Ancient Wisdom for Modern Healing
The Tao That Can Be Told Is Not the Eternal Tao
Written over two thousand five hundred years ago, the Tao Te Ching remains one of the most remarkable and enigmatic texts in human history. In eighty-one brief chapters, Lao Tzu distilled the essence of a wisdom so deep, so paradoxical, and so utterly practical that it continues to illuminate the human journey across cultures and centuries. For Susan Drury, this ancient text has been a lifelong companion ... a source of guidance, comfort, and revelation that threads through every aspect of her healing work.
In Elevating Your Origins to Love, Susan weaves passages from the Tao Te Ching throughout her teaching, using its wisdom to illuminate the principles of transformation. The Tao speaks of the power of yielding over force, of emptiness as the source of all creation, of the way water - the softest substance - overcomes the hardest stone. These are not merely poetic images. They are precise descriptions of how healing actually works: not through fighting what is wrong but through allowing what is right to emerge.
For Susan, the Tao Te Ching offers a framework for understanding the paradox at the heart of all genuine transformation: that the way forward is often the way back, that strength is found in softness, and that the deepest healing comes not from doing more but from being more. This ancient wisdom, combined with modern neuroscience and Susan's own decades of healing practice, creates a uniquely powerful approach to the work of elevating to love.
Water, Yielding, and the Way of Healing
The Tao Te Ching famously teaches that water, the softest and most yielding substance in the world, overcomes the hardest stone. It does not fight. It does not force. It simply flows - finding the lowest places, filling the empty spaces, wearing away resistance through gentle, persistent presence. Susan sees in this image a perfect description of how love heals. Not through confrontation with our wounds, not through willpower or determination, but through the gentle, persistent presence of awareness and compassion.
"The Tao Te Ching has been my constant companion for over thirty years. It teaches me, again and again, that the way to transform suffering is not to fight it but to bring it the softest, most yielding force in the universe: love."
Another central teaching of the Tao is the concept of wu wei - often translated as "non-action" or "effortless action." This does not mean passivity or inaction. It means acting in alignment with the natural flow of things rather than against it. In the context of healing, wu wei invites us to stop struggling against our patterns and instead bring a quality of gentle, curious attention to them. When we stop fighting what is, something remarkable happens: the pattern begins to shift on its own, like ice melting in sunlight.
Susan also draws deeply on the Tao's teaching about the creative power of emptiness. "The Tao is like a well: used but never used up," Lao Tzu writes. "It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities." In Susan's healing work, this translates into a striking trust in the spaces between - the gaps in our story, the silences in our experience, the emptiness that we so often try to fill. It is in these very spaces, she teaches, that the deepest transformation occurs. The gap is not the wound. The gap is the doorway.
Tao Teachings in Susan's Healing Work
The Way of Water
Like water, love heals not through force but through gentle, persistent presence. Susan's approach mirrors this ancient wisdom ... meeting resistance with softness, meeting hardness with flow, and trusting that even the deepest patterns can be transformed through patient, loving attention.
Wu Wei - Effortless Action
The Tao teaches that the most powerful action is aligned action - moving with the natural flow rather than against it. In healing, this means stopping the fight against our patterns and instead bringing curious, compassionate awareness that allows transformation to unfold naturally.
The Power of Emptiness
The Tao celebrates emptiness as the source of all creation. In Susan's work, the gaps in our story - the silences, the absences, the spaces between - are not wounds to be filled but doorways to be entered. Within the emptiness lies infinite possibility for transformation.
About the Author
Susan Drury - A Student of the Tao
Susan Drury's relationship with the Tao Te Ching spans more than three decades. This ancient text has been her daily companion, her source of guidance in difficult times, and the philosophical foundation upon which her entire healing practice rests. Based in Vancouver, BC, Susan weaves Taoist wisdom with neuroscience, cranial sacral therapy, shamanic healing, homeopathy, and the Present Child Method into a uniquely integrated approach to transformation.
She offers private sessions, membership programs, the Elevated Body cards, and retreats worldwide.
Learn More About SusanFrequently Asked Questions
Do I need to know the Tao Te Ching to read this book?
Not at all. Susan introduces each Tao passage with context and explanation, making the wisdom accessible to readers encountering it for the first time. The passages are woven naturally into the narrative, enriching the healing journey without requiring prior knowledge.
Is this a book about Taoism?
No. While the Tao Te Ching is a central thread, the book is fundamentally about healing and transformation. Susan draws on Taoist wisdom alongside neuroscience, psychology, and her own healing experience to create a full approach that transcends any single tradition.
How does ancient wisdom apply to modern healing?
The Tao Te Ching addresses universal principles - the nature of change, the power of yielding, the creative potential of emptiness - that are as relevant today as they were two thousand five hundred years ago. Susan shows how these principles align beautifully with modern neuroscience and practical healing work.
Can I study the Tao Te Ching with Susan?
Yes. Susan's courses and membership program often include study of the Tao Te Ching as it applies to personal transformation. Visit the courses page or contact Susan to learn about current offerings.
Walk the Ancient Path of Transformation
The Tao that Lao Tzu described is the same force that moves through your healing journey - gentle, persistent, and infinitely creative. Let Susan guide you along this ancient path toward the love that has always been waiting within.