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In this educational workshop for Gilda’s Club Toronto, we speak about:
The distinctions between healing and curing, and why they are both important
What is trauma, in the context of a medical diagnosis
How the nervous system and emotional body responds to post-traumatic stress
Somatic embodiment tools to widen our window of tolerance
Post-traumatic growth - what it is and how to find it within
Presented at the Multidisciplinary Approach to Managing IBD and Immune Mediated Diseases in Preconception and Pregnancy conference, held in Toronto on June 8, 2024. MCIBD is a Continuing Health Education initiative for health care providers who treat patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Montana speaks from the perspective of a patient who has lived with this disease for 18 years, and as an integrative wellness practitioner who regularly treats patients with the same condition. She speaks about the need for an integrative approach in medicine, particularly in IBD where there is a high prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients.
Montana also highlights various self-regulation and stress reduction tools that can assist patients. She ends her presentation by touching on the concept of Post-Traumatic Growth, the positive psychological change that can be experienced after a life crisis or traumatic event.
What is Integrative Medicine?
Healing versus Cure
Integrative Care in Medicine
The Sick Role & Healing
Self-regulation Techniques
Presented to staff of SickKids hospital, as part of the Mindfulness & Compassion Rounds
Note: This is a very vital, sensitive, vulnerable, honest and emotional session of an adult recounting their healing journey post treatment. Some may find the presentation triggering. As a whole, we as a group felt it was important to share and to start to go deeper into the topic of healing a life; for all of us that give bedside care this is an important recounting. This is Part One, we hope in the near future to present Part Two where she is today and how this has motivated her to support and heal others…and to bravely share her story.
Montana is a yoga and meditation teacher, guiding individuals facing health challenges to discover their inner wisdom and healing potential. As a former childhood cancer patient at SickKids, Montana's presentation will highlight how the absence of emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions in her treatment led to decades of mental and physical health challenges.
Through the design and implementation of an integrative approach to well-being for herself and her clients, she has found that patients access increased agency in healing, overcome hypervigilance and fear, and discover a sense of peace with their new-found identities and in their lives.
Montana strives to bridge the gap between biomedical and integrative healing for healthcare professionals and patients alike, recognizing that these tools must be accessible to everyone. Learn more about her practice and get in touch at: https://montanaskurka.com/
Montana Skurka is an OCT-certified Integrative Wellness Educator and yoga and meditation teacher with a Masters of Teaching degree from the University of Toronto specializing in mental health education. She has over ten years' experience coaching individuals and facilitating self-care groups, providing her students with tools and supports to access their innate healing potential. Montana's dedication to this therapeutic holistic work and the mind-body connection stems from her personal struggles navigating health crises throughout her childhood and young adulthood.
One-on-one support for individuals facing health challenges addressing the emotional, spiritual & mental dimensions of your journey
Drawing from my lived experience with disease & disorder, I offer you empathetic and personalized support
Through tailored meditation, restorative postures, Reiki and additional embodiment techniques, I guide individuals on a transformative journey, fostering relaxation, resilience and holistic sense of well being
Your body is wise beyond comprehension. I am here for you 🤍
It’s been a time of much heartbreak, pain and grief globally over the last few weeks.
Join me for a few minutes to drop into stillness and connect with your breath. It is my intention that these practices allow you to cultivate a sense of inner peace.
I was honoured to speak at the 2023 Multi-disciplinary Care for IBD Forum (MCIBD) from the perspective of both a patient and mental health practitioner. Please enjoy my talk below!
The unpredictability, uncertainty and chronic course of Inflammatory Bowel Disease can cause and/or exacerbate a wide range of psychological and interpersonal concerns in patients.
Patients with IBD experience emotional distress relating to factors such as loss of bowel control, impairment of body image, fear of sexual inadequacy, social isolation, fear of dependency, concern about not reaching one's full potential and fear of stigmatization.
There is a high prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients with IBD
A third of patients affected by anxiety symptoms
A quarter affected by depression symptoms.
Prevalence was also increased in patients with active disease
Half met criteria for anxiety
A third met criteria for depression
Overall, women with IBD are more likely to have symptoms of anxiety and depression than men with IBD
"Sometimes I just want to be treated like a knowledgeable human being who's part of the conversation rather than simply being told what is best for me"
"It's difficult to convey to the doctor that I want help not just for my digestive system but also as a whole person with feelings. Pushing it off like some computer task that can just wait for weeks or months at a time makes me feel like I'm not important or even worth fixing... all of this is absolutely anguishing to mental health. Feeling like I can't do anything, like I'm completely exhausted, that I'm not worthy of being advocated for by my very own doctor"
"Just because I'm not a doctor doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. And even if I didn't, my concerns and questions are still valid. Please please please stop treating patients like a problem to be solved. We are people. And we deserve to have a say in our bodies and our treatment plans"
"I wish Obgyn's would push for their patients to be seen by a GI when symptoms could be disease and not a side effect of pregnancy"
"Not taking fertility as important part of medical discussions. Not fully discussing options pre surgery to preserve fertility. Talk about how after pregnancy a flare can occur"
"How GI docs and Obgyns can communicate and collaborate better in regards to pregnancy planning and care while pregnant and after like breastfeeding"
Yoga, meditation and breathwork
Self-compassion & gratitude practices
Peer support
Exploring connection to spirituality
Self-reflection, creative expression and connection with emotions through therapy and journaling
Dancing, singing, listening to music
Communing with nature
Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash
Not too long ago, nobody was ‘working on their health’. None of our ancestors had the luxury to be concerned about how to increase the length of their days or quality of life. They were busy trying to survive. Medicine always existed in one form or another, there were always healers who aided those who were ill. And then the rest was left up to fate, or God, whomever you choose.
What a beautiful gift that we all live in a time when many of us have the privilege of thinking about how we can structure our days to increase our wellbeing. What a mistake to place the responsibility this holds at the feet of a small number of (largely) white men in white coats.
I am saying this with the caveat that white men in white coats have literally saved my life. I would not have lived past the age of seven without the advances and incredible care that I received, and continued to receive throughout my life.
There is an incredibly important role that these white coats play in our lives. Thank god, fate, or whomever you choose that we have advanced to this state where our life expectancy is increasing.
However, because life is more complex now and we have the luxury to ponder the meaning of all of this, I think we must be cognizant of the price we as a society pay when we bestow too much power in the hands of institutions such as our healthcare and education system.
If life were simple, and expertise worked as we have been taught it does, then anyone who studied enough in any given discipline would be the most knowledgeable and best practiced in any given field.
We know this to not be true.
Are doctors the most healthy among us?
Are politicians the most savvy at creating policies that benefit us?
Are those with the most degrees the smartest and most accomplished?
No. No. No.
It almost appears to be the exact opposite in many cases. Physicians are currently suffering rates of burnout, depression and suicide at unprecedented rates.
Politicians… enough said.
In terms of ‘success’ and ‘smarts’ whatever those terms means to you, take a look at a list of those who are accomplished in whatever those terms to you. Is it clear that those who appear successful have all gained ‘expertise’ in their given field?
Once we remove our labels for a moment, we can clearly see that delineating the great task of healing to those who have attended medical school is a grave error and mistake.
By broadening the scope of who can be considered a healer and what health is, the great burden that is currently being placed on our medical system can perhaps be lessened, at least ideologically.
The roles we play in society are important and allow society to function. We each become skilled in certain fields and lend our talents to the collective. What I believe is less useful is when we freely give agency over our lives and bodies to those we have been taught ‘know better than us’ in certain areas.
They may; they may not. But it must always be a partnership between two equal individuals who can identify that they are playing roles at any given time. That underneath the costumes we wear, we are truly all the same.
This isn’t just for the benefit of the patients. It is also for the benefit of the physicians and other healthcare workers who have been freely given this power in our society that inevitably transforms into a ‘God complex’.
There is no true dichotomy between healthcare professionals and patients. We all play these roles in different ways: health of our bodies, finances, spirit, mind. We are all healers and we are all patients.
The idea that you are the number one most important person and healer in your life isn’t some ethereal platitude, but something of deep importance and concrete implications.
There is no medical or otherwise technological test that anyone has devised that can more accurately describe your experience than you. The experience that you have, from moment to moment, determines your health and wellbeing. Therefore, it is up to you to get in touch with yourself and accurately assess how you feel and how to meet your unique needs based on your unique circumstances.
Breathwork refers to a wide variety of techniques and exercises which encompass regulating the way that one breathes, particularly in order to promote mental, emotional and physical health.
It is a conscious practice of deliberately manipulating how one breathes with awareness and intention that has been used therapeutically and as a path of spiritual awakening for thousands of years in various ancient traditions.
This recorded session will introduce you to a series of breathwork practices designed to enhance your physical, mental and spiritual health.
"Breathwork has been shown to increase parasympathetic activity, heart rate variability, physiological flexibility, [and] is one of the greatest tools I have in my medical toolbox to help individuals manage stress, [which] has become an epidemic in our society.”
-Mark Hyman, M.D., Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine
Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials
Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity
The Effectiveness of Diaphragmatic Breathing Relaxation Training for Reducing Anxiety
Effects of breathing exercises on lung capacity and muscle activities of elderly smokers
Self-Regulation of Breathing as an Adjunctive Treatment of Insomnia
The Use of Breathing Exercises in the Treatment of Chronic, Nonspecific Low Back Pain
Additional breathwork instruction:
I am very excited to share that an editorial I’ve co-authored has just been published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine: “Moving Beyond the Doctor’s Perspective of the Patient’s Perspective”. Along with Dr. Arnav Agarwal and Dr. Ariel Lefkowitz, this paper explores the ways in which physicians frequently fall short in including patients’ perspectives in medical care and what we can do to better elevate patients’ voices.
The three of us have been collaboratively working on this article for several years now. It is quite uncommon for someone like myself to be included in the research process for a major medical journal and for my personal struggles with our health care system to be highlighted in this way.
To say I am grateful for this achievement would be an understatement. I am particularly grateful to my dear friend and colleague, Ariel, for valuing my perspective and showing me what it means to be a person of integrity. It is one thing for a doctor to declare that she or he is dedicated to patient-centred care. It is a completely different thing for that person to truly listen and allow a patient’s voice to be elevated.
We are all patients and we are all healers. Privilege does not only exist along racial or gender lines. When we are in the role of a patient, oftentimes our voices feel silenced and our power revoked. It can be a terrifying and traumatic thing; I know it was for me. Healing comes when we find the others like ourselves, fighting for a better world.
All of our stories matter. Keep sharing yours and know that you are not alone.
I was recently invited by Crohn’s and Colitis Canada to present on mental health and wellness for young adults affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
Watch below to learn self-care tips, be guided through mental health practices and experience the mind-body connection.
Each of us becomes involved in cancer advocacy because we are deeply personally affected by the devastating impact of cancer.
How can we do our work effectively, while simultaneously caring for ourselves as we navigate triggers and intense emotions?
This workshop offers a variety of tips and tools to support ourselves and one another’s self-care and mental health. It includes education on trauma and the nervous system, gentle yoga, mindful breathing, journaling and group discussion on themes explored.
This workshop was presented at the Health EMatters Conference for cancer advocates, held October 27-29th 2022 in Toronto, Canada.
Read morePhoto by Nong Vang on Unsplash
I had been going to different therapists on and off for several years when I found myself in Jacob’s office. I didn’t know if I still believed that therapy could help me. However, I had retained a sliver of hope, because Jacob specialized in trauma, and I had finally recognized that my symptoms of depression, anxiety and disordered eating all stemmed from medical trauma. This was the root cause of my ongoing psychological and spiritual pain, and without treating the root cause I was destined to continue to experience these symptoms.
With a mixture of deep skepticism and hopefulness, I entered Jacob’s office prepared for combat. I wanted him to know that I had spent countless hours reading books and articles on mental health symptoms and treatment options. I explained to him that I was a therapy veteran: I had filled out worksheets, learned to meditate, practiced yoga (had even become a yoga teacher!). Ultimately I was trying to prove to him that I was going to be a tough case for him.
I could hardly afford these sessions, and required him to prove himself to me. I asked him to read several pages of journal entries I had written over the past few years. I also emailed and called him several times - abruptly changing my appointments or asking him therapy-related questions on the phone. I had lost much of my trust in healers over the course of my years, and subconsciously was testing him.
This is not the way that I acted in the rest of my life, but my trauma was created within a medical context and it played out in these relationships I had with medical professionals of all sorts. As soon as I was in the office of a health care professional of any kind, whether Western or Eastern, hospital or naturopathy, my adult rational self receded to the background and my Inner Critic ran the show.
I desperately wanted Jacob to really see me and help me. I wanted him to be my saviour, like I had with all the others beforehand. But I also did not trust him, because at that point I had put my blind faith in other healers of all kinds, and was always left disappointed. So I put him through a series of subconscious tests to ensure that he really did care, that he did not just see me as an ignorant patient. I had developed this feeling that I was viewed as sub-human, ignorant and pathetic to the doctors who had treated me throughout my life: something that my Inner Critic told me daily. I needed Jacob to prove to me that this was not the case and I could emerge from the dark tunnel I found myself aimlessly wandering in without a way out.
Over the next several months, Jacob passed all my tests. He read all my documents. He answered my phone calls and emails at any time of day. He allowed our sessions to go a bit past their allotted time when it was clear I needed a few more minutes to collect myself. He even opened up to me about his own life and insecurities to make me feel less alone. It was becoming clear that he truly did see me as a fellow human being, not greater or lesser than he.
What I wanted to know was: am I another patient to you? Do you see the humanity behind my struggles? I desperately needed him to, because I did not.
But that wasn’t good enough for me, because the goal of my Inner Critic was to convince Jacob of the truth: that I was hopeless.
As with all therapists and medical professionals I had visited with over the course of my life, both allopathic and holistic, my subconscious goal was to convince Jacob that I was a hopeless case.
He didn’t buy it. He would even give examples from his own life to show how similar we actually were; that neither he himself nor anyone else was better than I was. That the feelings of confusion, broken-ness, isolation and fear that I felt were felt by everyone. That “figuring it all out” is not the prerequisite for beginning to live a life of fulfillment and joy.
Jacob was a hard case for my Inner Critic to crack. Maybe this time I wouldn’t be able to convince him that I was a hopeless case. I used all my usual ammo to try and convince him, but he was ready to defend my case and countered back with sincerity against all the verbal attacks I waged against myself. In each session what he was communicating to me was that no matter what I had been through, no matter what my obstacles in life may be, no matter how immense my struggles, I could not convince him that I was a hopeless failure.
Finally, after several months, I submitted to his arguments. The shame that my Inner Critic had stored up to use against me was no match for him and no matter what shameful things I divulged to him about myself, he was not fazed. Maybe I wasn’t so different than everyone else and equally deserving and capable of living a good life.
But yet, I couldn’t shake how different I felt deep down, as though I was some sort of alien here to survey human life and attempt to mimic their moves, always knowing it was merely an act. Others worked, had families, went on vacations - they didn’t seem weighed down to the point of paralysis by their shortcomings and shame. How?!
At this point the shame could paralyze me at any moment. One moment, I was securely in adulthood, performing the actions of everyday life. All of a sudden, before I knew it, I was paralyzed on my couch, hysterical or numb, or some tortuous mixture of both. It didn’t seem to matter how many books I read, or how many self-improvement workshops I attended, this paralysis by emotion continued. So what was the difference between them and I?
What’s the difference between them and I, Jacob? The answer was profound and simple - as all profound truths are:
“Because you believe you are a failure, and they do not.”
I was shocked to hear this. So… what you are telling me is that the reason I am in such acute pain is because of a story I am telling myself? We each have a different experience based on the story we tell ourselves?
Yes, pretty much, he replied.
In that moment, everything changed for me. Because I knew that he was correct. My Inner Critic had been the loudest voice in my head for the majority of my life and she had created and maintained this story about my hopelessness that I wholeheartedly believed. The goal of my Inner Critic was to prove to me and everyone around me that I was a hopeless and unloveable failure. My Inner Critic was strong and intelligent and sneaky, and incredibly manipulative and convincing. She dictated the story I was telling myself about my life, and I followed.
But I was the one who created her. Which meant that I was stronger and more cunning that she was. I just had to create another storyline for my life, one where I was a strong and capable healer, rather than a passive victim.
Prior to this appointment, I had come into therapy sessions as though they were trials - I always had something to prove. But now I was seeing the role of a therapist, and all health care professionals, as that of a sort of story editor.
Our developmental traumas lead us to believe things about ourself and the world that cause us immense suffering. We medicate ourselves with drugs to numb the stories of defeat our Inner Critics begin to write: alcoholism and workaholism are one and the same for the purpose of distracting us. All to avoid the despair generated by ourselves through the stories we tell ourselves about our lives and the world around us.
🜁 ~ 🜂 ~ 🜃 ~🜄
To be at home in this world is to recognize the truth of your story:
That as long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong with you.
That as a member of the human family, you are capable of extraordinary things.
That whether you look at this mystery of being through a scientific or historical lens, you are an unequivocal miracle.
That you are inextricably linked to the collective.
That you are whole.
You are enough.
We are all storytellers, whether therapists, physicians, teachers, parents, lovers, friends. Make your story beautiful; it is up to you.
Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash
“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely” - Carl Jung
Awhile back, I was asked to be a panelist at an event on the emotional impact of chronic illness, specifically Inflammatory Bowel Disease. After myself and my fellow panelists answered a few questions, it was time for the main event. A featured keynote speech was given by a man who had done some incredible feat while living with Crohn’s disease. It was clear he had given this speech before, and it certainly was inspirational. Cue Rocky Music as he explained how he had successfully climbed a mountain, or completed a triathalon - to be honest I do not recall what feat he accomplished, because it did not seem like anything I would ever be able to do. Despite his best intentions, and the importance of his message: yes, those of us with chronic illness can succeed, there was something that deeply troubled me about this presentation.
My suspicions of the potential harm these types of motivational speeches can do was confirmed when a middle aged lady timidly raised her hand with a question. She asked the same question I was thinking, and her words were both earnest and profound: “I have Crohn’s too, but I will never be able to accomplish this type of athletic feat. I struggle greatly with my illness and it limits my life in many ways. Am I only supposed to view myself as a success story if I am able to achieve something like you are describing?”
It was clear that this seasoned motivational speaker was not expecting this type of question, and stumbled for words. In that moment, I related much more to the woman in the audience than the man I was sharing the stage with. I had no heroic story to tell, just my own experience of physical and mental challenges that continue to afflict me on an ongoing basis.
🜃
I went to the forest to cure myself. At that point, I was working as a yoga teacher and wellness coach, and had just started a podcast on re-integrating and re-humanizing the healthcare system. I was writing, and publicly speaking about my journey with wellness. But deep down I felt like an imposter, a fraud and a failure. Because I was not cured. Far from it. The medical trauma that I had experienced as a child with cancer still lingered and left its shadow in every realm of my life: from body image and relationships to my professional life and mental health. This trauma was severely compounded by a diagnosis of IBD at 17 years old, followed by years of intense pain and despair as I struggled to find relief. I still experienced lingering physical symptoms that could debilitate me in pain and keep me so fatigued. would teach a yoga class in the middle of the day, and then be so exhausted afterwards that I would have to lie down for several hours to recover. I kept this a secret: I figured if anyone knew, they would stop coming to my classes. During one of these classes, a student and new friend told me that I was the most energetic person that he had ever met. The gulf between who he saw and who I felt myself to be was so vast that I could hardly bear it. I believed myself to be a sick imposter posing as a happy and healthy woman and it was becoming increasingly excruciating. I was still the sick girl I believed myself to be, despite the smiling veneer I presented to the world. My symptoms were still with me, so what could I possibly say or provide of value to others?
I could not bear this feeling any longer. I suddenly left my life behind and ventured to the forest so I could cure myself once and for all to become the person I believed everyone thought I was. The only acceptable version of myself I could imagine was the eternally happy, healthy and energetic yoga teacher and wellness coach who could climb Mount Everest and perform a triathalon. Anything less could never do. So, once and for all, I had to cure myself. My life and worth as a human being depended on it.
🜄
It was at the halfway point of my retreat, 30 days in, that it became unavoidably clear to me that I was failing at the task of curing myself. I was still experiencing the frequent painful, embarrassing and uncomfortable symptoms of a colitis flare-up. This coveted cure I was desperately seeking was simply not going to happen.
I knocked frantically and loudly on my favourite retreat staff-members office hut door. He was eating lunch with his coworker, both of these men at least a foot and several hundred pounds larger than me. But they were afraid of me in that moment. I started yelling, and crying, hyperventilating, shaking. They looked at me with compassion and love in their eyes. I had been the girl with the smiling mask for thirty days living in this national forest. There was no mask left, it was just me completely coming undone in front of their eyes. I was holding nothing back, and all the medical trauma I experienced as a young girl and adolescent came flooding back. One of the men said to me: “why don’t you write a letter to doctors?”, which I did, but that is a story for another day. They were patient and kind and held space for me to lose myself in my grief.
I stormed out of their hut when it was clear that there was nothing left to say. I ran to the horses who were minding their own business in a far tucked away corner of the forest. I sat on a patch of grass as far away as I could manage to continue my breakdown. I don’t know how long I sat their drowning in my tears as this elusive cure from chronic illness faded in the distance. It felt like years, it felt like mere moments. Time had lost all sense of meaning, for my life as I knew it felt like it had ended. There was no hope left for me.
All of a sudden, I looked up and Mille the mule was staring back at me. Millie didn’t quite fit in with the other horses; she was smaller, and she was sick. Her eyes were runny and red and she was feeble, not as strong and capable as her horse-mates. She was staring at me defiantly, as if she could read my mind and was posing a question to me: “Yes, I am sick. Yes, I am smaller than the others. But am I a failure to you?”
I touched Millie’s face gently through the fence. No, Millie, I thought. Millie: you are beautiful, you are alive, you deserve to be here. You are sick, but you are not a failure.
She telepathically replied to me: Well then, so are you. So do you.
And we just stood like that, together - me and Millie for what felt like hours and what felt like mere moments. She would not leave my side, and a profound shift took place within me that day, in those moments with Millie. We were there together, and we accepted each other exactly as we were. And that was enough.
🜁
I cannot erase my past, or the ways in which physical and mental health issues have shaped my life up to the present day.
I will never be cured. But I say that now with a sigh of relief, rather than resignation.
Because, I am no longer fragmented.
These are all parts of me:
All parts are welcome, all are included, all make up who I am.
I will never be cured, but I am a living and breathing human being who feels both love and loss
🜂
When we face a chronic illness, it does not just affect the specific body part in isolation.
Oftentimes, we face a myriad of physical, mental, emotional and social challenges, and our Western healthcare system lacks the resources to guide us through this challenging time.
This is why it is so important for us to educate ourselves and learn how to break the vicious cycle, feeling empowered in our own care.
In this presentation, I outline my personal story and share tools and resources to help you navigate your way to health and wellness.
Thank you for listening, and I would love to hear from you!
I had the opportunity recently to speak with medical professionals across Canada about what it is like to live with a chronic illness, specifically Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I began facing serious health crises when I was a young child, and they continued in different forms throughout my teens and twenties. Throughout this time, I have greatly struggled not only with painful symptoms and sometimes even more painful treatments - but also the emotional, mental and spiritual toll of living as a patient.
I am on an ongoing journey to heal these wounds and grow out of my former identity as a passive victim of circumstances. Here is my message for healthcare providers and patients alike, to become allies and empowered in our own care.
How are you doing? How do you feel?
We ask each other this question as a greeting many times throughout the day. But how many of us expect a true answer, or even know how we feel at any given moment?
Many of us were not taught that our emotions were important or to be valued. I believe this has led us to cut off connection to our emotional landscape, and many of us simply have forgotten how to get in touch with ourselves.
Instead, in the pursuit of 'productivity', we disregard, numb and ignore our emotions as we get lost in the busyness of our modern lives.
Connecting with the sensations in our body provides us with a portal to access a sense of connection, peace and stillness in the midst of turbulent times.
In this video, I guide you through a body scan meditation to allow you to drop in to the sensations and felt experience of your body in the present moment
We are living in unprecedented times with breakdown occurring on many levels of society: physically, mentally and spiritually. There is much despair, uncertainty and suffering accompanying these global shifts.
How do we move forward?
We have been trained to look for answers to our problems, both personal and societal, from outside ourselves. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to know who to believe; it seems as though we are at a moment in time where no person or institution is capable of guiding us towards a safe and peaceful future built on integrity, wisdom and compassion.
Perhaps we can find the answer through connecting with ourselves. Cultivating deep connection to the self allows for healing and can provide a sense of embodied safety through turbulent times. This connection we cultivate through mindfulness practices allows for intuitive understanding from within of what is true and right for you.
In this video, I guide you through a short breath awareness practice that includes:
- Breath-focused meditation
- Cat/cow yoga sequence that can be done seated or in a tabletop position
- Visualization paired with breath
- Journaling exercise
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
