Pema Chodron said, “Things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.” Well, isn’t this the way life works? Sometimes it seems everything is happening the way it “should” or the way that we want. At other times it seems like nothing works and we start to question our motives and our purpose.
There are times when it feels that things keep happening TO us. The truth is that we always have a choice. It is only when we lose sight of our ability to respond that we feel helpless. Being able to respond to the experience means that we are alive. Perhaps our ability to act is limited but we can choose our response. Our ability to respond is dependent on our awareness and this awareness differentiates a response from a reaction.
When we lose awareness of our choices, it becomes easy to automatically respond the way that we always have, out of habit. By bringing attention to our conditioned impulse to act, or not to act, we can become more conscious of our behaviour. With this new awareness, we can open our eyes to see how our actions or inactions have impacted our current state. In every situation, you choose how to respond and even not responding is in itself an action with consequences. A greater understanding of your intentions opens the door to reveal choices that you were unable to see before.
There is an incredible power in knowing that you are the only one who can decide how and what you can feel. There are things that are going on outside of you but it is you that determines how it impacts you. Being able to notice, feel, sense and acknowledge your responses is key to feeling life. When the warmth of the sun touches your cheeks take a moment to actually take this in. Notice how invigorated your cheek feels, feel your breath slow, what is happening to your mood? How would your life be if you were able to take in more of these moments? When we are better able to see our ability to respond we can choose our action to create a life rather than living a life based on reaction.
When the body is better able to get information to and from the brain a better sense of awareness is attained. At BodyMind Wellness Studio, we focus on reconnecting the body and mind, increasing awareness of the body and breath, and optimizing the functioning of the spine and the nervous system. The initial phase of care at the office is a process of self-discovery, as the body and mind share information that had been blocked before.
“Seeing something for what it is opens the space for truth to heal.” – Dr. Julie Doobay
Copyright 2025 Dr. Julie Doobay
