Healing Trauma from Within - The Eight Extraordinary Vessels & The Inner Light

Understanding The Inner Light - An Organising Force

How do we heal from traumatic experiences for good? Is that even possible? And, how do we go about it?

One of the questions I get at least once a week is: what's wrong with me? And that's a question I used to ask myself on a regular basis too. Frustration from debilitating symptoms, a difficult situation in life, a difficult relationship, or hardship are some of the things that can

bring us down and lead to feelings of depression, desperation, and general unhappiness.

Especially when we begin to suspect that whatever is happening is linked to something wrong within ourselves or our body.

And so we embark on a 'war path' against the symptoms, looking for ways to change things.

We often hear it said: we are perfect as we are, all is well. However, in the face of adversity, it is sometimes hard to accept this as a truth, or use this type of thinking for a return to health.

And so, naturally, we look for solutions to stop the suffering.

But what if we do not need to fix ourselves? And what if it was true that we are indeed perfect as we are? What would this mean, in practice?

The Inner Light as an Organising Force

One of the most amazing aspects of beginning to consider this question from a clinical perspective is where the answer might lead us.

Recent research in the field of biophysics is beginning to look at the role of biophotons – weak light emitted by DNA molecules and “a universal mechanism for the regulation and transmission of signals in the body” (Extrica 2025).

This exciting new frontier touches on what I am about to talk about: the Inner Light as an organising force that heals from within.

It also beautifully links in with what TCM calls Pre-Heaven Essence, the substance that contains our original Qi, the Spiritual Life Force we are born with, that which contains our resources and - as Yvonne Farrell calls them 'gifts'.

As Giovanni Maciocia puts it:

This Pre-Heaven Essence is what determines each person’s basic constitutional make-up, strength, and vitality. It is what makes each individual unique.

This Essence provides sustenance, nourishment, and, with further refinement, goes on to transform into Yuan Qi – Original Qi.

This highly precious form of Qi is then managed by the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, the deepest and most important meridian system. This system acts as a reservoir, circulating, storing, and managing our inner resources.

This is the system that puts us in touch with our inner resources – those that support us in the effort of thriving, accessing, and using our gifts.

And from here, we can also begin to understand the meaning of a phrase we often hear repeated within spiritual circles: “God is inside of ourselves.”

As we travel beyond the energy in these vessels, we encounter what I have experienced as The Particle of God. By this, I don’t mean God in a religious sense, but the force that gives birth to everything that is. This organising force contains the intelligence and knowing that is ours as a birthright.

This is perhaps the most exciting aspect: this work implies perfection as “given” – something that exists inside of ourselves – something we can contact consciously.

The Inner Light, Original Qi and Consciousness - A physiological perspective

This is where things become interesting and exciting!

When we talk about the Inner Light, we often consider it as a spiritual or philosophical concept. If we are spiritual, we will agree that we can access this Inner Light, considered as our Divinity and connection with our Soul.

But what if this Inner Light was something we can engage from a physiological perspective?

What if this Inner Light responds to intention and engagement just as materially as moving a chair?

The Inner Light as a physiological reality - exciting perspectives

Before we proceed, I'd like to clarify that, when I say “physiological,” I don’t just mean muscles, organs, or chemistry. I mean the organising intelligence of the body — the same force that shapes an embryo into a human being, heals a cut, and guides the unfolding of life. This is the Inner Light: not an abstract idea, but an embodied organising force that lives within us.

Interestingly, when working with the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, we begin to touch on the idea of Inner Light. Especially when we look at it from Yvonne Farrell’s perspective, when she speaks to the inner perfection that already resides within.

In her work with the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, she talks about how engaging with this system allows us to access the gifts that have been ours from birth. These gifts are not something we have to create — they are already present, waiting beneath the layers that life’s challenges have placed upon them.

In the same way, this Inner Light already contains all the resources, information, and knowledge we need to thrive, release what weighs us down, and move beyond.

In my own work, I call this process Memory of Light – the practice of reconnecting consciously with the Inner Light that remembers our original state of wholeness. In this method, healing from trauma is not about “fixing” but about accessing the part of ourselves that already knows exactly what is needed for restoration.

By engaging with this light directly, we invite it to guide the clearing of blockages, the dissolving of whatever 'shades' it and the restoration of flow in a way that feels deeply embodied and profoundly personal.

And so, how does this help us in the understanding of how to release and heal trauma?

Healing through the Inner Light

When we experience traumatic events — it can be a disease, a difficult situation in life, a breakup, the death of a loved one, or anything in between — the body (not just our mind) must deal with that experience.

Experiences are registered and recorded by the body, and the energy of them must be dealt with. If the body is unable to deal with such changes, the system, as clever as it is, will make it its priority to stop the experience from producing harm, in protection of our vital organs.

And so, very much like the immune system kicks in to surround viruses and bacteria so they won’t harm us further, our energy system will take that energy and “store it” somewhere away from our vital organs.

This is especially true if the experience is so devastating that we simply cannot even begin to process it. In such cases, it will be pushed into the deepest aspects of our energy system — our Eight Extraordinary Vessels.

From this perspective, we can begin to understand shading: how a traumatic event begins to hinder the normal flow of energy within the body by layering itself. As life unfolds, we store trauma away until the layers become too heavy for the body to continue to function.

This very much mirrors the body's 'buffer system'. This system is there to protect against toxic overload and maintain a stable PH of 7.35-7.45, therefore neutralising excess acid and base. When the system becomes overwhelmed by an excess of toxins, these will begin to be stored away in the body. For a while, we may feel healthy and well, but sure enough, after some time, the system will reach a saturation limit. Accumulated toxins begin to slow, affect and change physiological processes, which usually marks the time when we start to experience symptoms.

In a similar way, when trauma is 'stored away' in the body, there is a point at which the limit is reached, and the system can take a mis-step.

And what of the Inner Light — that which already exists within? This Inner Light can be affected by trauma and experiences in a very similar way. I call this process shading. For example, when we were children, our parents got divorced. As a result, we may have experienced a great sense of anger. This anger, if not dealt with and released, becomes internalised, and its physical energy will accumulate somewhere in the body. This is how a trapped emotion is formed.

The trapped emotion is pushed into a joint, which not only interferes with the meridian system but also acts as a “curtain” that overlays the innermost layers — therefore shading the Inner Light.

When traumatic experiences enter our innermost layers, they act like curtains — they create a barrier between our conscious self and energy and our Inner Resources.

Drawing the curtains

What is most amazing about healing through the Inner Light and the Eight Extraordinary Vessels is that, instead of reprogramming or bringing in external resources to help the body balance, we work to reconnect our conscious self with the inner intelligence that already exists as a blueprint of perfection — the perfection that resonates with who we are individually, the perfection that creates balance for us personally.

And this is where I can finally answer the question: what is wrong with me? Nothing!

The work with the Eight Extraordinary Vessels operates in the realm of our deepest energy system, allowing these to begin to distribute our resources again, putting us back in touch with our Gifts.

Working with the Inner Light allows us to reconnect consciously with the God essence that lives inside of us. This, in turn, produces a sense of coming home — a sense of remembering who we really are. And this Light can be engaged to release any blocks, thought patterns, trauma, or other forms of shading — in a way that feels empowering and embodied.

This type of work helps us to get to know ourselves, to remember that we do have all the resources we need, consciously. This work moves us from belief to knowing. How? Because it is something we experience inside our body, with conscious awareness.

This is what makes all the difference. Once we remember who we are, reconnect with our resources, our perspective towards any obstacle and even the way we perceive things and ourselves will begin to change.

This change is the result of a deep connection with a sense of confidence that needs no confirmation. We move from belief to knowing.

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