The Covid quarantine has been a challenging time on many levels, physically, emotionally, and spiritually and also a time of great insight and understanding. I suppose that has been true for every transition in my life. They are never easy, rarely welcome, and often difficult to embrace. They are times when the foundation of my truth is deeply questioned and my life as I know it shatters, fragments, and falls into pieces on the floor before me and I fall on my knees begging for mercy.
I have been practicing massage, yoga and mindfulness full time in Taos New Mexico for 22 years and I have been blessed to bear witness to the greatest acts of courage in my office and in my studio. I have had the honor and the blessing to meet people willing to be vulnerable, intimate and uncomfortable.
People willing to stay present, notice their habits, and explore the patterns of their pain-body.
People willing to change and discover new ways of moving in their body and in the world.
People willing to explore the imprints of trauma and place their breath, their prayers, and their courage into the painful memories trapped in their bodies.
People willing to take the time to digest, assimilate, and integrate these fragmented memories into their body-mind and move forward in their lives with a renewed sense of hope and a recovered sense of dignity.
They are the brave hearts willing to let go of any idea of who they think they are and discover the possibilities of who they could be free of the limitations they face at the moment.
And over the years I have realized that no one applauds them for this work. There are no award ceremonies honoring their journeys. No academic degree counting the years they struggled to find their way home but they do not give up and they do not stop moving in the direction of freedom.
These people are the courageous ones. These people are my heroes.