Uncomfortably Close

"Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear." -Pema Chodron as written in 'When Things Fall Apart'

How do we stop and face the things in life that completely freak us out? There are many methods in which we distract ourselves from facing pain and discomfort as there are just as many platforms in which to learn to see and move through them. In the past I personally would love to become as busy as humanly possible so I could successfully ignore the signals my body would send as to not have to deal with the fear of a circumstance, feeling, or some form of reality. The faster I moved the less I felt.

In 2000 I stepped into Om Yoga Center in NYC and began to learn how to slow down. I was taught through the asanas (postures) of yoga to create space, to hold the space, and then let it go. When I use the word 'space', I mean the space in my physical body, which is where I began to face myself first. Feeling a stretch, sitting in the stretch, and then releasing it. This relationship that I was slowly creating between my mind and my body by stepping onto my yoga mat every afternoon became my time to get very close to ME.... or God, or Nature, or whatever you like to call It.

So I think today I will come to my mat! With some fear around my freshly healed back I will practice slowing down and getting close, uncomfortably close.