 Image by MythologyArt from Pixabay Healing implies existing pain or hurt. A journey suggests an arduous, beckoning path of challenge and unknowns. Are you on a healing journey? Is it for you? WHO THIS IS FOR. Anyone taking this road called Life is presented with this path. We are essentially all on it however not all of us are conscious of it. Some may never acknowledge and accept it. Some are thrust into the awareness necessarily— there was no choice but to see and accept it. To heal. To journey. NON-ACCEPTANCE IS A DEFAULT CHOICE. We all experience pain, hardships, existential crises. How you deal with these can vary widely from person to person as well as within one person dealing with work problems vs relationship issues vs self-concept vs everyday matters. Responses to the ‘hard knocks’ come from individual experiences, habit patterns, familial/cultural/societal influences, personal temperament, and even genetic or ancestral traits passed on. It’s what makes us all unique and gives life such a rich tapestry to take in. But encountering and processing pain is given to everyone. Oh joy! The degrees of pain vary widely as well. Pain comes:
We all have some level of all of these. You figure out how to deal with it. You stumble through it, side-stepping, overcompensating, distracting, numbing— or you meet it head on. Time passes and it becomes a memory. Enjoy life as much as possible….until the next turn. I would not have considered much of these experiences as “in need of healing”, just things to work through or get over. It’s just life. Right?
And if you don’t know, now you know.“ - Notorious B.I.G. WHY CHOOSE IT CONSCIOUSLY.
You don’t have to be in rehab or suffering from disease to require a healing journey. When life throws you into such a debilitating, life-changing situation, by default, you end up on such a path. A healing journey. To consciously choose to be on a healing journey without the emergency situation is the way to not only heal and live more fully and freely, but it’s also the way to change the world we live in. Your healing self inspires and uplifts those around you, creating a ripple effect of love and healing in others. And on and on. From a cut on your finger to dealing with everyday struggles like losing weight, challenging conversations, making a tough decision, these are all experiences that present an opportunity to heal. A healing journey dives deeper into the stories that cause stress and confusion in these situations. What is the source of this wound and how do I tend to it? It is NOT checking under the bandage every five minutes.,,, ✔️ It’s bringing awareness to the parts of you that are confused, unsettled, exposed and raw, wounded, in need of care. ✔️ It’s assessing the broken bone, setting the cast, keeping it clean and continuing to live your life while it’s healing. ✔️ It’s checking back periodically, grateful for the opportunity to heal, appreciating life’s miracles, and learning to have grace. Someone questions you or insults you and you respond in shame or with righteous indignation. Something there needs healing. A healed person responds with curiosity, listens and checks in with herself. A healed person responds with respect for all involved. The journey is about progress. An unhealthy response is not reason for shame, blame, or justification. It’s an alert system telling you that healing is required. When you choose to see your life experiences as a healing journey, you are choosing YOU. When you need to heal a deep gash, you give it attention. What about when your wound is internal? Your life deserves that magnanimous attention by YOU. You heal. Your life feels more joyful and abundant. You spread that into the world. It’s that simple. LIFE AS AN ADVENTUROUS HEALING JOURNEY. The best part about seeing life as a healing journey is, once you experience a deep healing, especially when the pain was so entrenched, not only do you feel powerful, you begin to understand what it means for things to be truly possible. For your dreams to be possible. The dance between trial and error, challenge and achievement become a delightful, harmonious movement with interesting subplots, creating a masterful symphony. A fascinating adventure. Life throws curveballs. Rain dampens a long-awaited event, a trusted friend reacts poorly due to their own issues, and even a seemingly joyous occasion sours. Yet, these ups and downs are part of the adventure. With a mind for healing, even the most difficult experiences can transform into chapters filled with wonder, resilience, and growth. Embracing life as an adventurous healing journey is undeniably one of the most powerful ways to heal yourself. A resilient nervous system, fostered through this very journey of healing, becomes foundational for navigating emotional challenges and discovering the hidden gifts within them. It's a practice (which will be explored further in my next post) For now, what do YOU think about choosing to see life as an adventurous healing journey? With grit and grace, Anna SachKiret PS. If you want to choose this healing journey, please comment “my [choose an adjective] healing journey!” –and may you be filled with the healing vibration you need today. Peace!
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The Stress of Decision Fatigue When it comes to making decisions, big or small, have you ever felt overwhelmed by the number of choices you face daily? Right or left, yes or no, stay or go, act or not. Constantly deciding which path to take can exhaust you without you even realizing it. No wonder you feel depleted at the end of the day! Wouldn’t it be nice to release the weight of deciding for ourselves…. but also still decide for ourselves? Here’s a story that highlights decision-fatigue: I recall my immigrant dad telling me of the day he first walked into a supermarket in America. The sheer volume of cereal options was too much. And then in the next aisle, the numerous choices for a can of beans…..oy! He left without getting his groceries. While it might’ve been less stressful to have one cereal and one can of beans, we do gratefully have and want the options– but this illustrates how overwhelming it can be trying to pick the right ketchup, much less the rest of your day! Moral of the story: we want options, just not the stress of decision-making.  Decision-making, even for mundane matters, can accumulate and cause anxiety and stress. While some choices are easy and instinctive, others will cause minor agony or demand mental effort. Thankfully, there are those moments when you feel confident and content with your decisions. It’s this experience we are striving for to empower confidence and satisfy the soul. So how do we get there? THE YOGA ANSWER We all know that yoga serves to increase flexibility and balance, reduce anxieties, and induce calm. It may seem obvious that deciding from a less anxious, more calm space will help you. But, it’s more than that….. Did you know that yoga can strengthen your mental-emotional health, particularly your decision-making skills? As a lifelong, self-help junkie, yoga was not on my radar as a way to reduce the stress of uncertainty and self-animosity, until way into my adulthood. I discovered this benefit quite by accident – or perhaps it was divine intervention. A few weeks into the practice of kundalini yoga, I was surprised to experience a clarity and lightness that allowed previously-persistent worries and woes to dissipate seemingly overnight. Worrying about all the things that can go wrong makes it really hard to make sensible decisions. Indeed, you heed the fears and decide protectively….often leaving you with a feeling of loss, misalignment, dissatisfaction, and sadness sensing opportunities were missed. Do you know this feeling? So what was this kundalini yoga? How did it make such dramatic changes for me? The Power of Kundalini Energy. Kundalini yoga is known as ‘the yoga of awareness’. The kundalini refers to a latent energy that sits at the base of your spine and represents your unmanifested potential. Through the practice of kundalini yoga, you awaken this energy to coil up your spinal channel, stimulating your body’s main energy centers along the way. These are known as your chakras. Imagine. Your lowly, dormant potential…..suddenly awake with expansive possibility! Like having been imprisoned in a small area, not even realizing there was more out there. Waiting. For you. I believe that we know deep down when we’re being stifled. We have an inner sense that we’re deciding from incomplete information. We hesitate to decide because there’s an inner resistance. Often this happens because we are inadvertently going against the natural rhythms of life and of our own alignment; the modern world doesn’t really support this. We humans are great at disrupting natural rhythms with our mental clutter – manipulations, distortions, and justifications. Technological inventions play a role in this (--and this is not to say we should deny electricity or computers!). We are intelligent and capable of enjoying ‘advancements’ AND being conscious of the impact it has on the natural order…and on us. It’s about balance. This is where tapping into and aligning our energy helps us. It’s the power of our expanded awareness and connection to a divine source.  Your Divine Intuition. Picture the sun, the moon, the stars, the rotation of the planets, nature….a seamless, harmonious flow. It knows what to do, when. And it acts on it. This divine wisdom resides within each of us as well. Raising our kundalini energy and maintaining the practice balances, nourishes, guides and supports our highly-intuitive sense of Self. With this elevated energy, we begin to know what is aligned for us and to trust it. Energy in Thought & Being. We are all energy, even our thoughts. Negative thoughts, toxic stress and paralyzing uncertainty manifest as blocked energy. When we practice yoga, we practice controlling our breath through pranayam (breathing exercises). This practice helps us to be with our thoughts consciously, both on and off the mat. Here’s another image: picture a boulder in a river. A bit of “normal”, stressful thoughts around decisions is like smaller rocks that the water finds its way around and smooths the rocks’ edges as it does. It adds attention, dimension and beauty. This is healthy stress. When the stone is huge and blocks much of the flow, it creates a back-up and effectively stops movement. The energy is pressurized, uncomfortable and overwhelming. This type of stress around decision-making will create blockage and impact your overall health, much less leave you undecided.  Credit Unknown Mindful movement and breathwork creates more room for flow and breaks down what’s no longer serving us.
5 WAYS YOGA MAKES SURE YOU GOT IT RIGHT Circling back to decision-fatigue and my father’s grocery store experience, when I occasionally fall back into that sort of dizzying decision vector, I know to go to my practice. Find a meditation or a kriya that clears the confusion and tames the overwhelm. Here are 5 ways that my yoga practice serves me in making confident, energized decisions:
Yoga opens, nurtures and empowers this elevated level of mental strength, fortitude, and trust to fearlessly decide and know it’s right. I hope this offers you some measure of greater confidence. Decide heartily and wholly and live in your truth– it won’t tire you out! What are you deciding on today? Does your answer come with ease and flow –and from the heart? Divinely yours, Anna SachKiret PS. Is decision-fatigue a thing for you? How do you combat it, if so? If not, what supports your process? Hit "reply" or "comment" below the post-- I'd love to hear from you! |
AuthorI am the Essential Soul Mama. I am a mama, a soulful-spiritual teacher, an intentional storyteller, and a lover of stories of all kinds, in all forms. I write about emotions, parenting, natural health options, mind-body-soul connections, and anything that elevates our lives. Archives
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