You Mean There's Nothing Wrong With Me?!?
In March was fortunate to be able to attend a yoga and cultural immersion in Bali in March with a fantastic group of yogis. There were many highlights, but the one I want to share is my visit with a traditional healer one afternoon (think Eat, Pray, Love type of experience).
I arrived at his home thinking, perhaps hoping, that he could tell me how to heal whatever might be wrong with me and cure me of my ills. I didn't have much of an idea what those ills might be but felt confident he could find them and make it all better.
During our visit, we saw him treat many other people and without going into personal details I will say it was truly amazing to witness the healing that was taking place. I was getting excited!
After poking and prodding my head, ears, and feet he looked at me and asked me why I was in Bali. He asked about the nature of our group and then, interestingly, he asked if I practiced Yoga Nidra... in fact we had JUST done a Yoga Nidra session the day before. After a little more hands-on connecting to my energy he basically told me he could find nothing wrong with me....
Say what!?!
I had presumed that there must be something he could fix within my physical, emotional, or mental bodies – I mean I’m human right so something must be wrong with me; something must need fixing.
But no, he told me that I should just keep doing what I’m doing, “just keep practicing yoga”. That I was fine, even better than fine.
The whole experience got me thinking. How common is it for people in our culture to seek out support from someone to heal them – generally, from what I’ve surmised, from the all too common experience of being human. We have a physical pain and we want it gone. We feel sad and we want to change that feeling as soon as possible. We feel any type of mental or emotional discomfort and we look for the next quick, external, fix to change those feelings.
Don’t get me wrong – we pretty much ALL need support at some point through our lives. I believe it truly takes a village (i.e. community) to grow, recover from heartbreak & loss, and move through trauma. Much of what I do in my yoga therapy sessions is help people heal from trauma experienced in various forms throughout their life.
And I’ve done more than my fair share of seeking support in healing – therapy, energy work, women’s groups, shamanic practitioners, EMDR, 12-step programs, tons of massage in various forms, tarot, self-help books, and more. I’ve worked hard. And I’ve grown, changed, healed, and learned many lessons along the way.
Perhaps I really am good, for now. Perhaps now it’s about deepening my spiritual practices, deepening my contentment, and then continuing to expand my offerings and outreach in the world from this place.
What if we can simply rest for a while on the hard work we've done and then launch to new heights from there?
I’m sure that life will continue to offer me additional opportunities to learn and grow and do more healing. And maybe, just maybe, right now I can stand on the foundation I’ve built for myself and simply be present to life and all it offers.
If you are currently in need of assistance or help healing from trauma in any form, please contact me to discuss yoga therapy and see if it might be a good fit for you. I would be honored to support you in your healing journey.
And I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Please feel free to share what you've learned on your journey.