A client told me:

“Maybe it’s weird to say this, I told my wife, but I feel like only now I see you!”, after 20 years of marriage…

And a tear popped from his eyes.

It was one of those moments in therapy when you stop, you feel, you hold space for that emotion and take in that energy of presence. It’s one of the most beautiful moments of my work that I cherish a lot.

What he said was that after more than 50 years of living in survival mode because of his traumatic past, he finally can stop and breathe and truly live, at least for short periods of time, in the present moment. And for him, that’s huge.

Actually, it’s amazing for all of us when we become aware of how it is to really be in the now.

Most of the time we don’t experience presence. We live on autopilot and we call it life.

Our brain does that for us.

We experience life conditioned by our subconscious programs, patterns, and coping mechanisms. We keep repeating our story as we learned it very early in our life.

And if our past was hurting us, we learned to live like we fight for survival, always alert, vigilant, on the run, afraid, disconnected. We just survive we don’t actually live.

But something changes when we begin to see.

When the fog lifts for even just a few moments, and we realize:

I’m not just surviving. I’m here. I’m breathing. I’m feeling.

And in that sacred pause, we meet ourselves.

That’s the power of healing.

Not in becoming perfect. Not in fixing everything.

But in reclaiming our presence. In softening back into the now.

Because presence is where life happens.

It’s where connection grows.

It’s where love is real.

It’s where the nervous system begins to relax after years of tension.

It’s where the inner child finally feels seen.

And that moment, that Now, it’s safe. 

And yes, it may start with only a few moments at a time. But those moments matter. They open the door.

To those of you who are just beginning this journey, or thinking about it:

Start where you are.

Even a breath of awareness is enough.

Even the decision to pause, to feel, to stay with yourself, without running, fixing, or numbing, is already healing.

Your body remembers. Your soul remembers.

You are not too late. You are not too broken.

And you don’t have to walk it alone.

May you feel the power of one true moment of presence.

May you trust the wisdom that brought you here.

May you find safety in your breath, and in your becoming.

Healing begins now.

If you don’t want to walk this path alone, I am here to walk with you!

Reach out for details!

With care, 🤍

Aniela

photo: Pinterest