The Power of Homecomings

If you’ve lived away from family I’m sure you’ve had experiences with homecomings. Coming home to family and your roots can be filled with a multiplicity of thoughts, memories and emotions. Homecomings for me have always been a mixed bag. There is the joy of seeing loved ones mixed with challenges of old baggage that resurfaces. Even after years of yoga practice I still find when I come home some of my childhood patterns resurface. Some of them aren’t great.

When I started my yoga journey it was really to explore the physical side of the practice. I liked how it made me feel. There was enough challenge in it to capture my interest, but it didn’t have the training requirements, rules and other aspects of sports that I never liked. It was years into the journey before I realized I was starting to heal from some of my childhood pains, some of which still surface during homecomings. 

The practice of yoga will help you to connect with yourself in more than just a physical way if you allow it to. There is truth to the mind-body connection aspect of yoga. And by extension when you are feeling more of a mind-body connection you create space for the remembrance of wholeness. This creates an opening and the possibility to begin the work of healing past wounds, trauma and other nasty bits within. 

The healing side of yoga excites me both as a practitioner and a teacher. Now living in my fifth decade, I continue to work on areas of my life so I can be the truest and fullest version of myself. Half a lifetime of yoga practice has helped me immensely.

You can enhance your healing journey by incorporating some of the practices in my membership site into your daily yoga practice. I’m particularly fond of some of the meditation practices that are a bit richer and many of the Yoga Nidra practices that are geared for doing some of the deeper work - all while you rest. Brilliant! If you haven’t already, consider joining the membership and diving into the treasure trove of yoga available to you.

Visiting family and celebrating my mom’s 85th birthday has been a great opportunity for practicing awareness - a big part of the yoga journey. As I flew into Edmonton on a brilliantly clear morning I viewed the farming landscape beneath and in many ways it seemed unfamiliar. It was strikingly beautiful with the colours of Fall creating a checkered pattern of goldy hues. Why was I seeing this landscape in a new way I wondered?

Driving from the airport to our destination I was again struck by the topography of the landscape this time at eye level. A highway travelled hundreds of times in my youth seemed new in many ways.

It hadn’t changed, but my perception of it had.

This trip is revealing to me how the shifts I’m making in other areas of my life - preparing to retire from my job of 24 years and the possibility of a big move - are changing how I see the place of my roots.

Recently, I’ve started taking day trips through the Ottawa valley and west Quebec perhaps as an early farewell to what’s been home for two and half decades. The beauty of the landscape is awe-inspiring. It’s helped me to appreciate nature in a whole new way. Being back in Alberta, it’s like I’m seeing the land of my upbringing with fresh - yet older - eyes. What a gift!

This homecoming, like many of the past, has had a few hiccups around family drama. An ageing mother with increasing health issues who has always lived with a lot of fear is now more emotionally volatile. This requires a good deal of patience and compassion. We do our best. 

And with the visit, some of my childhood patterns surfaced. Spikes of anger and sarcastic outbursts, for example. When they do, I try my best to be compassionate with myself and move on. The healing journey continues!

What I shared with my Mom and what I hold dear for myself and all of you, is that it’s necessary to do the work to get past our pain, to be pro-active in healing and to actively learn to experience this life as a gift, something to be grateful for. If we do this work now when we tread down that final path and step into the light that awaits, we can do so with grace and freedom.

This homecoming has been rewarding and there’s more to come before returning home. I’m grateful for the opportunity to see family and friends.  

And as always, if you are seeking more information about the next stages in your yoga journey, definitely book your 30-minute free consultation now!