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By: Raechel Morrow

True embodiment can only happen when one’s soul is able to position itself to the physical world, settle into it fully, and feel completely safe to stay. The damage from trauma becomes a part of our embodiment because our full way of being was not welcomed or safe. This loss hides our essence, or natural blueprint. Sometimes, whole aspects of our psyches are completely blocked out or repressed.

Sylvia Brinton Perera writes that we have “archaic depths that are embodied in us which are capable of taking us over and shaking us to the core”. That is what it felt like for me, this return to the sacred feminine. Wildly unknown yet deeper sensation of coming home for the first time. 

In the past, I was trying to achieve my worth based on the value I contribute to a capitalistic and masculine society. I never felt enough. My natural way of being and capacity to love the world was drowned out by the doing.  I pushed, overworked, and disconnected. Nothing outside matched the inside of me. The embodiment of my soul was missing.

It started with being with more sacredness in life. Then my relationship with my body and the energy it contained slowly became more sacred than things. I experienced the nature of reclaiming the intrinsic relationship with myself. Let me share a deep glimpse, In her book Descent to the Goddess (1981), Perera writes, “What has been valued in the West in women has too often been defined only in relation to the masculine: the good, nurturant mother and wife; the sweet, docile agreeable daughter; the gently supportive of bright achieving partner. This collective model is inadequate for life; we silence ourselves trying to compress our souls into it just as surely as our grandmothers deformed their fully breathing bodies with corsets for the sake of an ideal.”

As women, we have been cut off from parts of our innate nature or wholeness- if you are still reading, you feel this too. The trauma we internalize begins as young girls, when we realize that some parts of us are unwelcomed and often labeled “bad”. We continue to feel unseen because there are little examples present to reflect our wholeness and variety. 

Where are we to find the full mystery and potency of the feminine?

Collectively,  we are experiencing the return to the “sacred feminine”. But I question if it is enough?  Because present-day society has not understood, has feared the process which women must undergo to claim her power and wisdom, has recognized only the masculine process, women have been left little alternative but to speak ‘as men. Women have become alienated from her and have begun to expect to have the energies, emotions, and attitudes of the masculine. It is a tragic token of the lack of recognition of a separate and unique feminine process…

I am not writing about gender. Rather, the acknowledgement of the intrinsic need for a balance of the feminine and masculine. The feminine energy, is the language of the soul.  As a result, many men and women have disconnected from their soul. This imbalance has caused fatigue, depression, anxiety, and greed. The feminine nurtures from this abundance and wisdom, but instead is met with scarcity and disconnection. 

Most of us “know” that something is missing from our life – but most of us struggle to discover what exactly is missing. The “doing” strangles intuition and feeling what is deeply missing is never discovered. A deeper understanding, awareness and knowing is never experienced. Life becomes a series of attachments to external stimulus to suppress the caged energy within. 

What to do? One of the greatest challenges in the journey towards embodiment is allowing the deep sadness a woman will feel about her separation from the feminine. To allow herself the time to name what is missing and grieve this loss in whatever way is needed for her. Then to release it and reclaim.

Most women NEVER get to this point. This necessary state of sadness and despair is not normalized in our culture. She will need a loving, positive, mentor to simply witness her while she expresses outwardly what has been contained. As women, we need to be this for each other. Stop being afraid to be vulnerable and be deeply compassionate. Fight the desire to dominate.

Then your true embodiment becomes the action of reclaiming your lost treasures.

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Live a life that is sacred!

You are designed to fully LIVE your life and bring about real connection in your world. A life that is sacred. The definition of sacred assumes connection and deserving veneration. Despite being deserving of, at any moment, you may have any number of responsibilities to attend to. Growing a thriving business, working full-time, raising human beings, going to school, running a not-for-profit, educating others, taking care of grandkids, serving on boards, volunteering, and much more! All so important to survival and living as a generative and responsible adult. Your efforts are your tribute to the fabric of our society that knits our culture together. Despite the immense value, holding space for sacredness everyday can feel unattainable.

Previously, sacredness was incongruous in my day-to-day life. It was more familiar to work for my worth and safety. I could not believe I was entirely worthy of pure grace and could have it daily. What I am about to share you may not believe. I know it took a lot of faith in my intuition and experiences before I could be at complete ease. 

Play, Pleasure, Connection to the Divine, Eroticism, Mystery, Untamed Energy, and Nature are sacred, and you need them in abundance every day. These sacred parts of life are not just for the lucky, privileged, intelligent, affluent individuals. They are your birthright.

The world gives you what you need. Maybe not what you want all the time, but what you need. Most times, individuals do not realize what is genuinely needed in one’s life. Therefore, grasping and choosing survival trumps all else. All around is poverty, the marginalized, underprivileged, scarcity, and alienation. What begins to shift this heaviness of, is when the human experience integrates the importance of the sacred. The sacred moves our energy out of scarcity. Leaving scarcity brings our energy to a higher vibration. A higher vibration will allow for more connection that is free of attachment. Then we can genuinely hold those sacred spaces.

You can take time for sacred body regimes. Adorn in pleasures. Pray deeply. Connect to your own inner mystic, or connect to the mystery in your life. Once you are in your own sacred sovereignty, your internal narrative moves from the “Me” to the “We.” Your value is already inside you, not to be earned for later. Not when you “become something” or do something. Now is the time for you to experience the sacred. Not “once you are healed,” not once you know the Self, not once you reach the goal, not when you have the vacation, not when you buy that next big house or cottage.

NOW IS THE POWER!

Now let’s get to the magic. These are some ideas to get you started with bringing more sacred into your everyday life. First, your “doing” needs to come from being. If your doing doesn’t emerge from a state of rest and connectedness, it will ultimately undo you. When you are connected to yourself and in a state of wholeness, your life becomes meaningful and peaceful. 

1. BEING IS AS IMPORTANT AS DOING:
Your body and mind cannot function from non-stop doing, doing, doing. There needs to be stillness every day, or there is no space for sacredness. It does not matter how busy you are-find it as if your life depended on it! Not just some days-every day.  

OFFERING:
→ Mantra: “I have all I need” or “I have enough time.”
→ Create a self-care ritual for yourself in the morning and evening. Perhaps nourishing your skin and body. It must have the quality of indulgence and self-soothing. 
→ Meditate
→ Watch the sun come up every single day.
→ Listen to the frogs sing at night.

2. CREATE A MORNING SPIRITUAL RITUAL:
Every morning includes a sacred text or reading, candles, prayer, gratitude, breathwork, and mantra. To start a sacred morning ritual, reflect on what practices set the positive tone for your day and allow you to move forward with conscious intention? What is special for you? What is spiritual to you

OFFERING: 
→ Journal
→ Commune with nature
→ Sing
→ Pray for yourself and others

3. MAKE YOUR WORK YOUR LIFE AND YOUR LIFE YOUR WORK:
As much as possible, shift from believing that your work and life are two separate entities. If you don’t, work will feel like “work.” When there is a flow between your work and your life. You remain the same person. So, if you are in “life,” you are the same person– and when you are in “work,” you are the same person. There is no division. When you are one with this reality, you no longer dread one over the other, and therefore your Universe becomes sacred. 

OFFERING:
Ask yourself: 
→”Is my whole Self showing up at work? Why or why not?”
→”Am I offering what I am meant to in the world?”

CONSIDER:
→What can you do to make the shift to begin “loving” your work more?
→If your life doesn’t create love and joy, ask yourself, “What is missing for me?
→Whose path are you on right now-yours or someone else’s?

4. SACRED PLAY EVERY DAY
How will you be like a child, be in awe, and use your imagination every day? How will you laugh today? How can you find meaning in everyday things? Connect to the mystery that is your life. 

OFFERING:
→Go play with your children and start to be more like them.
→Pay attention to your dreams.
→Make dinner on a bonfire.
→Sleep under the stars.
→Play dress up and take yourself out on a date.
→Paint or write your own story.
→Make a sacred place.

5.GET TO KNOW YOUR EGO:
Ego is your survival. It is necessary but powerful when directed by the sacred. Otherwise, it can make you grasp, dependent, and reactive. It is only when you are intimate with the workings of your ego that you will be able to catch yourself from closing down or reacting unfavorably. Only when we can pinpoint, “Ah that, is my ego talking,” will we be able to transcend it. The ego mostly shows up in the insecure ways of our “inner child.” When we are in touch with our inner child, we can stop reacting to them in unconscious ways. When we are not compassionate with our inner child, we act out, thinking we are oh-so-grown-up, but actually, we are just behaving like a child.

OFFERING:
→ Do not do this alone. Find a circle or seek a guide. 
→ Trust your intuition. 
→ Live in the present moment. Doing so is imperative. You bear life’s sacred fruits – fruits of joy, purpose and meaning away from the ego when you do. Are you living this moment with your whole present-centered awareness?

Being with what is sacred is similar to going from watching television in black and white to color.  No need to prove to yourself or to others with anything more “worthy,” because nothing is more worthy than being connected and having a receptive heart.

About the Author

Raechel Morrow, Depth & Spiritual Psychologist, Yoga Trainer, Speaker, Certified Yoga Therapist and Certified Trauma Specialist. After years of researching, learning, and working in the field of trauma treatment, she was overwhelmed with the profound understanding of the value of actively seeking what was lost from the trauma of colonization.

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I used to see my pain as this tangible monster that needed to be run from. I thought that once I got far enough ahead of it, it’d be gone forever. I’d gain enough of a lead to catch a deep breath in peace. The sky would open for a moment, and I’d see not just the dark clouds that’d always clouded my lens, but also the sun and all that blue around them. Relief.

dawn people woman hand

Oftentimes I declared victory, convinced I’d lost my monster to dust once and for all. I assumed that the process of healing chronic pain was linear and finite. That’s the approach most doctors I saw took, at least – surely, they must know what was best for my body… right?

Wrong. That monster found me eventually, each and every time I ran away. Every time a doctor comes up with some miracle idea such as injections, muscle relaxers, physical therapy, etc. It found its way, always sprinting back up to me – until I found Mindfulness. That’s not to say I’m cured of all that hell, because I’m not, but I have found a state of continuous healing. I discovered through sacredness and self-compassion that the monster I always ran from was no monster at all. The monster was a culmination of all those internal parts of me that felt injured and left behind which I repressed so hard. Less monster vibes, more wounded inner-child that needs nurturing vibes.

Unluckily for me, my lived experience made me a prime candidate for neuroplastic pain. Hypersensitivity… check! Childhood trauma… check! Self-critical thoughts… check! Repeated injury… check! The list goes on – check, check, check, check, check.

Neuroplastic pain is pain that roots in the brain and is not a reaction from a musculoskeletal issue in the body. It can sometimes begin as a result of injury, but unlike acute pain (or what I like to call “primary pain”), it sticks around. It is “secondary pain”, the arrow that fires again and again as a result of learned pathways in the brain. It shoots until safe-response pathways are intentionally created to combat the painful pathways. Many people spend years and fortunes trying to determine what their pain is a symptom of, because that’s what doctors are taught to do. As it turns out though, in most cases of chronic pain, pain is the monster itself… Not just a symptom.

woman in gray tank top while sitting on bed

Unfortunately (yet very fortunately), the only way to heal pain that originates in the mind is to heal through the mind – most specifically, through the mind-body connection. Unfortunate in the sense that it requires your own undying effort and resilience, but fortunate in the sense that it’s very possible to heal, and it’s all within your own hands. Empowering, isn’t it? It’s not something you can simply pay someone else to rid of for you without much work on your part. It’s a call – a message from your body – to find your footing on the trail of self-compassion.

A few years ago, I found my first footing. I surrendered, decided to look my monster in the eyes, and listen. Tend and Befriend. Notice, Allow, and Accept. I learned how to breathe and still smile on the days when the entire sky is all dark clouds and birdless. I’m not pain-free, but my pain is far less life-sucking than before, and it doesn’t bother me as much anymore. When I feel it swelling up inside of me now, I know that I have a choice: to dive deep into the overwhelm, feel the weight of the past, the pain, and the future, and try my best to run away from the monster impossible to run from… OR …to instill messages of safety to my body and mind and remind myself that the sky does always clear those dark clouds away.

Despite all the work I’ve put into myself, I still sometimes go with the first choice. It’s the easy choice, and after years of dealing with all of this, I’m still not perfect. I only say this to express that it’s normal, right, and human to fall off the path here and there. But every time we forget and we fall is also an opportunity to remember and get back on. It’s in those moments of remembering – of choosing the path of Self in the face of pain again and again – that true transformation occurs.

This is not a call to cure, but a call to find your own footing. If you’re feeling that call, I urge you to respond by signing up for my Monday evening yoga class at The Body Mind Being Institute. One thing that’s always helped me is to have witnesses like those I’ve been incredibly lucky to have within those doors. During class you’ll be provided with that witness and plentiful modifications to allow you to take your mind off of strain and towards a comfortable presence. The tools I’ve gathered along the way as gifts from my mentors or as birthed by self-discovery will be passed down to you, too. Embodied movement, breathwork, meditation, and themes of transformation will assist you on your path and as you confront your own monster and choose self-compassion.

This path of healing chronic pain is not linear. It is not impersonal, and it looks different for everyone. Pain is a message from your body, urging you to lean into signs from the universe.

Will you allow this to be your sign?

I really hope to connect with and witness you Monday evening. Register and you might say you’ve found your footing.

Ally Schmidt

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A GOOD guide, teacher, healer, therapist, etc. masters memorize and learns. Not that memory is bad, it only becomes a problem when what comes from memory becomes the authority. Even more dangerous- the truth.

A TRUE guide uses its life as inspiration from inner experience, from a state of knowing, not from previously acquired knowledge. Simply holds the space for others to find their OWN unique true Freedom.

This is how you change lives. Let me explain…

Your unique life story breeds the ability to transform lives. It is not about how perfect you master a process rather as Brene Brown teaches it is the ability to Brave The Wilderness. Most people do in order to be. The intention is to act because they feel incomplete. The ancient hunter-gatherer impulse which is still in our DNA.

This is tragic….

If you live and work in this way, sharing your knowledge, what you have memorized connection is impossible. You use hierarchy, which turns something that could be sacred into disempowerment. When what you know becomes the truth and what you offer it renders you completely incapable of ever experiencing real truth let alone the space for others.

This is why I created this transformational offering staring this fall.

Our 350 Hour Integrative Life Yoga Therapy Program is a hybrid of high-caliber professional training and an in-depth personal development program.

This is a fusion of psychology, neuroscience, archetypal study, yoga, shadow work, and leadership training woven into one complete training.

You are ready if you desire……….

  • To deepen your study in eastern philosophy and create sacred rituals that are meaningful to you.
  • You are sick of putting a band-aid on the symptoms instead of accessing the root issues.
  • Differentiate yourself by integrating mental-emotional health skills into your offering
  • Specialize in a holistic approach to the science of yoga that’s in high demand…
  • Radically expand your teaching, coaching or clinical practice by breaking through blocks, beliefs, and behaviors that keep you “playing small” …
  • Gain confidence and trust in the ability to transform.
  • Experience deep healing through your own personal journey of self-discovery + shadow work…
learn more

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December 3, 2020

|Raechel Morrow

In the wake of Covid-19, we are creating low-frequency vibrations from stress, fear, and disconnection. We are not immune to the impact of this low vibration around us. Many would agree we are influenced by a cycle of creating, radiating, and consuming – and it is EXHAUSTING. Hence, our vibrational frequency is lower and chaotic.

With every crisis in history, we survived by supporting and caring for each other. This danger is more critical than any before. Covid-19 has forced us to isolate and hide parts of ourselves away.

Scientists have found that differences in vibrational characteristics correlate strongly with the different rates of infectivity and lethality of different kinds of corona viruses, taken from a global database of confirmed case numbers and case fatality rates. (By DAVID L. CHANDLER, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY).

What are we to do? Deep inside, we know this low level of energy will not save us. We know there is a different way to heal. As it so happens, Mother Nature has a different story to tell. Mother Nature is trying to guide us naturally to slow down, take care of her resources, connect, prepare our bodies for the winter to come, and the Sankalpa (the intention from your soul). A higher source is naturally guiding us to becoming a beacon of light for those around us.

Ancient civilizations recognized this turning point toward the gradual return of the light known as the Winter Solstice, a time of reawakening and rebirth – a time of new beginnings. There is no time like now to awaken our collective consciousness and prepare for our spirit to open and receive the coming light.

There are many ways you can bring the magic of Winter Solstice into your homes and prepare for the new season of the Sankalpa. It is so important to have shared collective experiences to remember the oneness with each other. 

Start honoring this season now. Try a few of these suggestions below. I have found them to help me receive the nourishment of the season.

1). 5th annual Winter Solstice Celebration. This year will be extra special. Collectively, healing communities from the lake-shore to Grand Rapids will join us in self-reflection necessary to clear old patterns to serve our world. A time for introspection and preparation for our spirit to open and receive the coming light. Our intention is to provide space to begin this preparation through meditation, asana, breath work, and ceremony. Learn more and register!

Get your free ticket

2). Join Raechel Morrow and Kelley Rasch to prepare for the season of Sankapla: Between the Winter Solstice and reawakening and rebirth, a time of new beginnings. Our intention is to provide time to begin this preparation through kriyas , meditation, asana, and inquiry. This is preparatory work for your heart as you move into the next season. These are free weekly zoom classes through January 7th. Spaces are limited and you must register before each class.

Register now

3). Write a letter to your loved ones. Sharing why you love them so much and how they have impacted your life. Imagine how this small effort could make a enormous impact on their life.

4). Take walks under the moon at night and early morning. Ask the question: how am I naturally to be in this world? Try both! The cold, fresh air will help with inflammation and keep your lungs clear. Journal about these questions.

5). Increase your Meditation time and with candlelight. Listen and witness yourself without judgement. Just witness and let IT all be. Nothing to change. Without stillness it is impossible to move away from old patterns.

6). Create a ceremony with candles. Invite your family members or close friends either online or in a small group to light a candle and arrange them in a circle. Each candle represents what your heart is commiting to during the time of new beginnings.

7). Without a daily practice of embodiment, prayer/dedication and devotion nothing above is possible.

Raechel Morrow

About the author: Raechel is the founder and Executive Director of the Body Mind Being Institute. She offers training in therapeutic yoga, yoga therapy, and trauma-informed modalities. She works with clients privately to help create emotional, mental, and physical release through yoga and other healing modalities. She is known for saying; “It all gets to be here.” By creating a safe and non-judgmental space for the client to explore their patterns, Raechel offers body-based therapy for creating change and transformation. She believes that each can find their answers and discover their deepest Self when given the opportunity to be empowered, embodied, and explore.

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By Raechel Morrow

At its heart, Body Mind Being’s pulse is for expansion and transformation. If we look closely at the process of transformation from one state to another state, we see it is not an easy process. It takes time. Look at the process of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly. A caterpillar must develop strength and resiliency first and may even die before even becoming a chrysalis or before changing into a beautiful butterfly. But when it transforms into a butterfly, it is beautiful and wonderful for everyone to see.

A great transformation also can exist within us. We can see all these steps as similar to the process a butterfly must undergo. At the Body Mind Being we have a firm belief that every human being has the capacity to become a better person.

This is why Grand Rapids Healing Yoga needed to dissolve. Our services to educate and empower those who seek to experience their full potential was not available to all people. When we left the Wellness Collective we stopped classes, workshops, and some trainings. I had the insight that to transcend to making the kind of impact that comes when guided from a higher source I would need to be guided from a place of connection. A complete death and resurrection needed to organically unfold.  

Once the transition from Grand Rapids Healing Yoga to the Body Mind Being was complete the next month, our world was in a pandemic. What transpired over the next few months was a profound connection with each other. A community started forming between us and a greater inquiry of what is a community? 

What I am discerning is being a part of a community can make us a part of something greater than ourselves. It can give us opportunities to connect with people, to reach our purpose, and provide safety and security. It’s important for every person to feel and know that all are welcomed within the community. A community is a familiar thread used to bring people together to advocate and support each other and belong. 

Communities are also rich in resources when brought together. The Body Mind Being Institute belongs to the community. It is a place where we can educate, and empower all who seek to experience their full potential. It is for connection, giving, and receiving. 

The Institute is a school where transformation and change are possible and supported. By opening the new space we are supporting the three pillars of truth for our students and teachers:

 1). Teacher: Knowing your own truth. You are your greatest teacher. Remembering who you are and the process of living in harmony with your mind, body, and spirit.
2). Dharma: shows up in the experiences of our lives, as a matter of choice. Which choices and practices best serve you? Through being we bring ourselves back again and again to the present moment. 
3). Sangha: Community. A heightened sense of connection, a greater appreciation of mutual interdependence, and a shared responsibility for all beings to respect and care for one another.

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How one simple choice can change your life…

Albert Einstein has remarked that the single most important decision any of us will ever make in our lifetime is whether or not to believe that the universe is friendly. In the absence of proof, we have belief. And belief is a choice.

“If we decide that the universe is a friendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries, and our natural resources to create tools and models for understanding that universe because power and safety will come through understanding its workings and its motives. Because God does not play dice with the universe” –Albert Einstein.

Each of us must choose how to see our world, and this choice will essentially determine how our life will unfold. If a person decides that the universe they live in is friendly, they will see the good much more than the bad, spend more time feeling positive emotions such as happiness, love, and gratitude. That person will beneficially serve the world. However, if someone decides their universe is unfriendly and harsh, they will feel negative emotions such as jealousy, hatred, and fear. That person will contribute to their world based on taking more for them self or preserving what they already have.

Say what? I hear your inner ego protesting. Have you followed the news recently-we? Are in a pandemic, a fight for survival? Are you posting this blog now-are you crazy?  A friendly world would not create a virus such as covid 19. 

I understand any resistance to this choice. As a person who holds space for individuals with traumatic experiences, I assure you I am all too familiar with the world’s ugliness and evil. My losses in life at one time or another have been unbearable. I think of the experience as a vigorous dance of energy. There’s this give and take. When you dance, one leads, and one follows, but both are giving and taking. Just because the universe is a friendly place doesn’t mean that bad things can’t happen.

This pandemic has forced us to confront significant change – both on individual and social levels-right? Looking at the harsh areas of human life during this pandemic can help illuminate it and allow us to lean more into wonder and possibility. The universe is not friendly to a small, egocentric self. Everything we think we are, we’re going to lose; death comes to all of us. But because we are the universe — we are of it, and it is of us, with no real separation — it is not unfriendly. I believe profoundly; my life is a miracle. For me, this notion boils down to a fundamentally supportive life system that provides for me and all other living beings to the full extent that we are willing to draw on it in ways that serve a universal greater good.

Now, I am not suggesting that we put on rose-colored glasses and say everything is right with the world. Nor I am suggesting looking the other way or bypassing darkness. The truth is that there are horrors and tragedies all around us. But this harsh reality does not mean that the universe is vindictive, punitive, or out to get us. That view, too, would be a choice. Right?

What will your choice be?

Today and every day, I am committed to living in a friendly universe, to a practice that supports me in shifting into a perspective and energy that is sacred, full of joy, light, and love. When life does get harsh or unfriendly, I seek what is sacred to balance (read a blog from last year) https://bodymindbeinginstitute.org/2020/11/06/why-cultivating-your-sacred-with-your-survival-is-not-a-choice/

Would you like to join me?

Repeat these words from Einstein and live accordingly: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.”

Look for extra online classes and support through 2020. Only together we will thrive.

Deep bow to you all,

Raechel

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This blog post was originally posted on 2/14/2019 on the blog under our previous brand, Grand Rapids Healing Yoga. We hope you continue to find the insights offered here to be both fruitful and restorative.

Written by Jacqui Poehlman

I thought I had healed from all of my trauma.

I had been to years of therapy and talked through my divorce, being sexually assaulted at a young age, and the emotional scars given to me from my family. I thought was done talking and processing. I felt like I was ready for action. At the start of last year, I left behind both a relationship and a job that were not serving me, and stepped out on my own.

I could not have been more wrong.

I started my own communications consultancy, and Grand Rapids Healing Yoga was one of my first clients. As a yogi for years, I was intrigued by their offerings of healing trauma, but I felt that their services were for things I had left in my past. I wasn’t interested in revisiting them. 

Through my work with Raechel and her team, however, I learned that trauma isn’t something you can necessarily just file away.

My trauma is everywhere, and it’s part of my every interaction. Most surprising to me was exactly which traumas continued to spill out of me. It wasn’t the life-altering painful events. It was then that I began to understand that trauma is something that can and does happen every day.

As I worked to create my business, I found myself unwrapping layers of trauma I had yet to understand or process. Fears of being not good enough, of screwing things up, of being a fraud all came up to the surface.

What I love so much about working with Raechel is that she provides a safe space for people, including me, to be honest and vulnerable about where we have been in our lives and the path we would like to unfold in our future. We have a wonderful working relationship because neither of us expects the other to have all the answers. We’re allowed to have and express feelings of unworthiness, frustration, and joy.

Raechel and the other therapists Grand Rapids Healing Yoga have also taught me to understand what it feels like to live in and love my body. A great deal of my own trauma stems from body image issues in my past.  

Raechel’s style of yoga is the first I’ve experienced where I am given choices about what to do in a pose to make it feel right for my body at that particular moment in time. Everyone in a trauma-sensitive yoga class is an individual with unique challenges, and we’re encouraged to truly listen to our body to give it what it needs.

I remember after my first class with Raechel, I found myself able to truly listen to my body for the first time, ask for what it needs, and be comfortable in providing for myself. Even if that need was to rest rather than work out, or to wear a larger size clothing that I had worn before.

Sometimes, my body and my mind need to sit with the fact that I’ve been impacted negatively by what has happened to me in my life. Not from a place of action or anger, but of acceptance, understanding, and compassion. I no longer feel shame for being triggered by something (even if it means lots of tears at inopportune times!). The work I’ve done this past year has helped me start to become more grounded, confident in mind and body, and starting to live the courageous life I’ve always dreamed about,

Yet I acknowledge there is and always will be more to do. My traumas are still there, and I know I will unravel new ones every day. But like my body, trauma is something that I have learned to love as a part of me, not something that defines or limits who I am.

About the author: Jacqui Poehlman is the founder of Communicate Your Joy, a Grand Rapids-based marketing consultancy for healers and  heart-centered entrepreneurs. Jacqui is also the co-founder of Mamas Making Waves, a podcast and online community dedicated to helping mompreneurs ditch the hustle and find the flow in life and business. Jacqui serves as a Board Member for the Body, Mind, Being Project, bringing trauma sensitive yoga and education in trauma to mental health professionals and unserved communities. When she’s not plotting world domination, Jacqui  enjoys good books, lakeshore sunsets, a strong cup of coffee, napping, and time spent with her two children.

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This blog post was originally posted on 4/29/2019 on the blog under our previous brand, Grand Rapids Healing Yoga. We hope you continue to find the insights offered here to be both fruitful and restorative.

Written by Raechel Morrow

You are driven to fully LIVE your life and bring about real change in your world. BUT you are also growing a thriving business, working full-time, raising human beings,  going to school, running a not-for-profit, educating others, taking care of grandkids, serving on a board and much more! All so important to survival and living as a generative and responsible adult. Who has time for sacred? AND what is “the sacred” really anyways? 

I have entirely been in your shoes. I mean I literally walked in them. What I am about to tell you, you may not believe. I know I did not for a long time. BUT deep down inside you have an inner knowing, and you know this to be true. 
Play, Pleasure, Connection to the Divine, Eroticism (yes this too!), Mystery, Untamed Energy, Nature, all this is the sacred and you need it in abundance every day. A friend of mine  Jessica Roodvoets told me that pleasure was my birthright. It blew my mind. I thought “well, of course, it is,” not just for me but everyone.  It was a real game changer. 

The world gives us what we need.  However, within ourselves, there is a temptation to grasp and hold on the only survival. We look around and see poverty, the marginalized, and the underprivileged. We can all relate to trauma, scarcity, and alienation. What begins to shift this heaviness is when the human experience integrates the importance of the sacred.  The sacred moves our energy out of scarcity. Leaving scarcity brings our energy to a higher vibration. A higher vibration will allow for more connection that is free of attachment. Then we can genuinely hold those spaces for others.

We can take time for sacred body regimes. Adorn in pleasures.  Pray deeply. Connect to your own inner mystic or connect to the mystery in your life.
Once we are in our own sacred sovereignty, we can then focus on moving from the “Me” to the “We.”  Boy did I do that backward! Your value is now not later. Not when you “become something” Now is the power!!!!!!! Now is the time for you to experience the sacred. Not “once you are healed,” not once you know the Self, not once you reach the goal, not when you have the vacation, not when you buy that next big house or cottage.  Not tomorrow because it is the weekend. NOW IS THE POWER!
Now let’s get to the magic. These are some ideas to get you started with bringing more sacred into your everyday survival. The doing-we-do needs to come from being. If the doing doesn’t emerge from a state of rest and connectedness, it will ultimately undo us. When we are connected to ourselves, and in a state of wholeness, all the doing-we-do will be open and meaningful.
BEING IS AS IMPORTANT AS DOING:

I have come to feel that my body and mind cannot function on non-stop doing, doing, doing. I have tried it does not work. There needs to be stillness every day, or there is no space for sacred. It does not matter how busy. When my twins were babies, my silence was in the shower. I have come to accept that every Virgo such as myself, that works too hard and every parent out there, needs to create intentional stillness. As hard as it is for me to build new patterns, I have delight living in the moment. Every day I work hard and engage fully in the things that are sacred to me. Not just some days every day. Self-care GLORIOUS SELF-CARE – is what I am talking about. This is our mandate as women, mothers, parents, humans. 

OFFERING:
***Mantra: “I have all I need” or “I have enough time.”
***Create a self-care ritual for yourself in the evenings. Perhaps nourishing your skin and body. It must have the quality of indulgence and self-soothing.
***NOW IS THE POWER
CREATE A MORNING RITUAL
For me, every morning includes a sacred text or reading, candles, prayers, gratitude, breathwork, and mantra. To start a sacred morning ritual, reflect on what practices sets the tone for your day and allows you to move forward with conscious intention? What is special for you? What is spiritual to you?
OFFERING: 
***Either journaling, commune with nature, meditate, watch the sun come up, listen to the frog and birds speak.

MAKE YOUR WORK YOUR LIFE AND YOUR LIFE YOUR WORK:
As much as possible, and I know it cannot be accurate for everyone, shift from believing that your work and life are two separate entities. If you don’t, work will feel like “work.” When there is a seamlessness between your work and your life.You remain the same person. So, if you are in “life” you are the same – and when you are in “work” you are the same person. There is no division. When you are one with this reality, you no longer dread one over the other, and therefore your Universe becomes sacred. 
OFFERING:
***Ask yourself:
“Is my whole self showing up at work?”
“Am I really offering what I am meant to in the world?”
What can you do to make the shift to begin “loving” your work more?
If your life doesn’t create love and joy, ask yourself, “what is missing for me?
Whose path are you on right now?
GO PLAY EVERYDAY
How will you be like a child and use your imagination every day? How will you laugh today? How can you find meaning in everyday things? Connect to the mystery that is your life. 
OFFERING:
***Go play with your children and start to be more like them.
***Pay attention to your dreams
***Paint or write your own story*** Make a sacred place
GET TO KNOW YOUR EGO:
Ego is our survival. It is necessary but powerful when directed by the sacred. Otherwise, it makes us grasp, dependant, and reactive. It is only when we are intimate with the workings of our ego that we will be able to catch ourselves from closing down or reacting unfavorably.  Only when we can pinpoint, “ah that is my ego talking,” will we be able to transcend it. The ego mostly shows up in the insecure ways of our “inner child.” When we are in touch with our inner child, we can stop reacting to her/him in unconscious ways. When we are not compassionate with our inner child, we act out in all sorts of ways, thinking we are oh-so-grown-up, but actually, we are just behaving like a child.
It is only now, after many, many years of working on myself that I can instantly spot the ego and because of this, I am quicker to reign it in. I am not always 100% efficient in doing this because, boy, the ego is sneaky and manipulative – it has developed all sorts of underhanded ways to get my needs met. Recognizing ourselves when we enter ego is the key to living an authentic life. 
OFFERING:
***Do not do this alone. Find a sister circle or seek a guide. 
***Your ego takes you into your head, confuses. Are you in your intuition or head most of the time? ***Living in the present moment – is a practice that we need to cultivate daily. Doing so is imperative. When we do, we bear its fruits – fruits of joy, purpose and meaning away from the ego. Are you living this moment with your fullest presence and awareness?

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This blog post was originally posted on 7/1/2019 on the blog under our previous brand, Grand Rapids Healing Yoga. We hope you continue to find the insights offered here to be both fruitful and restorative.

Written by Raechel Morrow

It is time for you to remember your body’s innate freedom and wisdom. This may be a  way-out-there thought, and if you do not believe it, don’t worry. You are not alone. We do not believe it to be true because we have not experienced it to be so. We do not know how to access this deep knowing. I believe we can use our bodies as teachers to access this innate knowing. Are you choosing to find answers from your body? I am here to remind you that your body holds the answer you seek. It is instructing you to open your heart and open the flood gates to your breath. The guide you are longing to meet resides in your body. Start there, and later, you will be able to follow the same process without a body and a spirit. Your body is the container to your soul. Try using your body as the doorway to your soul. Here are some easy tools to add to your spiritual practices to get you started. 

Deep Feeling -3 minutes exercise

Take three deep breaths and let your breath fall out of your mouth. Sitting, notice how you are sitting. Do not change or judge your sitting unless you would like to. Place your hands on your legs and feel the sensation of your own legs. Set a timer for 3 minutes. Simply feel your whole body sitting for three minutes. What sensations did you feel? What sensations did you not feel? How may those sensations inform my day today?

 Body Scan – 20 minutes