Allow
This Thanksgiving, in between visits to a very impaired family member, I had Thanksgiving dinner at a very crowded chain restaurant with other groups of 4 or 3 or 2. It was a different experience, and everyone in the restaurant was fortunate to have the resources to pay for the dinner, but the atmosphere was less love filled than what I am fortunately used to. Not a terrible story, but other stories from the week included a friend who had to cancel Thanksgiving due to an illness and other people around me who were experiencing the holiday for the first time without a family member who recently died. These are just a few examples of difficulties I know people have been having for the past week.
These circumstances are not uncommon but are tough to go through when it seems like every one else is having the perfect Thanksgiving straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. And of course, everyone asks you how your Thanksgiving was. In the spirit of holiday goodwill, the answers are almost always positive. These positive answers which do not line up with your reality somehow help to magnify the sense of void.
The truth is, to be open to the underlying light and joy and abundance of life, sometimes you just need to sit with your sense of sadness or loss or abandonment. Sometimes the best answer is tears or yelling or fully expressing your anger and frustration. In Kripalu yoga, it is one of the instructions we repeat often. How much can you allow your experience to be exactly as it is?
If you don’t acknowledge the full spectrum of what it is to be alive in this world, including what some people call the shadow side of the emotions, this is when a sadness or a frustration or a loss can develop into depression.
So, I sincerely hope that you have a fun, light filled and picture perfect holiday season, but if it isn’t, please understand that it is OK, you are not alone, and make sure you take the time to acknowledge the truth of what is going on with you. And then trust that the waves of life will carry you up again.
I love you all.
Copyright 2019 Nancy C Murray
Nancy C Murray is a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, Reiki master and spiritual leader. She leads public and private yoga classes and healing sessions, transformational courses, and also retreats and spiritual journeys.
