Are your inner volcanoes extinct? Or is there a risk of another eruption?

I live in Auckland. It's a beautiful city in New Zealand and has 50 volcanoes within an area of 1,000 square kms. Beneath the surface is still liquid magma which could erupt at any time.

Driving home from an amazingly inspiring meeting today I drove past a volcano cone. The sun was shining, the fog had cleared and the image as I drove along the road got me thinking ... our emotional lives are a bit like volcanoes...

Each cone is the result of an eruption. Some of the cones are huge, others smaller. Some have been left well alone, others built on, or monuments placed upon them. Some are difficult to visit, others you almost pass without noticing ... so how does this relate to us?

Lets start with eruptions that have left a hole. A raw wound if you like. It is dormant, you don't go back there very often, but if you did fly over it once in a while you would see the hole. In emotional terms this might be a wound, a loss, a grief, a hurt. It may have healed over, but it leaves a scar.

Other eruptions might become a place you return to. Well constructed and well worn paths, so you can visit it when you want to. In our lives this might be a good thing, remembering someone you don't want to forget. But sometimes it can be forging an ongoing path on a track that wants to heal over. You will see on this photo there is even a path where you can walk round and round in circles, maybe even getting stuck in the revisiting, the story, the emotions.

Sometimes we build a monument on a scar - we mark it in some way. This is a well known landmark in Auckland: One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie). It has significant history attached to it, it's the second largest volcano in Auckland and in Maori history represents a conflict between people in West Auckland and South Auckland. The eruption of the volcanic shield held the groups apart.

This made me think of conflicts which 'erupt' in our lives. Barriers which we create to keep separate, isolated. Barriers which in the moment are to keep us safe, but long after the event has passed may be an obstacle to us moving on. I wonder what eruptions you have had that have created barriers that have remained - that you may even have marked with monuments - to remind yourself of what you deem to have been a significant event?

This was like the volcano which prompted this post today. The building on the top, which was bright in the sun, made me think, we sometimes build on or over the place of old eruptions. This can be a positive build, creating something from the damage, or it can be a less resourceful build, where we try to cover over the hole, the pain, the emotion. Is there an old eruption which you have built over, which is still raw beneath, that is not healed, that could erupt again at any time if shaken or poked? Those old hurts when poked can be powerful, explosive and devastating. Sometimes it is worth considering how you can vent them over time, to avoid the risk of a mighty, unexpected explosion that takes you by surprise.

Then there are other volcanoes which have become beautiful landmarks. Cut off by water, requiring effort to visit, but seen from afar and become the subject of tourist photos and, local pleasure. Rangitoto, our most recent volcano to erupt, 600 years ago, stands proud in the harbour and is visited by many each year. Admired, honoured even. It has provided much learning for us about understanding volcanoes, to offer us insight we will use in the event of future eruptions. And in some way it is like the ultimate in eruptions - a way of transcending the pain, the hurt, the trauma, and creating something that is still very much visible, not hidden in any way, yet symbolizes something very different now than the danger it may have been perceived as when it first erupted.

What past hurts and traumas have you experienced, which you have used to take you to a new place? One where you can feel blessed, despite the hurt. One where you can look at the scar and see unexpected learnings' and blessings.

So - from my journey home today - it made me think:

Are your volcanoes all Extinct?

It is theorized that the next volcano likely to erupt in Auckland is in the harbour, beneath the water. Of course no one can know for sure, but that is the prediction. By knowing that civil defense can plan and put strategies in place to cope with any eruption. Monitoring equipment would give some warning to enable people to evacuate the area. But, we know that beneath the city is liquid magma that still poses some risk.

Just like inside of us we have emotions which could erupt. How are we monitoring those emotions? What are the warning signs to look for? What strategy have you got in place to cope if an eruption happens or threatens to happen unexpectedly? How do you vent the pressure build up to avoid a significant eruption?

Are your inner volcanoes all extinct?

mBIT Coaching is one way to be prepared. Increasing your awareness of what is below the surface and giving you the tools to cope, indeed to thrive, regardless of what happens around you. If you would like to explore your inner landscape - book a coaching package today.

Dr Suzanne Henwood is the Director and lead coach and trainer of mbraining4success and the CEO of The-Healthy-Workplace. She is one of two Master Coaches and Master Trainers of mBIT Globally and is passionate about helping people to deeply reconnect with themselves, healing old wounds, letting go of unwanted stress and releasing them to do more and be more in the world. She works with organisations to look at organisational connections, working to ensure psychologically safe workplaces, to reduce unhelpful stress and ensure future focused, modern leadership that is sustainable into the new world as it emerges. If you would like to know more head over to mbraining4success.com (where you can also download a free eBook on mBraining); the-healthy-workplace.com, or get in touch directly with her at [email protected].

Her passion is to support you to support the people you serve.