Holding Yourself in Tough Times

When the going gets rough, how do you hold yourself- emotionally, mentally, and literally?

In the Self-Love class I teach, we practice some various body holds to comfort ourselves.

Here are a few (of many) to try out, breathing deeply:

*place one hand on the heart

*place two hands on the heart

*place one hand on the heart and one hand on the belly

*move each hand softly from heart to belly

*place one hand on cheek

No one ever picked the cheek hold as their favorite. I didn't either.

Why?

We just didn't enjoy it. It didn't feel as soothing.

But recently I was on a hike at a retreat center. There were gorgeous trails through the woods and prairie, up slopes and down slopes and a dry creek bed to play in. The smell of sweet composting earth and the lightly falling oak leaves blessed my long held silence.

The trail had a statue at each trail intersection. I came across a stone statue of a person holding themselves in a way I hadn't seen before.

So I copied it.

It felt good.

It felt really good.

Like I was being cradled by my mom, who is no longer alive.

Like I could tap into the child in me- the baby in me- who needs complete safety and love.

The part of me that needs an invitation to trust, to release, to feel totally cared for.

And I thought of our Self-Love class, and I thought, "This is a way we can hold the CHEEK!!!"

Instead of holding the right cheek with the right hand, or left cheek with left hand, we can cross the chest and hold the opposite cheek. This creates more of a side-lay feel. And it crosses the body-midline, which has been shown in research to help loosen stuck neural pathways (repetitive thoughts).

I just love finding ways to spread the love. We deserve it. We can access it. We can transform into it.

Om.