When that which is unresolved comes up for resolution

Pregnancy (no, I’m not referring to myself here) is a time in life when all that is unresolved comes up for resolution. Although I can’t confirm this from personal experience, it is one of the common experiences we touched on in my prenatal yoga teacher training earlier this month. It was the second time that resolution (and healing) had come up for me in just the first couple days of the month, and I took notice. I started to think about other times when that which is unresolved comes up for resolution. Certainly times of loss—of a job or a loved one—or confrontation with death are other examples. Perhaps marriage is also an example (I do have more recent experience with this). Running through each of these examples is the common thread of significant life change. And yet, there may be other times as well, when the time is just right—when there is an opening for resolution and healing without any clear, identifiable reason.

This is what the folks at The Power Path suggest—that this month, the month of November, is such a time when there is an opening for resolution and healing in our lives. You can read their full monthly forecast, based on the primary themes of resolution and healing, here.

Another theme for many of us this month is gratitude, with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up on Thursday. As I sat with these themes of resolution, healing, and gratitude, contemplating resolution and healing through the lens of gratitude, it occurred to me that one way we can find resolution and healing is actually through gratitude. What I mean by finding resolution and healing through gratitude is finding gratitude for what certain challenging experiences and people, which perhaps leave us feeling unresolved and hurt, teach us—how we grow and change because of them. I’m not suggesting this is easy. It may happen slowly over time, layer by layer, like peeling back the layers of an onion. In order to do this work, we need to be able to find our ground, open, and surrender.

Here are a couple ideas for how you can find your ground, open, and surrender, and move toward gratitude, resolution, and healing through yoga practice and meditation.

Practice

Earth Mudra with Strong Whole Body Breath: Find a comfortable cross-legged seat, sitting up on one or more blankets, a bolster, or block, so your knees can relax below your hips. Root down through the sitting bones, and lengthen and straighten up through the spine (You may choose to sit with your back against a wall). Allow the shoulder blades to descend down the back, broaden across the collarbones, and open the heart. Find a soft gaze or gently close your eyes. Rest your hands on your thighs, palms up, and bring the thumb and ring finger of each hand together to touch. This is Earth Mudra. Sense the downward, earth-bound energy invoked by this mudra. Bring awareness to the breath and begin strong whole body breathing, which is not a technique, but also not your habitual breathing. Rather, rediscover the natural breath, the breath you were born with. Breathing with the full body, get out of the way of the breath and allow the breath to breathe you. Inhale without pulling, exhale without pushing. Rediscover the full capacity and movement of the breath, which will likely be more than your habit. Strengthen the breath on the inhale—feel the nostrils open, the breath moves to the back of the nose, down the throat, and deep into the lungs. Exhale fully and evenly.

Warrior Poses (Virabhadrasana 1, 2, 3, and Peaceful Warrior)

Tree Pose (Vrksasana)

Gentle Backbends (perhaps leading into deeper backbends)

Standing and seated forward folds (Uttanasana, Prasarita Padottanasana, Paschimottanasana, and Upavistha Konasana)

Healing Light Meditation

Find a comfortable cross-legged seat as described above for Earth Mudra. Bring your attention to the top of your head. Imagine a sunroof implanted there. Visualize the sunroof opening, plates of the skull separate to receive healing, white light streaming down from above. See the pure, white light moving down from crown through third eye center, throat, heart center, solar plexus, and belly to the base of the spine. With every inhale, imagine the light moving up this central energy channel of the body. With every exhale, visualize the light moving down. To close, chant the sound of Om. At the end of the Om, bring the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, sending your vibration up and filling your head with pure, healing light.

For the remaining days of this month, I invite you to tune into what may be presenting itself for resolution. And, at the same time, be kind to yourself and, in the words of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, "Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart."

With light, love and gratitude,

Anneke

* Special thanks to Janice Clarfield for her instruction of Earth Mudra, Strong Whole Body Breath, and the healing light meditation during our prenatal yoga teacher training.