“Why do you do what you do? What is the PURPOSE? What’s YOUR purpose? What’s your cause? What do you believe?”
I first encountered these questions a couple of years ago when a dear friend of mine sent me the book, “Find Your Why” by Simon Sinek. In true Heather fashion, I immediately read the book and used it to help OTHER people find THEIR WHYs, completely bypassing the exercise for myself.
But then the need to “find your why” kept popping up in random podcasts, books, conversations. I resisted the prompting – who has the time and energy to do such heavy, difficult thought work?? Can’t someone just TELL me why I’m here, so I can take that knowledge and run with it?? Wouldn’t that be more efficient??
The Universe kept insisting that I take the time and figure this out for myself, recently presenting me with these questions yet again as part of a group coaching program I’m doing. We were instructed to answer these questions as it relates to WHY we do bodywork, and the answer “to help people feel better” was not allowed, dammit.
I finally sat down, got out an orange Papermate Flair (doing hard things is easier with a pretty pen) and went to work. And what I came up with really did give me some clarity and validation that, not only do I HAVE a purpose, but I am following it!
Here is what I wrote down:
I believe that we have an innate capacity to heal, given the right conditions. I believe our bodies are amazing and should be tended lovingly. I do this work because I want to bring more hope and joy into this world, reduce suffering, help people realize their potential, and up-level humanity, one person at a time.
I often struggle with the belief that I am doing “it” wrong – “it” meaning almost everything – life, relationships, learning, thinking, being, doing. This limiting belief that “I am doing it wrong” rears its head incessantly in regard to my career. I am interested in many things, and so I pursue many things, but I feel as if I SHOULD focus on one thing and get really good at it. But this exercise helped solidify that, while I am pursuing a lot of different areas of interest, they are all driven by the same WHY – a belief in the magic and wonder of the human being and a desire to unleash that magic to make the world a better place. All these classes and books and podcasts are all connected by that golden thread to my WHY.
I also had a light bulb moment and realized that my “origin story” weaves perfectly into this WHY as well. I decided to share it with you, as this is a question that I get from clients ALL the time – “How did you get into this work?”
Let me tell you. 😊
My journey into the healing arts began about 13 years ago. I was suffering from nasty anxiety. I was constantly afraid of passing out and felt as if my grip on reality was very tenuous. I dreaded getting stopped at a stop light, especially if I was the first car in line. I would roll down my window, turn up the AC full blast on my face and pray that I would remain conscious. At the grocery store, if I had to wait in line, I would pop mint gum in my mouth and fan my face in an attempt to stay upright and cogent. When I had to attend a meeting at work, I would try to sit as close to the door as possible, and I always had water with me, so I could take a sip when I felt a little spinny. Sometimes even on walks I would start to feel myself lilt, and my heart would beat faster and faster as I tried to hurry home before something bad happened. Even sometimes after eating, I would feel faint.
I felt uncomfortable in my own skin, a bit overweight, inflamed, and freaked out. What was wrong with me??
I started to seek treatment and found a chiropractor and acupuncturist who helped me start to feel better. And then I ran across an article about the primal lifestyle that grabbed my attention with its common sense approach to how to live. I bought the book mentioned in the article, The 21 Day Total Body Transformation, and realized, this is something I could actually do! I decided to follow the official 21-day plan, which included things like eating whole foods, cutting out sugar, gluten, and processed foods, eating healthy oils, prioritizing sleep hygiene, walking outside, doing bodyweight exercises, etc. Within 2 weeks of starting the plan, my anxiety was nearly gone!! My allergies were practically non-existent. I had energy ALL DAY LONG. I felt GOOD.
And my mind was blown. I experienced all these benefits, just from changing how I ate, how I moved, how I slept. It opened my eyes to our innate capacity to heal and thrive if we give ourselves the right conditions.
I dived into learning all I could about those “right conditions,” which included training as a yoga teacher, certifying as a Roll Model Method Practitioner® & Yoga Tune Up® Teacher, and attending an 18-month intensive training program in Florida to learn neurosomatic therapy. I started to learn about trauma and its effects on the mind, body, and spirit, so I began training in the Somatic Experiencing program. I received CranioSacral therapy and was in love with how calm and at ease it made me feel, so I started training in that as well. I met a mentor who uses CranioSacral and visceral manipulation to help people who have been pretty much branded as “unhelpable” by the mainstream medical system, which got me even more curious about the benefits of organ work, so I dived into that this past August. So many different modalities and styles, and they all had the same underlying theme of, “let’s help the body and mind get into a position/condition where its self-healing capacities can be unleashed, so people can start to feel vibrant again.”
That brings us to today, 10/1/2023. That’s my story.
What’s your story? Why do you do what you do? What do you believe? Taking some time and space to sit with these questions and contemplate them can bring much-needed clarity to our urgent lives and help ensure we are living in a way that is in alignment with what we really care about. If you need a compassionate witness help you slow down long enough to consider these questions, I am here for you! A CranioSacral Therapy (CST) session can be an excellent way to start to slowly apply that brake pedal. If you would like explore CST, you can book a bodywork session with me here. I am also offering coaching services on a limited basis, and if that idea tickles your fancy, please reply to this email.
HAPPY SUNDAY, MY FRIENDS! I hope you have a moment today that feels like this:
P.S. I was really struggling with what to write today. I sat for several minutes with my head in my palms trying to force something to come out. I had a little voice encouraging me to take a break and go for a walk. Which I, of course ignored (I MUST POWER THROUGH). When I was done writing, I went for a walk and was flooded with all sorts of good ideas, one of which is the following:
When I think, “I’m not doing it right,” I can reframe it to, “I’m doing it.” OMG. SUCH a difference.
So what’s the lesson in this long post script? Listen to the inner voice! Don’t force things! Sense the spaces through which you can flow with little effort (thanks to Jon Kabat-Zinn for the last one), and go for the effing walk!!
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But…WHY???
