HOPE, HEALING & HAPPINESS
As we continue to move through one of the biggest upheavals in my life time I have no doubt that whilst my experience has been one of deep rest, connection with my daughter and new knowledge, many have experienced significant struggle, trauma, uncertainty and fear. We were faced with so much loss. Loss of income, loss of financial security, loss of jobs, loss of health and life, loss of freedom and loss of joy. Whilst we can now relish in the return of simple pleasures like hugs with friends, coffee in your favourite café and a return to sports, activities and environments that stimulate and fulfil us, it’s important to keep checking in with your nervous system, your mental wellbeing and your physical health.
There’s great importance in fluidity and being able to move with the changing landscape. It is so valuable to be able to open your heart to whatever life is throwing at us. But as life is changing on a daily basis, it’s important that we’re considerate of what our experience has been, truly see and hold the parts of ourselves that felt frightened, upheaved, disconnected and uncertain, and honour these aspects of ourselves.
It is easy to bury uncomfortable emotions and make a choice to turn a blind eye on the suffering you may have experienced. It’s easy to forget the discomfort we were thrust into if you’ve now been gifted an opportunity to run through reopened doors and return to your favourite hangout, host dinner parties and join a fitness class. It’s easy to pretend that it wasn’t hard to sit with yourself, to be locked in with your family, to be scared, horrified and shackled to a system that was trying to protect us. But failing to acknowledge and embody our experience doesn’t mean the memories are gone. It’s just means they’ve been laid to rest, deep in the cells of your body, and they’ll stay there in your subconscious influencing your actions, decisions and reactions when similar situations of stress, fear and uncertainty arise.
And given what we’ve seen in the past six months we can rest assured, that they will.
So I wonder…What did COVID-19 do for you?
How did it make you feel?
What did you hate about it?
What did you love about it?
What have you learnt?
Were you able to find a silver lining on this wild ride?
“If it’s happiness that you’re seeking, it can only be found behind the hope for things to be better, and the will to heal the parts of yourself that are holding you back from experiencing it”
As doors do reopen it’s important that we don’t get pulled into the excessive life style we tackled before the world was put on hold. Be cautious not to over fill your days, over commit yourself, forget to put our own needs and desires first, and say yes when you really want to say no. As the stress and anxiety slowly start to dissipate, I invite you into your body to feel everything that’s there and remember that your body doesn’t forget. Your nervous system may hold on to a little piece of your experience and rear its ugly head when you least expect it.
If you’re holding on, burying, running, distracting, I hope you find the tools to sit with what you’re leaving behind so it can fully integrate and process so you can truly feel free. Not just in the world, but in your Self. Because if we don’t feel free in our body and mind, we can never truly feel free in the world, no matter how far we can run.
I rest in hope that this period has given you the awareness of what truly gives you hope, happiness and healing, and you have the courage to continue implementing these things as doors swing open and a new normal takes shape. This is how we rise into new layers of Self, new considerations and opportunities, new heights in personal growth. Because if it’s happiness that you’re seeking, it can only be found behind the hope for things to be better, and the will to heal the parts of yourself that are holding you back from experiencing it.
