My motto for the year is: “Slow down. There is nothing chasing you.”
It’s hard to think back to a time when I wasn’t operating at 2x speed – moving from point A to point B with little awareness of my environment, buzzing around the house checking off menial tasks as though I’m constantly on the clock. Rushing through my days as though there is never enough time, that every minute must be accounted for, and there is no way I’ll ever get to the stuff I really want to do – curl up with a good book, call an old friend, open my journal, take a leisurely walk and get lost in my own city. There are not enough hours in the day, and the resentment builds.
If this sounds familiar, take a deep breath. Now take another one.
Feel the coolness of the air as it flows into your nasal cavity, and feel the warmth in your throat and chest as you exhale to completion. Feel your feet on the floor, your body firmly held by gravity. Place your hand on your heart, feel it beating for you. Feel the rise and fall of your belly through the steady breath, every moment an opportunity to shift awareness, from the external world to the internal world where our entire being rests.
Thank your body for trying to keep you safe. Thank your body for its vigilance, its duty, its tireless job as your protector. Now tell your body: Slow down. There is nothing chasing you.
The glaring truth is that our bodies were not made for this modern culture we are steeped in. Technology has far out-paced our nervous system’s ability to process and discharge the mass amounts of information being directed toward our impressionable brains, and society’s emphasis on productivity, performance, and validation means that we are constantly trying to catch up and make our mark. Without knowing it, our bodies exist in a constant state of fight-or-flight, taxing our immune systems, our emotional well-being, our energy, and our vitality.
It requires faith and courage to stop, pause, and reclaim our bodies. It requires active awareness to notice our surroundings, to hear the sound of our own voice, to respond with care and compassion instead of continued force and determination. We are not machines. We are creative emotional beings who require rest, nourishment, love and connection in order to be at our best.
So during this time of Winter, this season of Water and rest and rejuvenation, I am taking extra care to tend to the parts of me that want to be held and nourished. I am using my oils, my needles, my breath and my awareness to gently move the fear, anxiety and stuckness that comes from living during this challenging time. I am honoring my body for all that it does, and liberating it from the high-intensity burnout job that it assumed somewhere along the way.
If you are ready to experience deep rest, release, and connection to Self, to slow down and feel the liberation of moving at your own pace, get in touch to see how I can help.
“Isn’t it odd. We can only see our outsides, but nearly everything happens on the inside.”
~ Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
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