Let Yourself Be Re-Arranged

By Erin Goodwin

I remember my yoga teacher telling me this during a yoga class about a year ago, and it still feels powerful.

If the last two years have shown us anything, it’s that we really never know what opportunities or challenges lie ahead. We don’t know when life is going to throw us a cosmic disruption, and we definitely can’t predict what magic lies beyond it.

Change can come sometimes out of nowhere. Life as we know it gently fades away - the sun sets on the times we once knew, and we are suddenly plunged into darkness, grasping for something familiar to hold onto. We stick our heels in the ground, hoping we can stay right where we are.

You may already know this, but our brains are wired to resist change and the unknown. Our nervous systems disregulate when we enter unchartered water, and our brains urge us to swim back to shore - to go back to what is safe and predictable. Often, staying the same requires less of us, even if it costs us more in the long run. When we choose to be brave (or, if we are forced to be brave in the face of challenge) with every shift and new experience, our brains begin to create new neural pathways. It’s pretty magical.

Changing and rearranging can stir up all kinds of resistance and discomfort, even if we cognitively know that shifting is for our highest good. Rearranging can feel like a gentle shift, with the grace and love of a supportive friend. But, it can also feel like being pushed straight into the ocean, without being taught how to swim. It can feel challenging not understanding the purpose of redirection, it doesn’t always seem to make sense.

And that is Ok.

It is ok if change doesn’t feel full of ease and flow. Allowing yourself to be rearranged doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to feel sad, or afraid, or disappointed. All that is required of you during times of change is presence. Presence with all that presents itself to you - the grief, the fear, the anger, the sadness, the joy, and the excitement. Allow yourself to be supported, like the gentle assist from a yoga teacher as you rest in child pose, waiting to hear which pose to transition to next.

And remember, this is a journey, and no journey is over once you’ve summited the first peak. Trust me, there will be many more mountains, many more flowers to see, and depths to explore. So, be kind to yourself as you hold space for yourself, and know that I am virtually holding space for you too.