Go inside....

I was living in Sweden in the spring of 1981. My colleague Tom, an American who was both a world traveler and a proponent (and patient) of psychotherapy, said to me one day, “People always want to travel….they should take the biggest trip of all and go inside themselves.”

(It’s ironic that we were both overseas when he said that!)

He spoke those words to me over 40 years ago, and he’s been gone from this earth for many years now, but I’ve never forgotten the message.

My “5-year plan,” starting in college, was to go abroad for an extended stay every 5 years. I did it twice: a semester of study in France (1975) and 18 months of study in Sweden (1980-81). The plan never progressed beyond those two adventures.

Many factors prevented me from implementing my 5-year plan, and I’m OK with that. It was all for good reasons – more compelling than going off on my own to an unfamiliar country and culture again. (I’m grateful for those opportunities, though – including the ability to communicate at some level in French and Swedish.)

There was marriage, motherhood, and moving – many times. Career changes, cancer diagnoses, and the impedimenta of life. (Now there’s a word I love and rarely use!)

Maybe Tom’s voice was in the back of my head as a reminder: whether I travel physically or not, there is a profound journey available to me at all times – the journey within.

All of my life experiences have contributed to my self-awareness and self-discovery, and maybe even self-understanding.

Maybe that’s partly what drew me into yoga: the invitation to turn my gaze inward. It offers unlimited opportunities for exploration. Moving the body is important for self-inquiry, but it’s only the beginning.

Here’s my life plan now, not segmented into 5-year portions: to stay on the path of self-discovery and understand myself a little better every day. Yoga gives me the tools for that.

I’m grateful to my friend Tom for installing those words in my mind so many years ago.