Hey there.
Welcome to A Hit of Hope.
I don't know about you,
But I often come to meditation or yoga with the idea of getting out of something.
Getting out of stress or fear or grief.
I want these ancient practices to do their magic to cleanse me and make me new.
But it occurred to me recently that practices like yoga and meditation are as much a call to go into the wilderness inside as they are an escape route out.
In Hamlet,
The tragic character of Ophelia lives as one incapable of her own distress.
So Ophelia lives as one incapable of her own distress.
In other words,
She can't be with the pain and the suffering of what is happening around her.
That state of danger.
The desperate need.
And who can blame her?
We know what's going on in her story just as we know what the world can do to us.
And let's not forget what we can do to the world.
And it hurts.
And it is here that we are at choice.
We can decide how we will react or respond.
And that's where things like yoga and meditation come in.
They aren't meant to hide us away from the world where we bubble wrap ourselves and pretend whatever's out there isn't there.
No,
They are safe places.
Sanctuaries where the broken can come to be held,
To be heard,
To be comforted.
So while it can be so damn tempting to numb or run,
What about the options of sitting and breathing?
Seek time to go in.
To feel all the feels.
You are brave and strong enough.
You really are.
Feel them and then let them go.
As an acupuncturist once said to me,
Notice that there is the word motion in the word emotion.
Let the feelings come.
Let the feelings go.
While you sit and center.
While you drop into your own body in the present so you can live into your own future.
The one that is calling you,
Yes,
This you are living this life in this moment for a reason.
It's okay to be afraid,
To be overwhelmed,
To wish it were different.
And remember you are capable.
You can face this whatever it is.
You have your breath.
You have your heart.
Brave,
Going in.
So when you feel ready,
You can go back out into the world.
Centered,
Fierce,
Ready to be a badass with a big heart.
Live light and shine.
