The Healing Power Of Sangha (Like-Minded Community)
I came across a commercial the other day that deeply resonated with me.
It shows a mother in one country and her grown son in another; they have been separated for years and dearly miss each other. Each is sent an electronic device that they both connect themselves to. This device allows them to feel as though they are hugging each other. The emotions of tears, joy, and laughter are overwhelming. You cannot help but share their love and smile at the reunion. Your heart opens.
That same type of energy – sometimes even stronger – can be shared and felt by those tuned into their energy bodies when gathered together with others, even when it is not in person.
This energy, this connection, is what those who have stayed together in Zoom classes experience, and the group bonds continue to grow stronger each week.
There are thousands of free asana and meditation classes available on the internet. Yet, for the past two years, a small but dedicated group of us have been coming together several times a week to give our bodies and weary spirits the support we so desperately need – and to strengthen the energy of the collective consciousness of pure love.
Asana, while important, is just a small part of living your yoga.
Deepening your love for yourself and each other is what yoga IS all about because love never fails.
When we are together in our virtual yoga room, many of us can ‘feel’ each other. We can feel the heaviness some students show up with, feel it releasing as we connect with our breath and our gentle movement, and then feel the vastness, the spaciousness that each of us truly is.
We show up for ourselves and each other to release the tension, worry, and fears that our minds and bodies collect. As we do this gentle ‘housekeeping,’ we easily and naturally become a larger and brighter light that can help illuminate the darkness in the world. We are participating in group energetic, worldwide healing.
We end many of our sessions by first giving love and compassion to ourselves and then to one another. Together, we energetically hold someone in pain or fear, gently beaming hope and strength into their body. It’s not uncommon to hear from a student that they are releasing tears of tension from their own bodies and feeling the love from their class.
We then leave our virtual yoga room filled with love for ourselves and others. So often, divine insight has been discovered, guiding us to what we can now go out into the world and contribute.
In yoga, this is known as Sangha – your group, community, or family of choice – the tribe that is always there to help you refill your vessel of life force energy.
Your Sangha may be associated with a particular religion or belief system or not.
A healthy sangha is one that helps you remember how beautiful, capable, and powerful you are and helps provide the tools and support system to build a happy life.
Everyone needs Sangha!
It has now been over two long years since COVID-19 separated many of us from our family of birth, chosen family, work-family, and most importantly, our spiritual family, our tribe. So many have lost loved ones to this disease, while others lost their jobs or businesses.
Then, as we are re-adjusting our lives to isolation, those of us in the United States were forced to face the darkness generated by Trumpism and also began a profound reckoning with the social injustice deeply embedded into our society. Unhappy people perpetuated dangerous, big lies that spread a new disease across our country, dividing our families and communities even more, threatening our freedom to vote, have body autonomy, and to exist in the world as the fullest expression of ourselves.
Now, we are experiencing the emotional impact of a war that is killing thousands of innocent people half a world away yet threatens everyone’s sense of security and safety worldwide.
Even if, like me, you’re a person who tends to see the light at the end of every tunnel, can we all just take a reflective moment here and sit with all that we have been, and currently are living through? Seriously, holy shit.
Can we just take a deep inhale and long open mouth exhale with a sigh here and simply acknowledge the new and ongoing traumas our bodies and minds are carrying?
The sad truth is that everything that has happened over the last two years has divided many of us physically, spiritually, and politically.
The hidden opportunity is that since these have been worldwide traumatic experiences, we are being brought into a deeper experience of group consciousness with millions upon millions of us around the globe sharing in the common suffering.
Every single one of us on the planet has been affected. As much as some of us would like to think that we don’t need Sangha, the truth is that we ALL do.
Yet, one of the biggest obstacles many of us face is accepting support.
Often, there is an outdated belief system about our past that says: “No one has ever been through what I have. Therefore, no one can really understand my suffering.”
I remember having that belief system at one time, but those of us who did our inner work (before COVID) know that this is simply not true. In our open sharing, we have found others who successfully made it through similar or oftentimes even worse circumstances than our own.
You may be thinking, “How can I heal amidst all this? How do I begin?”
Here are a few loving suggestions:
First, acknowledge that you are a spiritual being having a human experience. You cannot ignore the suffering of others and the fears your body and mind may hold. The body knows and keeps score. It will manifest your trauma somehow, in some way, even if you keep trying to ignore or escape it.
Second, recognize that physical touch and deep connection with ourselves and others are essential parts of our earthly well-being. When we are resting in a place of deep love for ourselves, each other, and our precious planet, healing is constantly in motion.
Abiding in deep love for ourselves and others, there can be no harm.
Third, find your Sangha and be with your tribe in whatever ways are available to you.
It may be more than one group. Just make sure they are groups that fill your soul and do not leave you feeling overwhelmed.
Fourth, set an appointment with YOURSELF each day for a little time to connect deeply with yourself first, enabling you to send a pure signal of hope and light out to others. Set the appointment, and show up for it, no matter what.
Consider:
If you are living in fear, struggling with your meditation practice, feeling in need of a good long hug, or are not able to connect physically with those that love you, here are some ways we can help:
Join our dedicated Sangha at A Gentle Way. Schedule yourself for five consecutive classes with the same group, same teacher, and experience how it feels to show up for yourself and others consistently. Pop into class 15 minutes before start time and experience Sangha – community. Allow your teacher to get to know you!
Email us for this special rate: $49 for 5-consecutive classes with the same teacher.
Book private mentoring with Yoga Therapist & Life Coach Lanita Varshell.
Introductory Session: Just $49 for a 45-minute session.
Join Lanita’s IN-PERSON events.
Our first 1/2 Retreat back into the world was held this past Saturday, and it was amazing to be together again, Her next event is May 14th at the Handlery Hotel in San Diego.
Email us at www.agentleway.com to request a space.
Give yourself a big gift of 6 nights and days of true letting go.
Join Diane and Lanita in September for an amazing 6-Night Retreat in Helena, Montana. September 3-9, 2022 Let this retreat melt years of tension away.
Sign up at www.agentleway.com or www.featheredpipe.com
