What's The Pain That Helped You Evolve?

Last week, a student walked in our doors with a look of despair. She sat on the couch in the lobby and cried to me about her chronic pain. She's in her 30s and wept about feeling like a cripple.

Oh, I know that pain and despair! I was in my 20s and 30s with debilitating chronic back pain that would not let up. I had two small children that I would hobble to keep up with, and it felt like it was my life sentence.

I told this young woman that this was the mud that would grow her lotus. As she wiped away her tears, she asked me to please explain.

The phrase "no mud, no lotus" refers to the difficult times in our lives (the mud) as the fodder from which we evolve and gather wisdom (the lotus). When we are in the mud, we can't see through it. We fall under the delusion that it will always be this way. But, as wisdom shows us, we are all in process, and nothing is fixed.

I listened to her experience of living with chronic pain and shared my story with her, gave her a copy of my book The Empowered Yogi: Transcend the Chronic Pain and Anxiety Associated with AutoImmune Conditions and led her through a private lesson to help her find some physical and emotional relief.

There's something profound about learning from someone who has gone through what you're going through. There's trust and hope that healing is possible. And it is. But one of the most revolutionary teachings I learned was that healing was up to me, and I had to take it on fully.

I shared with her the meditation that helped me heal the energetic root cause of my pain. So often, our chronic pain can be patterns in our psyche that are generations old. I found that it's not so important to analyze the reason for the pain but to send healing energy from our hearts to wherever the pain is.

This may sound far-out, but knowing that the heart is the ultimate energetic resonator, it can shift the energetic pattern that keeps us stuck.

Had I not had this chronic pain and learned how to meditate and heal it, I would not be teaching yoga, which is my joy and so deeply fulfilling.

Oftentimes, we start yoga to relieve pain or anxiety, and then something magical happens: we develop a deeper understanding and compassion. It becomes more than just a physical practice; we see how we are less anxious, we can move with more confidence and grace, and we feel a deep connection with life and everyone around us.

Yoga makes us nicer people. It's true, my husband noted that I am way less critical and reactive than before I started practicing regularly.

If you want to deepen your practice and share the healing benefits of breath work, meditation, and yoga asana (poses), consider joining the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training next September.

Even if you do not intend to teach yoga, this training will get you in physical shape and provide emotional relief, clarity, and spiritual connection through the profound teachings that steer you to manifesting your life's purpose, aka DHARMA.

It's a worthy pursuit at any age! From college students to retirement-age and older yogis who have taken our training feel freer and more inspired than ever.

From my heart to yours~

Namaste,

Maggie