Letters by Coeur:
The Pain We Hold: The Body and Unlocking a Positive Future
Volume I | Issue I | Letter III | VI MMXXV | words: Sarah Woods
The brilliant woman leading a positive future know this secret: they must look to themselves first for the pain they wish to change in the world, because they know it exists within self.

The mountains hold me in stability. Wise counsel, we collaborate. Unlocking more pure love on Earth. Photo by Sarah, Les lac des Bouillouises, Pyrénées XI MMXXIII.
It’s not a particularly sexy topic. (Although in many cases, at the root of it, sex is involved.) And in my experience, Human Resources can’t help you with it. In a $5.6 trillion dollar industry(1), with all the apps and gadgets and trending socials… the wellness industry is built on a model that misses the mark in unlocking health because in general, the foundation is built on keeping you in separation of the wholeness you be.
Frankly, it isn’t your employer’s job to return you to your wholeness, anyways. They never can. No one can. It’s an internal invitation that is only the priority of self. And the root of the problem, simply put, is a worldwide parasite that only pure love can tackle.
What the future requires is leadership birthed from the wholeness they be, aligned with an internal setting that attunes one to the nature of the body, without the trauma of the past. This is the so-called work, of the heart-based leader. One who honours their exquisite sensitivity and nourishes their creation’s growth from a place of compassion. And heart-based leader, is anyone, no label required, who knows there here to be part of something greater during these times.
Sometimes you don’t know it, but the pain we hold collectively shows up in louder and louder ways within you as these accelerated times progress. Let me give you some practical examples…
- You can’t seem to raise the capital required to take your business to the next level
- You wake at 3am with your heart pounding and feelings of anxiety taking over your body
- You catch yourself unloading on a friend and it turns into gossip
- Your binge eating it out of control
- You notice a pattern of men showing up in your life who use sex, control and manipulation in the disguise of “love”
- You’re not living in your true offering, always outsourcing to someone else for the “answer”
- Your auto-response is to “fix something” not realizing what’s “broken” is actually being mirrored from within you
When one tries to fight their perpetrator head-on in these circumstances, the body is forgotten as the key to unlocking the dysfunction and being a change that out-creates that which you’d like to fight.
There’s nothing wrong with you in the above examples. Nothing. Yet, I understand, it can feel tender and confronting to feel this way. The above can be a signal that your body is holding, conscious to you or not, pain that is not a reflection of your heart. When one tries to fight their perpetrator head-on in these circumstances, the body is forgotten as the key to unlocking the dysfunction and being a change that out-creates that which you’d like to fight. Because the fight doesn’t work. The cycle repeats. And you stay in the same place. Any anger or frustration from this foundation is in an unhealthy setting, only creating more of the same.
But you can change that.
And you need to.
Now, more than ever.
Trying to fight a system one is complicit in, is an unnecessary detour in a demanding time where change is required in every moment.
Trying to fight a system one is complicit in, is an unnecessary detour in a demanding time where change is required in every moment. This isn’t to put into wrongness the activists of the past. It’s to evolve beyond so your change can work in collaboration and partnership with the energy, fire and change created by those in the spirit of activism. This is the next step. And so then, the anger and rage is in the correct setting for inspired action.
When the paradigm exists within, there’s no path to fixing it outside of you. And you’re not here to fix it within you, you’re here to remember who you truly are. What this means is, that orange face living in that big white house, is a reflection of the pain you hold.
Ouch, eh? I know, this is tender territory but stick with me. Let the tears fall. Allow the discomfort to come up. (You’re stronger than any of those emotions.)
Allow the container of this letter to hold you for transfiguration.
Notice I said, pain you hold. That man, living in that house, who is so-called leading, is not a reflection of the light of that which you be. But that light is a very important aspect of this conversation. It’s the light you be, that does all the work in transmuting the pain you hold. Not some guru, not wearable tech that some white dude in the valley has promised will change your life. It’s you, and the light of that which you be, that is this change in action. And if there’s pain you hold, it is you who has the power to drop it through heart.
It’s the light you be, that does all the work in transmuting the pain you hold. Not some guru, not wearable tech that some white dude in the valley has promised will change your life. It’s you, and the light of that which you be, that is this change in action. And if there’s pain you hold, it is you who has the power to drop it through heart.
The pain we hold is what’s been locking the collective in numbness, cementing individuals into trauma responses that perpetuate the structures and systems of the past remaining in place. The good news is… those structures are crumbling. And if you’re still aligning to them as your foundation, these times will become incredibly uncomfortable. But again, you have choice. Choice to no longer hold the pain and instead rebuild a foundation within you, led by your own heart. Seeking guidance from a setting of attuning to self first, in collaborations where someone else is of a pure love setting. And like a tuning fork, a resonance harmonizes to bring more and more love back to Earth.
Let’s explore a few practical examples of these old foundations crumbling because of the internal work so many brilliant hearts are leading:
- In Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company has gone bankrupt. The foundation of this company was intertwined with the colonization of British North America. Like, not a healthy foundation to build on, is it? This type of crumble happens when control, for example, is transmuted within.
- How about that guy, Harvey Weinstein. Talk about a take-down from within! As women pushed-out their sexual trauma and pain, it elevated Mr. Weinstein to a naked stage evoking even more healing for the collective womb.
- And, how about those worldwide protests? Facing one’s internal fears, or ancestral baggage, so they can align with what’s natural within their body and speak, allows them to rise up and say no. Integrity in action.
So, you see, it is happening. And what’s imperative (and this is the secret of those remembering their true setting) is you source the empowerment of your own heart to get involved in this great change from within. This isn’t about putting the past into wrongness, and therefore putting yourself in wrongness for upholding such structures. It’s about taking advantage of the opportunity in front of you to align with what’s natural, and push-out anything that isn’t a true reflection of your heart, of the light of that which you be. And then, build the new framework, the new structure, within you.
The result… the positive future unfolds through the creation of your heart.
This isn’t to say everything will crumble. In the messiness of this all, the evolution within new leaders has the choice about how to rebuild, recreate and redesign this world. Look at B Corps, for example. Many of these companies are in the chaos of bridging two worlds – exiting an old world and establishing a framework to protect themselves as they create something new. There are no answers in this great rebuild. And there are many, so-called mistakes. It is the redesigning of the leader as one who is willing to unearth the pain they hold, so the new earth is formed within them.
Do you see how this works?
Times are changing and one can no longer be an active participant in the fast-evolving world where action causes harm.
Times are changing and one can no longer be an active participant in the fast-evolving world where action causes harm. Sometimes, you might not realize you’re causing harm because of the pain you hold. And that’s where relying on your compassionate heart to guide you out of self-harm, can give you strength and inner-standing to evolve. Moment to moment, so le coeur can nourish your journey.
The mess is part of laying a new foundation. We’re all in it together.
But you’ve got to go deep. Into the collective cave of darkness within the womb of you. The great thaw is among us and you’re an incredibly important part of this cosmic puzzle. No longer allowing survival to keep you in separation of self. No fancy business card required for this title of leader, either. For it is some of the most powerful women who are locked into this pain, that if they were to free it, they would emancipate their heart’s promotion into the inherent answer they were born for these times.
For it is some of the most powerful women who are locked into this pain, that if they were to free it, they would emancipate their heart’s promotion into the inherent answer they be for these times.
How, Sarah? How? (I can hear the cry for answers!) It’s such an enslaved question – how do I be me?
The natural being of you, and inspired action, from a setting of wholeness, advances this external world in those changes we wish to see naturally. It’s simply a choice to recognize the pain you hold is not you, and be willing to be an active participant in the positive Future by Coeur by aligning with your natural technology of being.
Being willing to call yourself out for any anger or rage within, question whether its source is from the pain you hold, and then create a space for it to drop, is what allows your heart to take the lead. In alignment with all of you.
Join me, it’s time for The Finer Frequencies of Leadership.
References
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Volume 1 | Issue 1 | VI MMXXV
Letter I | Letter by Sarah: Building Capacity for Being Seen
Letter II | The City of Light: The Next Era of Enlightenment
Letter III | The Pain We Hold: The Body and Unlocking a Positive Future
Letter VI | Because You Feel: The Power in Exquisite Sensitivity
About Letters by Coeur
Letters by Coeur is curated precisely from the heart of Sarah Woods, the frequency each letter holds is a transfiguration in itself. Drawing on direct experience and inherent gifts, Sarah writes as an antidote for these dynamic times and a resource for strong hearts to collaborate with.