3 Minute Retreat - Accepting Space, Honoring Presence

What does it mean to accept someone's space?
How do you show up and honor someone's presence?

Conformity is real. We ask people to conform to this time of year without consideration for their journey. We wave off personal pain, fractured healing and grief thinking it would be impossible to not to see the beauty, joy, and love around them in what tends to be a festive time of year. We put our impressions before their true experiences. We need to stop.

One of the most common phrases we hear often, 'everyone is walking a journey we know nothing about,' gets thrown around so lackadaisical that I think we have begun to dismiss its depth of truth. 

I speak often of stories. We are all walking through stories with a mandala of emotions that we cannot assume to understand. Nor is it your job to 'make it better.' Accepting one's space that they are showing up in is the greatest gift. To say, 'I see you, I hear you,' and honoring their presence while in this space not trying to repair, heal or make light due to your own uncomfortable feelings is the challenge to face right now.

Not everyone comes to the room in the same emotional space. Remember to embrace who they are in this moment and make them feel welcome. This space and presence are where they need to be right now; your acceptance and welcome is walking them back into the circle to feel less alone.