Reflections on interconnectedness, personal responsibility and the extraordinary possibilities of inner healing.
I’ve been reading a fascinating book called The Interconnectedness of All Things: From the Perpetual Choirs of Britain to the Present Day by John Gibson-Forty.
It’s one of those books that invites you to pause, reflect and consider the world, and our place within it, from a slightly different perspective.
One particular passage caught my attention. It described the Hawaiian healing practice of Ho’oponopono and the remarkable story of Dr Ihaleakala Hew Len, a psychologist whose approach to healing was quite unlike anything we might ordinarily expect.
I’d come across Ho’oponopono before, but reading about it again, particularly in the context of interconnectedness, has rekindled my curiosity.
And what a fascinating possibility it presents!
What if healing begins within ourselves?
The story describes Dr Hew Len’s work at Hawaii State Hospital, where he reportedly helped bring about extraordinary improvements in a psychiatric ward.
What makes the account so intriguing is that, rather than working directly with each patient in the conventional therapeutic sense, he described reviewing their files and then turning his attention inwards.
Instead of asking how he could fix the patients, he asked what within himself needed healing.
His understanding was that the experiences appearing in his life were connected with subconscious memories or patterns within himself. Through Ho’oponopono, he sought to cleanse and release these memories.
The ward he worked in had reportedly been considered a particularly difficult and troubled place. Patients were described as being seriously unwell, with some requiring restraints, while staff morale was low and sickness absence and turnover was high. The atmosphere was said to be tense, challenging and, at times, unsafe.
According to the story, Dr Hew Len began working with the patients’ records and practising Ho’oponopono privately, repeating the phrases I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you as he looked at each person’s file. He believed that by healing the memories within himself that were connected to what he was witnessing, something could begin to shift in the wider situation too.
Over time, the account describes patients becoming calmer and more engaged, with some eventually being able to reduce their medication or return to the community. Staff relationships reportedly improved, sickness absence and turnover decreased and the ward became a more peaceful and manageable environment.
The most remarkable part of the story is that, as patients improved and were able to leave the hospital or move into less restrictive care, the ward gradually emptied. Eventually, there were no longer enough patients to keep it open, and it was closed down.
That closure was not a sign of any failure. Quite the opposite. It was described as the positive result of people recovering sufficiently to move on, rather than remaining in a ward that had once seemed impossible to change.
What if, rather than focusing entirely on changing something outside ourselves, we first look at what is being stirred, reflected or activated within us?
And what might change in our relationships, our interactions and our wider experience of life when we do?
Ho’oponopono - making things right
Ho’oponopono is a Hawaiian practice associated with reconciliation, forgiveness and restoring harmony.
The particular approach taught by Dr Hew Len, known as Self I-Identity through Ho’oponopono, was developed by Hawaiian healer Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona.
It involves taking responsibility for cleansing the memories and patterns within our own consciousness, rather than trying to control or change others.
One of its most familiar expressions involves four simple phrases:
I’m sorry.
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
I love you.
Such simple words, yet each offers an invitation to soften, acknowledge, forgive, appreciate and love.
What especially interests me is that the practice does not require us to identify or intellectually understand every subconscious pattern.
There is something rather liberating about that!
We can spend so much time trying to understand why we feel as we do, tracing experiences back through our lives, looking for causes and making sense of our inner landscape.
That exploration can be enormously valuable.
But perhaps there are also times when we can simply acknowledge that something within us is asking for compassion, and allow the process of release without needing to know every detail.
The Huna philosophy - a beautiful resonance
Another aspect of the book that particularly resonates with me is its exploration of Huna philosophy, as presented by Serge Kahili King.
King’s teachings offer seven guiding principles, several of which beautifully reflect my own understanding of consciousness, energy and our relationship with the world.
Four in particular stand out:
Ike - The world is what you think it is.
Our beliefs, expectations, interpretations and perceptions profoundly influence our experience of reality.
Makia - Energy flows where attention goes.
What we continually focus upon shapes our experience. Where are we placing our attention, and what are we nurturing through it?
Kala - There are no limits.
An invitation to question the boundaries we perceive between ourselves, others and the wider world, and to remain open to possibilities beyond our existing understanding.
Manawa - Now is the moment of power.
Whatever has happened in the past, the present moment offers an opportunity to respond differently, change our perspective or make a new choice.
These principles, part of King’s particular presentation of Huna, sit beautifully alongside his teachings on love, inner power and practical effectiveness.
They resonate strongly with how I experience the world, particularly through my work with holistic guidance, consciousness, nature and subtle energies.
There is something deeply meaningful to me about recognising that we are not simply separate individuals moving through an unrelated world.
We are in relationship with everything around us, influencing and being influenced, continually participating in the unfolding experience of life.
A personal turning inward
On a personal level, over the past year I’ve noticed myself turning my attention more inwardly.
My outward focus has been gently receding, not because I’ve lost interest in the world or in the people and experiences around me, but because something within me has been naturally calling me towards a deeper level of inner work.
It feels less like a deliberate withdrawal and more like a natural transition. A quiet rebalancing of attention, allowing me to become more present with my own inner landscape, consciousness and sense of Self.
There is a growing feeling that this inward movement is part of a deeper process of coming home to myself. Of listening more closely, becoming more aware of what lies beneath the surface and allowing old patterns, beliefs and ways of being to be gently recognised and released.
Perhaps this is another expression of the principle that energy flows where attention goes.
As my attention has moved inward, I’ve become increasingly aware of the richness and depth of the inner world. Not as a place separate from life, but as a foundation from which my relationship with life can become more conscious, compassionate and authentic.
The ripples we create
Perhaps what inspires me most about Ho’oponopono is the idea that a shift within ourselves can create ripples beyond us.
Consider what happens when we release a judgement.
Or soften a fear.
Or recognise an old protective pattern that has been influencing how we respond to another person.
We may find ourselves listening differently, becoming less reactive, offering greater compassion or simply allowing someone else the space to be themselves.
That shift can change the quality of our relationship.
And the changes within that relationship may, in turn, influence other people and experiences.
Like ripples spreading across the surface of water.
Of course, this is not about blaming ourselves for another person’s illness, trauma or circumstances. Nor is it about believing we can magically control another person’s healing.
For me, it is about recognising the part we play in our own experience and approaching that responsibility with love rather than judgement.
It is also about recognising that inner work is not self-absorption. When we become more conscious of our own patterns, we may be better able to meet the world with clarity, compassion and presence.
What might become possible when we stop trying quite so hard to fix the world around us and begin by bringing more harmony to the world within us?
An invitation to curiosity
As a Holistic Guide, I’m continually fascinated by the different ways we can explore our inner world and create meaningful change.
Much of the work I love involves bringing awareness to subconscious patterns, beliefs and responses, allowing what has been held within us to be acknowledged and transformed.
Ho’oponopono offers another perspective on that journey.
One that places love, forgiveness, gratitude and personal responsibility at its heart.
I am particularly drawn to the simplicity of the practice and the possibility that we need not always understand the origins of something to begin relating to it differently.
I also love that it invites us to consider healing not solely as an individual experience, but as something that may positively influence the relationships and environments of which we are a part.
There is so much potential here to explore.
And perhaps that is what I find most inspiring about this story. Not the promise of extraordinary outcomes, but the invitation to consider how much may change when we meet our own inner experience with greater compassion and love.
I’ll certainly be exploring Ho’oponopono further, with an open heart and a healthy dose of curiosity.
And perhaps the next time I find myself troubled by a situation, or wishing that something or someone were different, I’ll remember to turn my awareness gently inward.
Not to find fault.
Not to take on responsibility for everything around me.
But simply to ask:
What within me is ready for a little more love?
And what beautiful ripples might begin there? 🩷
With love and curiosity,
Alex
Further exploration
The Interconnectedness of All Things: From the Perpetual Choirs of Britain to the Present Day - John Gibson-Forty
Huna and Urban Shaman - Serge Kahili King
Self I-Dentity through Ho’oponopono - the teachings of Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona and Dr Ihaleakala Hew Len