Ever since I was a little girl, I always had a fear of tsunamis. My anxiety must have been left over from a past life, because it’s not like I was exposed to many tsunami threats growing up in New York.
Throughout my whole life, I would sporadically have the same reoccurring nightmare that I was standing on the beach when a massive wave would rapidly approach. As the looming water began to curl over me, I would quickly remember my Dad’s advise to dive into a wave if it was ever too big to go over. And then I would be pulled under and swirled around, only to surface disoriented and far from shore.
While visiting Chile, where tsunamis are not uncommon, I had the opportunity to confront my greatest worry. We spent a week in Valparaiso, a port town that is known for frequent earthquakes and has experienced tsunami waters as recent as 2015.
We Airbnb’d an apartment on the 26th floor of a massive residential tower about a mile off the coast. The first night I found myself doing math equations to figure out the path the water would take and if it could reach our condo if a 90 foot wave hit the shore. I went over escape routes in my mind, but kept my concerns to myself. I didn’t want to impose my personal fears on my daughter.
Although no such incident occurred, I felt stress the first few evenings as if the potential event was real and had a hard time sleeping. I wanted to be prepared just in case I needed to save my family from a natural disaster. As the third night drew near, I knew I had to have a heart to heart talk with my hyperactive mind.
The language I used in my initial self comforting “Everything will be OK” slowly transformed to “Everything is OK.” And as time went on, my trust in the universe and its protection increased and I was able to enjoy this beautiful city without lugging around life preservers for Kayla and Scott.
This lesson reminded me that we all carry around fears that burden us and we have no idea of the origin or source. These terrors can be immobilizing and stop us from living our greatest life. For me, changing my perspective of the situation and seeing the bigger picture helps me dissolve irrational emotions and move towards and through the fear.
This week’s 17-minute FREE gentle yoga class, Yoga for Changing Your Perspective, will help you move from fear to love, while increasing flexibility of the body and mind. Using simple inversions like legs up, plow pose and shoulder stand to enhance blood flow and fresh oxygen to the brain will help you think clearly and feel refreshed.
Yoga with Meditation Mutha is for everyBODY. I hope you will join me in this opportunity to wake up to new perspectives.
We had such a spectacular time in Guatemala. Please check out the Meditation Mutha Facebook page for pics of this beautiful retreat.