Have You Found What You Are Seeking?

I don't know if you practice yoga, if you meditate, or chant, or pray, since I write this when you are 12 and have no idea, when you will read these words in your lifetime, but I hope one day you do some of these things having seen me do them for so many years.

I was recently asked a very interesting question from a writer on LinkedIn (possibly a very old social media platform that no longer exists as you read this... for old people, professionals, to possibly help get jobs) that made me ponder. I was asked, "If I picture my ideal client, what is it that they are seeking in yoga that they didn't find in other modalities?"

 

I thought of all my clients past and present and considered them as a whole, including myself. Within them is someone who is a busy, anxious, hard-worker, who gives a lot and takes little to no time to truly discover the layers of themselves. They may have tried massage, acupuncture, physical therapy, psychotherapy, and supplements for their pain and/or physical ailment. They don't consistently stick to a healthy diet or exercise.

 

So what did they find in yoga that they found nowhere else? Why do I love my job? Why do I practice?

 

In yoga therapy, h/she is asked to slow down and pause to care for him/herself. 

H/she is reminded that h/she, too is important and worthy of love, including the love that comes from within. 

 It is in the pause, h/she notices his/her breath, where it feels stuck, that that is where his/her grief, pain, sadness, anger, shame, guilt, jealousy or whatever other emotion you can imagine, lies. 

H/she is taught to look at it, see it for what it is, and let it go. Whether the letting go happens in the form of tears, movement, breath, meditation, deep relaxation, or just in the fact that someone is truly listening to him/her and holding the space for him/her to feel connected, welcome, and heard. 

H/she finds him/herself again, that is what h/she is seeking.

 

If when you read this, you don't have some sort of pause, some practice of spirituality please consider these words.  You will be healthier for it. You will be wiser.  You will be more accepting and loving. 

 

I may be human. I may be your mom. I may not know it all. But I know this; all the answers you seek are within, but if you constantly busy yourself and never pause to discover these things, you will miss the beauty of finding what you seek.