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Listening to our emotions

Trauma is a fact of life but it doesn't have to be a life sentence. - Peter Levine



Hello again,

Lecture #2, another wonderful evening. I couldn’t be happier.

My home was buzzing with vibrancy. Thirty some of us, all together, connecting, reflecting, learning, expanding our minds. Vitality you can’t measure tangibly, but that you can definitely feel in the form of happiness, peace & human connection.

And that was what this evening was all about. Christina Morrow, Somatic Experience and Craniosacral therapist, graced us not only with her calming and grounding presence, but with her very intimate journey and self-reflective message.

Her overarching message of “we are all healers” could first come across as controversial. A little analysis of why this could happen may have its roots in that quite opposite to the whole mindfulness, kindness and awareness movements we are witnessing today, most (western hemisphere) Generation Xers, those of us born roughly between early-to-mid 1960s to the early 1980s, were not explicitly taught how to sit with our emotions, especially uncomfortable ones. Nor how to pause and connect with our bodies before acting upon our emotions. And although messages related to inner strength in the form of determination and perseverance were commonplace, there was a void of how these qualities would translate into real life. One could always secretly doubt if we truly knew, as a hard fact, that we had what it took to overcome and heal from any obstacle, every single time one was presented to us in life.

Now, I wonder how different it would be, both emotionally and physically, to grow-up truly assimilating that every one of us has an infinite potential to self-heal at all times. To grow up believing it is as true as the fact that we need air to breathe. One result could be that trauma – small or large – would never become a life sentence.

That’s where Christina came in so eloquently to explain this birthright given and innate potential we all have to heal, but that yet remains such an elusive concept to so many of us.

As the evening went on, and with Christina’s gentle guidance, we learned how to pause for a split second to physically scan our bodies to evaluate and identify where we felt we needed support the most. We then re-learned the forgotten power of asking for human touch as a mode of support. Furthermore, we got to experience, firsthand, the power of that supporting human touch and the feelings of calmness and warmth it can evoke. We practiced keeping an attitude of curiosity and open mindedness to help us get through the initial awkward and uncomfortable feelings of “asking” others for support, only to then be rewarded by feelings of connection and gratitude. And just like that, we were all healing, each other and ourselves. It was a powerful experience, both personally and as a group.

My takeaway for the evening was a renewed sense in humanity, both in terms of my personal potential and in the power of community. I was left with a deep sense of gratitude, safety for this journey of life and a feeling of “I’ve-got-this, and if I don’t…I have all of you…”


With intent,


Juad


For more on Christina Morrow’s work:


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