Summer’s twilight is upon us. And this is your friendly (near end of summer) reminder that change behooves us to be extra gentle, tender, and compassionate with ourselves.
The new season may bring small and/or large scale changes into your life. You will gladly welcome some of these changes — ones that you will find to be necessary, refreshing, healing, even. As a result, you may become more connected to your authentic self. And other changes will be thrust upon you unexpectedly – in ways you could not have imagined. They may cause you to wrestle begrudgingly with yourself, with others, or both. It can take some time before moving from a place of resistance to a place of acceptance.
“Often times, you cannot determine WHEN change happens, HOW it happens, WHO it happens to, or IF it even happens at all. But nevertheless, change is the movement that gets us in touch with our aliveness.”
Rita Burgos
When the growing tribe of clinicians here at Michelle Harwell Therapy gathered for our weekly professional training in late June, we were treated to a talk on “Routines & Rhythms” by Rita Burgos. Rita is a local Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist and Classical Yoga Nidra who is deeply passionate about wellness and holistic healing. Her calm, centered presence in the group meeting room quickly signaled to me that she had wisdom to offer.
One thing Rita said that struck me on a personal level went something like this, “The things you can control, or count on, give you much more strength and grounding to handle the things you cannot control in life.”
Oh, how I knew this statement to be so true ! She was totally speaking my language! And what a timely reminder it was for me, and I’m sure many others, in that moment.
Rita spoke in further detail about the daily routines that align us with nature’s rhythm each day, each week, each month, each year. I walked away with a sense of wanting to – no, needing to – live more attuned with my body’s natural cues and needs, more in sync with the natural order of the world.
My ongoing personal takeaway from Rita was that healthy habits can give us a grounding framework for living and thriving, especially when experiencing overwhelming or destabilizing change.
Often times, you cannot determine WHEN change happens, HOW it happens, WHO it happens to, or IF it even happens at all. But nevertheless, change is the movement that gets us in touch with our aliveness. It is a necessary ingredient for growth.
What feels grounding to me, particularly in the face of change? Good sleep hygiene, healthy food intake, practicing the “pause” (mindfulness), physical exercise, a creative outlet, a good soak in nature, plenty of unstructured down-time, solitude, and connecting in meaningful ways with like-minded humans.
What feels grounding to you? The following questions may be helpful for checking-in with yourself.
Tracy Lee, LMFT, offers holistic, culturally-sensitive therapy. She is especially passionate about serving Asian-Americans facing unique cultural challenges, identity issues, and intergenerational conflict.