Peeling Back Layers
In honor of National Sons Day, I felt a calling to be more vulnerable on my Instagram account, so I shared about how the journey of parenthood transformed me in unimaginable and incredible ways over the past five years.
In case you missed my post, here is what I wrote:
Becoming a parent peeled back many, if not, all of the layers that I had carefully laid down over the years.
Layers that shielded me from acknowledging my past.
Layers that prevented me from holding space for myself in a meaningful and nourishing way.
Layers that buried my feelings and emotions deep so I could no longer acknowledge their presence and complexity.
Layers that cauterized old wounds and prevented me from starting the healing journey.
Layers that weighed me down and impacted my current state of well-being as a parent, human, and partner.
To discard each layer over time, I gave myself permission to hold space for all prior versions of myself, befriend my feelings and emotions, and slowly heal the old wounds with compassion, love, and patience.
By no means is this process over and I am more than okay with this process being a lifelong journey.
And for that, I have Niyam to thank as I get to choose how the rest of my [our] life will look from here onwards.
In the past, expressing myself in this capacity would have been something I would have hesitated to do because I would be worried about whether my less-than-uplifting experiences of parenthood were valid and worthy of sharing with others. Would my words show everyone that I was woefully underprepared to become a parent? Would it show everyone that I wasn’t as “put together” as I should have been before and after becoming a parent?
As these thoughts ruminated in my mind before hitting the “Share” button, I reminded myself that my experiences of parenthood (thus far) may be less-than-uplifting and that is more than okay. After all, we show up to a life experience with our present self as well as past versions of that self. Often times, it takes a transformative event to unearth those past versions of our self so they can slowly make their way up to the surface. These past versions of our self want to be seen, felt, heard, and held. The more we practice doing this for ourselves, the more we tend to our old cauterized wounds and begin the healing process. A process that lasts a lifetime and creates a present self that is nurtured with the utmost tender heartedness and understanding.
This is the practice of yoga, my friends.
#NationalSonsDay #Compassion #HealingisAJourney #PeelingBackLayers #ThisisYoga
