Let yourself arrive slowly,
Not mentally,
Physically.
Notice the steady presence under your body,
Nothing to manage,
Just contact,
Breath moving in,
Notice your jaw,
Stomach,
The body tells the truth before the mind,
If there is tightness,
Let it be seen,
And if there is softness,
Let it be known.
You are not here to fix yourself,
You are here to be with yourself.
Every nervous system,
Every body learns rooms,
Some rooms teach us to fight,
Some rooms teach us to flee,
While others teach us to freeze,
And then there are rooms that teach us we are safe.
Safe rooms are not about silence,
They are about steadiness,
So let this be your safe room,
And in a room like this,
Something important becomes possible,
Shame begins to loosen.
Shame is different than guilt,
Guilt says I did something wrong,
Shame says I am something wrong,
Shame is heavy,
It pulls your shoulders forward,
It lowers the gaze,
It edits the breath before it leaves the mouth,
Shame survives in silence,
It grows in isolation,
It feeds on secrecy,
But here is the shift.
Shame loses power when spoken in a safe room,
Not shouted,
Not defended,
When truth is received without punishment,
Something in the body softens,
The nervous system learns I am safe now,
There may be something you have carried,
A sentence about yourself,
A story you never finished out loud,
And you don't have to share it here,
But you can acknowledge there is something,
There's an old teaching,
Let go or be dragged,
And this isn't a threat,
But a reminder that what we hold too tightly can hold us back,
Shame drags you into old rooms,
Old conversations,
Old versions of yourself,
But you are not required to keep rehearsing who you were in order to prove who you are,
Letting go is choosing to enter new rooms lighter,
Now feel your hands,
Soften your palms,
Simply loosen your grip,
Because you don't have to hold this alone,
You do not heal shame by solving your entire future,
You heal it in moments like this,
One honest breath at a time,
Light tomorrow with today,
Not with perfection or performance,
Because the future does not need your panic,
It needs your steadiness,
Tomorrow is lit by the way you sit with yourself right now,
By the way you refuse to abandon yourself,
By the way you tell the truth,
Even softly,
So light tomorrow,
Notice your chest,
Is it a little less tight,
And your shoulders,
Have they dropped some of the weight you've been carrying on them,
And is your stomach a little bit fuller and unrestricted,
Safety teaches the body something new,
You are allowed to be seen without being reduced to old moments,
To old memories,
You are allowed to be whole,
Even now,
There are rooms that wound,
And there are rooms that restore,
Choose your rooms carefully,
Speak carefully,
But do not stay silent forever,
Because shame loses power when spoken in a safe room,
And this is one,
Take a slow inhale,
And a long exhale,
Again,
And if there is one thing you are ready to loosen,
Let it be the belief that you must carry this alone,
So let go or be dragged,
And let old shame stay here,
And move forward with the intention to light every tomorrow with today,
And spirit,
Be abundant with peace,
With courage,
With self-respect,
And every day,
Until next time,
My friend.
Namaste.
