Warning: this will be a post without pictures! It will involve me talking about my life changing experience, though.
Yesterday, I went to a session with Emily Smith, owner of The Yoga Place in Longview. What we did is something that I believe is the next generation of counseling. Now, when I think of counseling, I used to think of a person with some type of mental disorder or who had a traumatic event happen in their life sitting on a chaise lounge with a stiff typical doctor type listening and prescribing what they thought needed to happen.
Phoenix Rising is very different. It is a certified counselor and yoga instructor taking you through your own mind. This may sound pretty far "out there" and way too new age, but stay with me. It's really not all that crazy. First off is where she explains what will happen. There is a large mat in the floor and tons of blankets, bolsters, blocks, and other props. She tells me that because this process is very organic and natural, she never knows what she will use. It is all based on what you say and what she sees that you need. She also tells me that opposed to regular therapy where the counselor tells you what they think, all of my answers will come from in me. I am very excited at this point.
Next up is a body scan. I go stand with my back to the wall and close my eyes. She tells me to take my attention first to my feet, then ankles, bottom of my legs and so on. This allows her to watch when I am focused on that area and see if I put my weight in certain areas. This also gave me an opportunity to really focus on what parts of my body needed attention and where I was holding my weight, my pain, and my stiffness.
Afterwards we started the session. She asked me to think of different people who were in my life. To see them as not just the people but like I was watching a movie or looking at pictures. I saw snapshots of the people that are closest to me. She asked me to do the same thing with emotions and situations in my life. She then works on different parts of your body, very massage like, but at the same time it is like assisted gentle yoga positions. For everyone this process is different. She mostly worked on my arms, pulling them into a stretch and asked me to continue talking about what we talked about. She asked about the sensations I was feeling in the stretch and this progressed into different thoughts. For example, I told her that the comfort of her hands holding onto mine was overwhelming the stress of the stretch. That led to her asking about the comfort, then what I thought of when I thought of comfort. I thought of my grandmother's house when I was little, so she asked me what that meant to me. I then mentioned my seeking independence, constantly growing out there. Getting the opportunity to explore and do things I wouldn't typically do.
This type of movement went on for about an hour. I processed through a lot of the parts of my life causing me stress, got a lot of emotion out, and got to get in touch with me. At the end, she asked me what one part stood out to me. I said comfort. She then asked me to think of what brought me that comfort and without thinking, I blurted out my quiet time. Now, this is interesting because I was expecting to get answers about life, my future, and my relationships. Instead, I say the one thing that I have been working on doing. What I realized though is that doing my quiet time is not about social or religious obligation, I do it because I need that time for myself and just listen to Christ.
It was kind of crazy to me that of all things, that's the main thought that I got out of it. I loved it though. It completely held true to what I've been trying to do in simplifying my life and focusing. I realized that I don't have to have a plan like so many people do. I have never thought that way. I can just go one step at a time and God will take me where I need to go.
Hope you enjoyed hearing about my journey! If you are interested in Phoenix Rising yourself, I highly recommend it! Call Emily at {903-295-6604} for all of the details.
Take time for yourself today..
xo_vw
2 comments:
THAT sounded amazinggggg. I want to do this when I come home. Or find a place here. Oh my goodness, as stressed out as I am right now, I wish I could zap over there and do this right now. ahhhh!!
T- it's so wonderful!! I'd highly suggest it!! I have known Emily for a long time and she is so amazing at what she does. I should have put this in the post but was still processing and didnt think about saying that she has worked with a lot of the drs in Longview to help people through this type of counseling!
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