How to integrate hard lessons

Wow, I just had an amazing weekend co-leading a retreat.

The time was about so much more than yoga and meditation and dancing. It was a safe space for people to connect to themselves, reflect and let the messy stuff come to the surface for healing. I’m so honored to facilitate such an experience.

Which brings me to what’s next…

After you have a healing experience, what’s next?

After you have gained clarity on the lessons behind your pain, shame and sadness, how do you integrate that insight into your daily life?

Typically, healing isn’t a light switch that you turn on and off. Rather, it’s more like the rise and fall of the sun each day.

Sometimes you are in beautiful, full light.

Sometimes in darkness again.

And sometimes, you’re in the in-between.

Here are two tips to help you integrate your healing into your daily life:

1. Have a reminder to keep you anchored in your insight.
   This could be an object that you connect with daily (a piece of jewelry, a rock in your pocket, your mug for morning tea). Or it could be a daily practice like a morning prayer, a lunchtime meditation moment or an evening journal habit.
2. Have compassion for yourself.
   You will forget. You will fall back into the old ways of thinking and feeling. This is normal. Instead of beating yourself up for it and making it mean all kinds of nasty things, let it mean that you are in progress. Be kind to yourself the way you would be to a small child in pain.
   Compassion IS the way forward and you get to make that muscle stronger every time you fall off track.