(some pretty picture coming soon – later later later)
Yoga Therapy Teacher Training has actually been good for me. I now see how naive I was to think here’s an opportunity to transition from being an instructor to a healer. That idea was intoxicating that somehow I will gain a magic wand to fix. But … how silly was that!? Humbled, floored and that’s good for me. To be humbled … More you know, more you realize, no one can really heal another – not even a doctor and we have board certified MD’s as some of our teachers covering the modules. I am sure we’ve all been there through our losses, there’s only so much they can do. I learned though Will Meecham, MD’s Mindful Biology course (the basic anatomy knowledge needed for yoga therapy – very helpful)that the use of certain semantics like “fighting” or waging a “battle” with some rogue tumor cells or whatever the case may be – may not help on the road to healing. After all, those cells acting a bit funny was, in its misdirected way only trying to protect the host, that human body, from whatever harm it perceives. Even if it’s not producing the end-result wanted, we have to first have that sense of gratitude for the body trying its best to guard against and protect – but often, do we not hate, berate and fault our own own body, our vessel for failing us, betraying us – or something more everyday which I often see – be critical of its natural course of aging – as disheartening as it is to see once a vibrant person be not so vibrant, it’s as natural as the graceful change of seasons and we fault it, deny it, deplore it. Isn’t it endearing this body? Trying so hard to meet the demands you place on it? Trying to keep you safe, strong and healthy?
You, the seeker is the only one to heal oneself. First from that mindset that sees our body as something to transcend or overcome – a challenge, a problem. Our body is our castle, home, our nest, our friend – we need to care for it and treat it as the temple worthy of every worship – it’s a sacred place and you, the unadorned you, is that soul residing in it.
So anyway, all this training is turning into a more soulful journey to recognize that inherent inborn power lies within & that yoga therapy helps with that. That we all have that natural wisdom within that can call up to the higher Self, Universal Consciousness, God, whatever name you use, to help you at every moment. Yet sometimes accessing it is very hard without a roadmap, a sherpa-like guide with the compass (okay, GPS). Yoga therapy is that “roadmap” the old fashioned version in print, that one handed down from generations, at times, a tad worn and torn at the edges, deep folds with rips – to open, you unfold one by one, delicately. Tenderly. Praying.
And another misconception I had – that things are broken and we need to tend and mend them. Tend & Mend is an illusion … because … noone is broken. Things might be broken but people are not broken – they may appear broken but their spirit is merely dormant and we find ways to revive it. Everyone who stands before you, whether in a wheelchair or broken limbed, deaf or blind. They are NOT broken. In fact, if they “showed up”, there’s the power of the will manifested before your eyes. They have strength perhaps stronger than your own – we can learn from them.
So while my series on “Broken Things” appear to garner more hit rates than matters of the unbroken, I just want to say I’ve changed my mind. Still, it’s a process as when you “feel” broken or shattered or disillusioned, it’s a place we have to crawl out of and it’s a struggle. There’s no denying that. When the spirit is broken, then one is truly near broken and sometimes, we are at lost with how to revive someone like that.
Here’s Broken Things I
Broken Things II
Broken Things III
I think I am learning and growing.
First by recognizing how foolish I was.
