Exploring Wild Places Within Us
By Eve Delachartre
How we connect intimately with ourselves can manifest in many forms. It often takes us by surprise. Here is an personal example:
A number of years ago, I joined a study group to learn Nonviolent Communication (NVC) created by Marshall Rosenberg. NVC is a practice to improve connection between people and to dissolve conflict, by concentrating on shared human needs. I heard Marshall Rosenberg speak at a conference in NewYork City. I knew I could make good use of this method immediately! I was divorced and raising 4 teenagers at that time. I immersed myself in NVC. Nonviolence is one of the foundational principles of Yoga, called Ahimsa. I found NVC to be an excellent way to apply Ahimsa in daily life.
While attending an NVC workshop, I discovered an astonishing connection. The workshop started on a Friday evening but I had arrived on Saturday morning, due to my teaching schedule. The large group of attendants had been divided into small groups Friday night and my friends had counted me in their group without my knowledge. So when I arrived, I felt totally welcome, disingenuously loved by a group of people who had waited for me with the anticipation of an amazing experience we would share together. I hadn’t felt that way ever.
There is a traditional practice in NVC groups to have each person “check in” before the practice starts. It is an opening in which each participant tells what we feel in the present moment and what we would like to work on. When it was my turn to check in, I expressed my appreciation to the group. A warm subtle vibration rose through my spine all the way to my head. I attributed this physical sensation to the fact that I was releasing a very deep shyness and allowing myself to be vulnerable. It had not been part of my education and upbringing to talk about feelings. Now I was expressing the feelings of being loved and appreciated for who I was.
In this embodied experience, I was expressing appreciation verbally and also describing what was happening in my body as it happened. Spontaneously, I compared this experience with phenomena that occur in Nature. It felt like I was exploring a wild beautiful territory that I had never seen and where I had never stepped on before. Just as if I had discovered the Amazon Rainforest or a stunning waterfall... I surprised myself by my descriptions.
Soon enough, a series of memories untapped in an instant flash, painful ones that I compared to having been in earthquakes and traumatized by a volcano eruption. Other life experiences were like going into a dark cave with the fear of not knowing where to take my next step and then coming out of it with deep appreciation for light. And yet more experiences were like diving through a powerful wave using my personal strength to come out on the other side... or being so frightened that it was like finding myself face-to-face with a wild animal. One time, I felt being totally one with the Universe with a sense of belonging, beyond time and space restriction. This one has become my Northern Star. None of these experiences have lasted forever. Each of them have had a profound effect on becoming who I am now.
Since that weekend workshop, when I practice Yoga and I teach, I am open to discovering new territories within me and with others. It is like going on an expedition to travel to some virgin land. With the neuroscience discovery of neuroplasticity, it makes total sense and it is real.
From the time we are born until we die, there is much to learn about living and being alive! We are part of Nature. Within each one of us, there are wild untouched places to discover. The acceptance of all life experiences as they come and go is very powerful. All of the lived episodes have the potential to make us wiser and more resilient.
Finally, I would like to share with you this quote by John Tarrant Roshi: “Laughter is something that happens when you step into enlightenment.” This seems to be happening at the end of each Yoga Nidra class on Wednesday nights and a “WOW” on Thursday night at Viniyoga.
I thank all my students for entrusting me to share our journey together.
Please come join us!
