One thing I learned this year that could change your life….
By now, I hope you're unwinding into the BIG superslow, or dare I say: the superslow-est; this interim period for rest and reflection. Whether you're into formal introspection through workshops or workbooks, scribble in a journal, or find yourself lost in thought more frequently—contemplating the highs and lows— reflection occurs in many ways. Similar to our birthdays, it's instinctive to review the past year before embracing the future. And, I'd argue, it's vital! Looking back unveils insights into your growth, lessons learned, and personal evolution. Keep it simple; just look back, bear witness, and the highlights, lessons, and milestones will naturally surface– even if this did not feel like a “big year” for you.
The reality is we're all undergoing our own rites of passage. 2023 marked a significant leap into my role as a business owner and full-time embodiment facilitator and coach. It was a year of creating spaces, conducting sessions, and shaping courses aimed at transforming lives by slowing down, deepening connection to body, spirit, and mind. Reflecting on my coaching journeys with clients amid experiences like breakups, career shifts, family changes, and grief, one core lesson emerged: slowly we unfurl, slowly we become new.There are no shortcuts in this process, despite its discomfort. Embracing these transitional phases invites us to traverse an inevitable void. Instead of seeking escape, I encourage welcoming the fire, softening into uncertainty, while staying wide awake. When there's pain and challenge, ask: How can I cultivate strength, health, and grounding throughout this period? How can I be surrounded by support? How can I stay anchored in truth through it all?
No mess, no magic. This new year isn't an endpoint or final destination. As individuals and as a collective, let's allow the unknown to unfold slowly. In due time, we'll become new.
Your friend in the messy middle,
Sara Awada
A poem
For The Interim Time
You are in this time of the interim
Where everything is withheld.
The path you took to get here has washed out;
The way forward is still concealed from you.
The old is not old enough to have died away;
The new is still too young to be born.
-
As far as you can, hold your confidence.
Do not allow your confusion to squander
This call which is loosening
Your roots in false ground,
That you might come free
From all you have outgrown.
What is being transfigured here is your mind,
And it is difficult and slow to become new.
The more faithfully you can endure here,
The more refined your heart will become
For your arrival in the new dawn.
— John O'Donohue, To Bless The Space Between Us
