Oftentimes, there are moments when one feels not settled. Everything is a blur, and maybe things are going in many different directions than necessary. There is a cloud of overwhelm looming over and even taking simple steps seem heavy. What do you do on such days? Do you fight the feeling, question it, or get even more wrangled with it?
Oftentimes, there is an urge to seek pleasure or distraction in the form of entertainment or addictions, shopping, or even food! Does that make one feel better? And if yes, for how long?
What if one could do something different? When these days of uncertainty and upheaval are upon us, or for no random reason even, it seems just a difficult day, can you breathe your way through it all? Can you be your own refuge during tough times?
A refuge is a place or situation providing shelter. When do we seek shelter? Perhaps when the conditions around feel harsh, unyielding, and unmanageable. What if one can't find an external refuge? Can we be our own refuge?
Being one's own refuge means doing the work oneself. Of going through the moments and being aware of every hairbreadth of sensation vividly. Of trusting the process rather than the outcome. Of staying with the sense of - not knowing. Feeling even directionless, yet safe. Sometimes, we need to lose our way, only to rediscover it another day. And in the interim, during this shift, be patient, in knowing that it is not mandatory to have all the answers, to have everything figured out. Let the spaces between each thought play its own music, and then slowly tap your feet to an unknown beat. Maybe your heart is growing wings and wants to fly, although it feels heavy. And as it takes off, sense the lightness of flight taking over your entire being, elevating your spirit, your soul.
And in this sacred space, when you are the closest to the divinity within yourself, know that you have found something deeper and more precious than anything. You have found the fount of calm and peace within your own self, your very own refuge.
Stay here, for as long as you want, till you feel replenished, renewed, and reborn with energy that will propel you forward. But don't be in a hurry, for the secret is that the process of unraveling is the key to healing.
XoXo
The Storyteller_Mumbai