MASH UP LIFE (THE EMBODIMENT OF VIRTUE)...
Recovery is a process. Be gentle and patient.
This summer, I meandered cross-country by car from my home in Upstate South Carolina toward Southeastern California for a highly anticipated training. The morning before arriving at the retreat / training, I complete Day 41 of Surya / Sat Nam Kriya as my Sadhana and journaled these thoughts;
"Nice sense of energy presence...as always, a challenge to Just Be - and feel into my body, and a challenge to feel the larger body/Universal body around me - and to feel merged with it...thinking about my youth and stepping out of the (main) stream...about not having to be / trying to be tough...about what it might be like to feel supported....about trying to love without the obsession of self and what that really looks like, feels like, even means...about how I am still learning how to relax, release, rest and about why I find that so difficult / inaccessible...about that curious spinning sense of my own...about the gifts of practice and the clarity of keeping things simple. Let the body land; let the breath arrive; let the mind rest."
Arriving at Joshua Tree Retreat Center and experiencing the opening gathering / ceremony in a powerful circle of yogis (highest company), we completed introductions and prepared for what was to come by laying the groundwork and setting our ideals (highest intentions) collectively to;
- Be Present
- Do Our Best with Honesty and Right Effort
- Lean On our Sangha and Trust Each Other
- Lift Into Grace
- Absorb what can be absorbed, and Be OK With That
- Practice Continuously and Steadily while we still breathe
And then the teaching begins. "Your ideals (highest intentions) are guides that are NOT TO BE realized, and are simply there to inform us how to take the next step with humility, strength, kindness, generosity, patience, and compassion (the virtues of the heart). This is the practice of embodying virtue."
Takeaway : There are a myriad of issues that result in people suffering in addiction, and as a coach it is imperative that I open to finding and providing what is required in the moment with honesty and kindness. This requires the ability to see truly and to mirror for others what they are presenting...which starts with empathy, compassion, joy, and equanimity.