Boxed Healing Exercise: Before We Die

Written By Sharon Berk

This practice invites you to gently approach the places in your life shaped by trauma — wounds, regrets, silences, and coping strategies that once kept you safe. Move slowly. Pause often. Treat yourself with tenderness.

The Healing Steps

1. Name the Wound You Carried

Identify one wound that shaped you — a moment of fear, abandonment, or emotional injury.

Write:

  • What happened?

  • What part of me still carries this?

2. Honor the Ways You Survived

Every coping strategy was a form of protection.

Write:

  • How did I adapt to survive?

  • In what ways did I protect myself?

Affirm:
 “I honour how I survived.”

3. Face One Regret Without Shame

Regret is the echo of fear — the choice we couldn’t make, the truth we couldn’t speak, the boundary we couldn’t hold.

Choose one regret you are ready to face gently.

Write:

  • What do I regret?

  • What fear shaped that choice?

  • What compassion can I offer myself now?

Affirm:
 “I forgive myself for not knowing what I know now.”

4. Return What Was Never Yours

Many burdens we carry — guilt, shame, responsibility — belong to someone else.

Write:

  • What weight am I carrying that isn’t mine to hold?

Imagine returning it to its rightful place.

5. Speak One Truth You Once Hid to Stay Safe

Choose a truth you swallowed to avoid conflict or harm.

Write:

  • What truth does my voice ache to speak?

Whisper it aloud. Even softly is enough.

6. Choose One Act of Courage for Today

Healing grows from small, steady choices.

Write:

  • What gentle act of courage can I take today?

7. Leave a Light for Those Who Come After You

Healing becomes a legacy when shared.

Write:

  • What wisdom would I offer someone who still lives in the dark I once knew?

This becomes your quiet offering.

Reflection: What This Work Reveals

After completing the exercise, pause and notice what surfaced.

  • What surprised me?

  • Where did I feel resistance?

  • What regret still asks for compassion?

  • What truth felt difficult to speak?

  • What does it feel like to carry less?

  • What small act of courage can I honour moving forward?

Place a hand on your heart and say softly:

“I am allowed to begin again.”

Let these words settle through your body. Healing unfolds slowly, with every act of gentleness you offer yourself.

Sharon Berk
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