People Start to Heal the Moment They Feel Heard
Do you feel distracted, disconnected? In this modern day, our "first world problems" are so intense that they are making us stressed out, sick and exhausted.
I keep hearing the word "busy" from people. They can't meet because they are busy, can't grocery shop because they are busy, can't learn to play the guitar because they are busy.
Yesterday, I saw someone I love very much for the first time in weeks. This person makes me so happy. I laugh these big belly laughs with her. I will even let her tease me! And, I haven't seen her in weeks. We are both so "busy." Shame on me.
A few days ago, I was having a hard time. Sheepishly, I reached out to a friend and was able to tell a bit of what was going on. the release was literally intoxicating.
Then yesterday, I had something so interesting happen. I was with a person very, very close to me. I could tell she was distracted and not very present. In the middle of a sentence, she interrupted and told me that she had been experiencing heart palpitations and shortness of breath. So, for the next hour, we just walked and she dumped. She told me all that was happening in her life. And, it wasn't necessarily all bad. Still, it was a lot, it was intense and there was a ton of change.
She started to feel better until at the end of her dump, she said she was back to normal. No pills, no meditations, no deep breathing, just a connection and a place to dump. I didn't say anything. In other words, it's not like I had this amazing intuitive advice that turned it around for her, but rather, it was just the act of being heard.
Could it be that many of us experience times like this, are not heard and then just swallow the pain? Ignore the change? Don't tell a soul?
Just the act of being present for someone can go so far in healing them. Just being with someone, listening, sharing, laughing is healing. Maybe so many of our illnesses are due to this lack of connection. It is just balled up stories inside of us that twist upon themselves because they aren't being shared.
I think it is this act of sharing that attracts me so much to the ritual of mate. It has happened to me hundreds of time, where I will share one with a loved one or even an acquaintance and talk.
Even in the mornings, when I drink mate by myself, I am making a connection to my deeper self. I think the act of making the mate, pouring the water and drinking makes me stop and breath. It is this feeling I am wanting to share. Not only is the Yerba mate healthy and amazing, but it is the act itself, the act of drinking it, that is healing. The act itself.