When you meet your emotions somatically – inside your body – and place a hand where the energy of those emotions is most felt; when you welcome them, reassure them that they are safe here, accept them for how they feel now, (without any dualistic right or wrong, good or bad judgement)—this is healing at the innermost level. And it is only at this deeper place that you will directly experience your true nature of love.

I also learned very quickly to treat my recovery holistically – if you are not nourishing your nervous system and replenishing your neurotransmitters in a natural way, you will be less likely to succeed. And a healthy and balanced nervous system enables you stop returning to old patterns, and start growing in ways you truly deserve.

If there is any part of you that is discordant with life—that is pushing against life, avoiding, or denying life—then you will never be able to truly experience the feeling of wholeness. You will always feel as though something needs to be found, or fixed, or searched for.

We all have within our reach an opportunity to really show up in our lives; to embrace the moment without feeling afraid and wishing instead for the moment to pass. We all have the power to radically transform our lives by sitting with fear instead of running from it.

Nearly eight years ago, I attended weekly coaching sessions at an addiction recovery centre, and my therapist and I prepared an action plan for my recovery together. We spoke about my goals, not just for recovery from substance abuse, but for recovering my overall health and well-being.

…giving yourself permission to just be Days when my soul yearns to be closerto the heart of the things I

Once you anchor yourself into the centre, all it takes is a tiny shift in the direction of the light for your life to start becoming easier, softer, and more aligned. My dark season came, and I clung to it and identified with it for a little longer than I would have chosen to. But I can now see that I needed it to break something open and take me to a higher place.