Sometimes I feel like I am just riding the waves of my life.
Do you ever feel that way?
Somedays the water is completely calm and still.
I love those days.
Other days the waves are bigger but totally manageable.
"Ok I can do this."
Then there are the days that the waves are so big I can barely make my way up from the undertow to breathe.
Just being human is a very challenging experience.
If you add unresolved trauma in the form of anxiety, overwhelm and depression to that mix. Let's just say that life doesn't always feel so fun.
Lately I have been learning how to be more gentle and kind to myself.
I notice that I often make things so difficult for myself but I am learning to take it less personally when I do that.
I am learning to take the pressure off.
Studies show that the nervous system is wired to focus on danger and what's not right for survival. On a daily basis my nervous system tries to convince me that danger is just around the corner.
You only need to turn on the news or open the newspaper to really get overwhelmed.
The threat of nuclear war, hurricanes, global warming...Yikes, things are looking pretty bad out there.
So how do you come back home to a sense of peace and purpose for your life.
Surprisingly it's actually pretty simple. I come back over and over again to attending to my body.
I ask it "What do you need right now?"
"How can I help you feel better?"
And then I listen and give my body what it needs.
A pause,
a breath,
a walk,
a prayer.
It's amazing what attending to this body can do.
Then I go back to my life, to riding the waves. Oh the sweetness of being able to ride those waves.
Radhe Lesny LMFT
radhelesny.com