Yesterday I shared collective wisdom from the brilliant system on what we do when we come to center. Centering is often natural and easy. E.g., think of when you take a breath to gather yourself and get into “work mode.”
Centering is decidedly more challenging when we are faced with situations that trigger fears and old wounds. These are the moments that activate your fight/flight/freeze responses. But how do we not only engage the parasympathetic nervous system, but also come consciously to the point of balance that is always, always available to us? By dropping all resistance and being with What Is.
This morning I was reminded of one of the very first things I did when I heard the news my dad was dying. I felt part of myself check out because of the pain. It was like those scenes in the movies, where NYC was moving all around me in slow motion and fuzzy noise. To ground myself I instinctively knew I needed to call someone and share that my dad was dying. I just needed to utter those words.
I wasn’t really conscious of anything to do with subtle energy or healing back then. Frankly, I sucked at meditation. But there was something in me that knew just what to do in circumstances unfamiliar and traumatic to my waking mind. This deep wisdom of the brilliant system is in you, too.
Centering was just the beginning of that long journey of grief (and eventually burnout), during which I would have to learn to surrender to grace so I could move deeper into the mystery. But that very first step of letting the reality of my dad’s pending death fully sink in—to really open the doorway to that pain—was nonetheless monumental. I look back on myself and am in awe of how paradoxically at the point in my life when I felt most powerless, I was actually beginning to gather and step into the power and wisdom of the ages.
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