Embracing my Essence

Finding ourselves is something every human being can relate to. We are all looking for a sense of belonging, a need to understand who we are, where we come from, and what is the purpose of our life.  This has been my quest for most of my adult life.  Despite my deep desire to find answers to those questions, the journey was turbulent. I was stressed, anxious, and even depressed.  Most of the time, I felt tired and overwhelmed.  Life had no sense.  All that I wanted was to stop where I was, to curl up in a ball and stayed in place forever.

 

But the fundamental nature of life is grounded in resilience.

So, I kept going on. 

I convinced myself just to be present and receptive to what life had to offer.  

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And it worked.  Slowly, my Essence emerged.  Before I could realize it, I was guided on a path of transformation, a path of healing.  This journey empowered me and allowed a reconnection to my life through a profound shift of consciousness.

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I first discovered the simple, yet powerful, practice of mindfulness.  As soon as I began to introduce it into my daily life, I became available to all that was happening around me and above all inside me.  The more I practice, it helps me to increase my awareness and be more fully present in the here and now.  I find myself suffering less and I can taste the joy of living. One mindfulness practice at a time, I develop the ability to welcome all of my human experience and I get closer and closer to my true essence.

 

The practice of mindfulness inevitably brought me back to my materiality, to my physical essence.  I learn to listen to my own needs and bodily signals. To trust my body. I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to feel good and to have the energy required to face the uncertainties of life. I notice the inner capacity of the body to heal itself, to be resilient in response to challenges.  The practice of Qigong, helps me to align my philosophy of life and my behaviors with this truth.

 

The practice of Qigong and mindfulness fosters my connection with the natural world.  Reconnecting with my interiority, my physicality, and my reality to be a living being reminds me of my origins and that I am part of the greater web of life. I slowly relearn the gestures, the smells, the sounds, the textures, the tastes.  To observe and integrate the natural world into my day-to-day life allows me to slow my pace and nourish my practices.

 

But we cannot reconnect with our breath, our body, the nature that surrounds us without becoming aware of the gravity of the state in which our planet finds itself. Anger, dismay, grief, fear, and despair arise as an echo of my personal suffering.  I feel all the pain in the world at the destruction of our Mother Earth. Both the pain and the surge of love for the earth inform my practices.  I integrate the Elements in my contemplation and understanding of the world and try to distill all the wisdom from them.

 

The last few years have been an extraordinary opportunity for discoveries and profound transformations, for creating a bond with myself, with others and with nature. I finally feel like I belong here. Life itself has been my teacher. With its sufferings, its beauties, its joys, its sorrows, I received a lot. And, of course, I am grateful for that. As Robin Wall Kimmerer puts it so wisely: “If our first response is gratitude, then our second is reciprocity: to give a gift in return”. This is why today I stand with humility at the center of my life and share with you the fruit of my experiences, the richness of my personal transformation. It is an invitation to attune to your primary senses, to honor your profound emotions and embrace your Essence.