✨ Growth through Internalisation: from Observation to Embodiment
Week 42 — syysloma, the Finnish autumn break — arrived quietly after my first week at a special school.
While many schools paused for the holiday, our classroom doors remained open for pupils whose families needed extra care. The corridors were calmer, yet the rhythm of learning continued — softer, slower, but deeply alive.
It was not a week of outer rest, but of inner integration — a continuation expressed through presence, care, and connection.
In psychology, integration describes the stage when new experiences become part of the self (Siegel, 2012). This week, I began to understand that growth doesn’t require separation from work; it happens through mindful participation in the ordinary.
We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience. – John Dewey (1933)
🕯️ Observation: Learning to See Without Controlling
With fewer children at school, the pace of each day naturally slowed.
I practiced observing small details — how children shared crayons, listened to music, or helped one another prepare for outdoor play. Observation was no longer passive; it became an act of silent care.
Mindfulness-based research shows that non-judgmental awareness activates the prefrontal cortex and supports emotional regulation (Kabat-Zinn, 1994).
Through curiosity rather than control, harmony replaced tension. I realized that to see others clearly, I must first quiet my own inner noise.
Change your conception of yourself and you will automatically change the world in which you live. – Neville Goddard (The Power of Awareness, 1952)
🧬 Internalisation: from Understanding to Integration
Internalisation is the quiet process through which knowledge transforms into lived awareness.
According to Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, learning deepens when concrete encounters become internalized understanding that informs new behaviour (Kolb, 1984).
This week, integration appeared in small gestures — helping with meals, guiding outdoor games, or joining creative activities. I was no longer observing from outside; I was fully part of the learning field. Thought and intuition began to merge, and mindfulness shifted from something I practiced to something I simply was.
Your word is your wand. The words you speak create your own destiny. – Florence Scovel Shinn (The Game of Life and How to Play It, 1925)
🌾 Embodiment: Living the Lesson
Embodiment is when understanding becomes second nature. Neuroscience confirms that repeated mindful actions strengthen neural pathways, allowing compassionate behaviours to replace reactive ones (Davidson & Begley, 2012).
At a special school, this embodiment unfolded quietly. Calm responses arose without planning; compassion replaced control. Every routine — from guiding transitions to comforting a tired child — became mindfulness in motion.
To change is to think greater than your environment. – Dr. Joe Dispenza (Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, 2012)
🌻 Integration in Practice: Mind, Body, and Heart
True integration unites intellect, emotion, and intuition. As Goleman (1995) notes in Emotional Intelligence, coherence among these domains nurtures resilience and authentic connection.
The blend of indoor creativity and outdoor calm created a rhythm of shared regulation. Even as routines changed, peace remained — because presence became the quiet structure holding the day together.
Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change. – Dr. Wayne Dyer (The Power of Intention, 2004)
🌕 Reflections
Walking home through the golden leaves between Helsinki and Espoo, I realized that growth no longer meant striving. It meant staying — present, calm, and willing.
I was not trying to be mindful; I was living mindfulness. I was not chasing transformation; I was embodying it through every act of gentle service.
Integration is invisible to the eye but tangible in energy. It softens tone, deepens patience, and refines presence — especially in the ordinary moments of care.
We become what we think about. – Earl Nightingale (The Strangest Secret, 1956)
✨ Closing Affirmations
I bring mindfulness into every ordinary act of care.
I integrate through presence, not perfection.
My calm energy nurtures harmony around me.
Each small act is a sacred lesson in humanity.— Hoa Rompasaari
The point of power is always in the present moment. – Louise Hay (You Can Heal Your Life, 1984)
📚 Book Suggestions
For those who wish to walk deeper into this flow of awakening and manifesting:
- Hay, L. (1984). You Can Heal Your Life. Hay House.
- Goddard, N. (1952). The Power of Awareness. DeVorss & Company.
- Shinn, F. S. (1925). The Game of Life and How to Play It. DeVorss & Company.
- Murphy, J. (1963). The Power of Your Subconscious Mind. Prentice Hall.
- Dyer, W. W. (2004). The Power of Intention. Hay House.
- Nightingale, E. (1956). The Strangest Secret. Nightingale-Conant.
- Dewey, J. (1933). How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. D.C. Heath.
- Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. Hyperion.
- Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice Hall.
- Davidson, R. J. & Begley, S. (2012). The Emotional Life of Your Brain. Penguin.
- Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books.
- Dispenza, J. (2012). Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One. Hay House.
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