicky for highlighting the responsibility we all equally hold through the way we live, the quality we choose to live in, as it is this quality that we bring to life and share with all that we meet. In other words our movements, choices and actions are either healing or harming, evolving or de-evolving at any given moment. As you say we are all practitioners of life and as such all have equal greatness to live and share with the world.
“…that each and every one of us has something to bring or reflect to another person…” totally agree, and once you see and experience this then it knocks out any crumb of ‘better than, less than’ behaviour.
It is beautiful how we are all practitioners of life, our roles and jobs could be different, but the essence is that we are all true practitioners, in our daily lives, with this we are reflecting in every moment.
No matter what job we do we all touch and affect people’s lives through the way that we live and so we cannot but be practitioners – the quality of the practitioner that we choose to be is what counts, in whatever arena that happens to be.
We all have our role in life and to the best of our ability the way we live should always be fully responsible so that every interaction is for the evolution of all humanity. Then this way of approaching a job becomes all about being connected and not doing so this brings equality.
For more on connection go to;
http://www.unimedliving.com/search?keyword=CONNECTION
I love this Vicky and certain from my experience have come to understand that everyone is a practitioner in there own expression what ever that maybe. I personally am a senior manager in hospitality as well as being a practitioner on the Saturdays. Each one is just as valid as the other, it is about the quality in the way I do things.
A true practitioner of life is always open to learning, always open to deepening…
And this reflection upon what a practitioner truly is actually redefines the word and makes it a living truth of an expression of love for humanity.
I was at a community group on raising teens the other day and the facilitators set up the space as a circle rather than seats looking towards one main presenter. This was awesome as it allowed everyone to share equally. We all have things to bring and we all have things to work on, the beauty is that once we start to open up, you realise that we are all able to be support to one another and that life experience is sometimes just as valuable as a piece of paper, sometimes even more valuable.
Appreciating we are all practitioners asks us to be equally responsible rather than rely on another to do it for us, but also gives permission for us to share our experiences in life for all to benefit.
Every one certainly is a practitioner in life – you can sell an apple to someone and transform their life in the way that you hand them the apple and look them in the eyes with an open heart; you can clean someone’s house and leave an imprint that supports to carry them forth in more ways that you realise. We don’t have to have a clinic nor a bookings system with clients coming regularly, in order to feed our community back the support that they deserve! Life itself is a practice, it is simply what we make of it that makes it the transformation it is (or not).
Everyone is a practitioner of life – regardless of age, gender and occupation – “Being a practitioner is not a title, it is a way of living – how we live and what we learn from choices, either good or bad, that we have made. It is a forever learning and evolving.”
I love how being a practitioner of life we are also forever students. We are always open to opportunities of learning and discovery, when we are connected and aware to our surroundings and connections. Sharing the way we live through our expression is a gift and is one we can continue to deepen and enjoy forevermore.
When we accept, appreciate and confirm that we are all practitioners of life and how we all have our own unique qualities to share with the world, this would go a long way to eliminating all the jealously and comparison issues which are so common place in our world today.
Not sure if this is true, but reading this today it felt like when you become a practitioner, you become more public in a way, you are more ‘out there’ and are representing something. And thinking about it some more, we are all ‘out there’ just by being alive, and walking the streets, going to work, going shopping etc… and then that begs the question, what are we representing? Interesting one to ponder…
Yep definitely worth pondering some more. I recently felt this at work in how am on my way to work, when I walk into the building and when I speak with colleagues. What am I representing, am I caring and am I true to what I feel?
Am I true to what I feel? I love that Vicky, I will take that into my day/s and do as part of my check-ins with myself.
‘That each and every one of us has something to bring or reflect to another person’ is a true blessing and when you pair that with the fact that our everyday life is all about learning, growing and letting go of what is not true then we can indeed see each other as practitioners of life that are here to simultaneously teach and be a student at the same time.
It was only until I started attending Universal Medicine presentations that I started to value my life experiences, good, bad and ugly they all are valueable and worth sharing as another may learn from them.
The beauty of connecting with others is listening to their lived experiences and being inspired to share your own. We have all lived life and experienced life in oh so many ways and it is then shared from our movements of our bodies and that is a very cool way to learn, observe and connect with others. Thank you Vicky.
Everyone is a practitioner – we are either healing or harming, bringing expansion or contraction in everything we do, there is no middle ground.