~ The practice of creating quiet and how that feels in our body ~
Have you noticed that it’s starting to get a bit lighter in the morning and staying lighter at the end of the day? I love this time of year – I breathe in a deep breath as I realize that spring is approaching. It’s not quite here yet but very soon and it feels good in my body. This year even more so with the month of cold weather we have just had. My kids were climbing the walls from having spent too much time inside – their bodies out of balance and vibrating with the need to run and play outside. But now, we can all feel a sense of spring that comes from listening intently to nature and our bodies. And it feels different!
This month at Wellness on Whyte we are highlighting the theme – I am Happy. We are creating space and the intention for our clients to explore this theme through their senses at the clinic. I am drawn to helping people explore how to embody this sense of happiness. To help with this I’d like to offer this quote from Henry David Thoreau.
Happiness is like a butterfly…if you chase after it, it will fly just out of reach
But if you sit down quietly and appreciate its beauty, it will come and rest quietly on your shoulder.
There are few things we can glean from this quote.
- Happiness is a state of being that comes from within
- It is not something we can pursue
- We can only be aware of it if we are quiet
- We experience it when we are attuned in body, mind and emotions and living according to our nature
- It is something that we embody
As many of you who know me, I like to think – ok, I like to think a lot. I have an insatiable curiosity and love learning. I would offer that at no other time in history have we had the opportunity to learn so much. There’s no end to the things we can know. At any given time , we can be reading 2 or 3 books and taking at least 2 online courses. But the irony is that at a time when we are able to learn and know so much, the most difficult thing to know is ourselves.
I’ll say it again – At a time when we are able to learn and know so much, the most difficult thing to know is ourselves.
Being able to practice as a massage therapist who works many hours one on one with people provides me an opportunity to observe some of the influences that my clients are working through. A theme that is coming up more and more right now is how full and occupied peoples’ lives are. Even when we have space from our “busyness”, we feel compelled to go to a gym and work out. Many of my clients ask me what I do for self care? What is my practice? I am happy to share that my practice is very simple and I try to do it often during the day – I take moments of time to explore with curiosity how I am feeling in my body. These moments of time act to create space and quiet.
At Wellness on Whyte we strive to create a quiet space – a sanctuary where you are able to come and feel deeply within yourself and find the presence that is yourself. You have taken time from your schedules to create space and quiet for healing and well-being. In the most real sense possible, you have sat down and allowed happiness to rest on your shoulders. One of the comments I hear most often after a session is “I feel like I’m back in my body”. This is what “happiness” feels like. So when you come in for your next treatment, allow yourself to enjoy the quiet time and say to yourself …
I am Happy!
~ Embodying Wellness
Paul
