Embodiment

Embodiment

If we’re lucky enough to have a safe and nurturing environment as a kid like I did (thanks mom and dad, you were phenomenal), we get this honeymoon period in our tender years when self-trust comes naturally. Then as teachers and other lifestyle-influencers, however well meaning, get their hands on us and begin to mold us and erect guard rails around us? Or begin pigeon-holing our natural curiosity into the metaphysical realm into a rigid religious structure? Self-trust erodes. Over time, we look more and more outside ourselves – and certainly outside our own bodies – for approval, for validation that we’re worthy of love, or for exterior evidence that we have a place that matters in this world.

Patient Remembering

Patient Remembering

Solitude is one thing. Loneliness is quite another. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, contemplative practices that happen in community can make it easier to remember all kinds of things. Such as how the inquiry into truth (yoga) can seem to take infinite patience, how everyone else is also finding their way, and why good humor can save your life while it's busy coming true.