How stories heal through connection and intuition

The book, ‘Untold and retold: Unblocking the hidden stories which shape our lives’ is a collaboration where each author shares a personal story of healing, reflection, and inner change - or a transformation they’ve guided a client through. These stories were written to highlight something deeply human: moments of truth, vulnerability, and connection that remind us healing does not always arrive in the ways we expect.

For Chris, he was drawn to join in the collaboration because he agreed with Debs, “Storytelling is one of the most natural and honest ways we heal. Long before techniques or terminology, we healed through sharing experiences, listening, and being witnessed. Healing doesn’t always come through fixing or analysing, but through connection. Through being heard. Through presence.”

Chris’s chapter tells a story that unfolds quietly, inviting the reader to observe a week through his eyes while slowing down themselves, and perhaps noticing the stillness in each present moment.

Healing through connection

At the centre of Chris’s chapter is the theme of connection to something greater than ourselves. It’s a spiritual journey that explores how healing it is to find a tribe of people who accept you and help you explore your self-awareness. As Chris explains, “I wanted to share that healing doesn’t always arrive loudly or dramatically. Sometimes it comes quietly through noticing, trusting, and allowing. I hope readers experience a sense of reassurance: that they may already be on their path, even if they don’t yet have language for it.”

The story follows a single week, where Chris describes his initial steps onto a spiritual path. “It was a gentle unfolding rather than a sudden awakening. There were subtle moments of reflection, signs, memory, and inner recognition. It’s a story about remembering rather than becoming; about crossing a quiet threshold and realising that connection has been there all along.”

Chris wrote the chapter for those who sense they’re already on an intuitive or spiritual path but are feeling unsure where it’s leading, and for people who feel disconnected, burnt out, or out of alignment with their lives. There is no pressure here, only an invitation to explore how to reconnect.

Stories heal through empathy and intuition

Chris’s work as a coach, spiritual development teacher, and mentor flows naturally through the chapter. Through The Soul Alignment Academy, Chris blends psychic and mediumship development with authentic coaching, NLP, and grounded spiritual practice. Yet, as Chris explains, the work is more about creating a safe space: “I focus on helping people reconnect with themselves, not by giving answers, but by supporting them to trust their own inner wisdom and lived experience.”

This approach is rooted in early experiences. Chris shares some of his earliest memories, “Even at a very young age, I had this strange experience of simply knowing — moments of intuitive certainty that didn’t yet have explanation.I also spent a lot of time in silence with my grandad, fishing lakes and rivers, learning that stillness carries its own wisdom.”

Those moments shaped his deep respect for quiet knowing and reinforced the belief that  listening is often more powerful than speaking. Storytelling became part of Chris’s healing work not through one defining moment, but through repeated experience. As Chris explains, “When people share their stories in a safe space, something softens. Insight follows naturally. Healing begins not because the story is dramatic, but because it is honoured.”

While Chris uses tools such as intuitive development, meditation, NLP, and reflective practices, he is clear that techniques are secondary to listening. As Chris explains, “Storytelling isn’t about reliving the past — it’s about changing our relationship with it, sometimes by sharing it. Yet what matters most is presence. Healing happens when people feel safe enough to listen to themselves.”

Everything in his work is designed to empower rather than create dependency — helping people reconnect with their own ‘inner authority’. He explains that the greatest inspiration lies in self-mastery, “I’m inspired by people who live quietly but truthfully - those who don’t seek attention yet radiate integrity and depth. I’m also inspired by nature and by moments of genuine human connection. The kind where nothing needs to be fixed or explained. Inspiration for me isn’t about striving; it’s about remembering what matters and staying aligned with that.”

How stories heal without rushing 

One of the most powerful insights in Chris’s chapter is how subtle transformational change can be. Reflecting on his personal experience, Chris shares, “The deepest healing often happens quietly, in the spaces between sessions, conversations, or moments of stillness.What surprised me most was how subtle yet profound the changes were. There were no dramatic breakthroughs — just a steady sense of grounding, clarity, and trust emerging. It’s taught me to slow down and to trust the unfolding. I no longer believe healing needs to be forced or rushed. People will arrive at their own insights in their own time. So if I could, I’d tell my younger self to trust your own timing.”

A common misconception is that spiritual or intuitive work is about escape or bypassing reality. Chris feels that, “In truth, it’s the opposite. This work asks people to be present, honest, and grounded. It’s not about leaving life behind; it’s about meeting it with greater awareness, responsibility, and self-trust. My advice is to start slowly, and start honestly. You don’t need to know where the journey is going — just be willing to notice where you are.”

Practices like journalling can help reconnect you with your inner voice and intuition. “Write without editing or judging, even just a few lines each day,” Chris encourages. “Let the story come out as it is, not as you think it should be.”

Outside of work, Chris is drawn to stillness and simplicity, time in nature, walking by water, being under trees, or simply standing outside and looking at the sky because it provides grounding and perspective. These small rituals are reminders that presence doesn’t need to be rushed or complicated.

Connect with Chris

Readers can explore more of Chris’s work through The Soul Alignment Academy, where spiritual development, coaching, and community-based learning come together.

Visit: www.thesoulalignmentacademy.com

Chris also shares reflections, insights, and updates via social media under The Soul Alignment Academy or Chris Stanley.