When Change Happens It’s An Opportunity For Personal Growth

Life change happens.  That’s something that is constant.  You might not like it. You might not welcome it, but it’s going to happen. Maybe you even fight that shift in your life. No matter your reaction, it’s still going to happen and when it does, then you have an opportunity for personal growth. How you adjust & react to the shifts in your life will determine the amount of personal growth that you experience.

We can’t stop it!

As time moves on, you can’t stop change from happening.  So, what do you do when that change happens?  

When I say life changes, what I’m talking about are things like a birth or a death, divorce or marriage, your kids leaving the nest, a job loss or perhaps even a new job.  

These are major events that happen in your life.  Some of them you see coming, like when a child moves out of your house.  Some of them you don’t see in your future, like when your job is suddenly cut due to downsizing at the office.  Whether you saw the change coming or not, change happens and you have to adjust.

Notice how your body reacts

You hear me say a lot that listening to your body is important.  

A time of major life change is a time when that is especially true.  When you struggle with change, that struggle shows up in your body.  Often that struggle will be a pain in a joint or muscle.   Maybe it’s a constant ache in the back or neck.  Maybe its a stomach that never seems quite calm.  Wherever that struggle appears, there is a definite connection to your life and how you are dealing with it.  

Trust your body.  It has so much to tell you.  Listen and learn.

Create a plan to get through it.

Going through a life change can be a bit easier when you have a plan in place to take care of yourself during the transition time. If you know that the shift in your life is coming up for you, then you can create a plan to support yourself. This might include exercise, eating well, down time to rejuvenate, time with friends & family or even time alone.

Whatever you include in your plan, make sure that it’s full of things that support you more than stress you. I find that my own coping mechanism is to simply fill the time with obligations or tasks so that I can ignore whatever has shifted. While that is keeping my life full, it’s not helping me to adjust fully. I’m just kicking the issue down the road until a time when I can’t really ignore it any longer. If this sounds familiar to you, then learn this lesson faster than I did. Give yourself the time and space to adjust to what’s shifted in your life.

Get support from someone else.

Sometimes these changes are a little harder to navigate on your own.  Even with events (like a birth or marriage) that would seem like positive or happy events, change can be difficult. You still might spend your days pushing that change away.  Sometimes even denying that it’s happening.  

Sadly, this isn’t really helping.  

When in denial of change, the change still happens but you haven’t moved forward with your life.  You’re stuck and unable to grow or prosper.

If dealing with the life change on your own isn’t working for you, then give yourself permission to seek help. This could be a friend, family member or professional. If this is you, then know that you’re not alone. I work with people all of the time who have reached out for help because they’ve realized that they just can’t do it on their own anymore.  In sessions with me, my clients find insight into why the change is so hard to handle.  Then, my clients realize that they do have a path forward again.

I get support too!

About 6 months ago, I reached out to a fellow yoga therapist for just such support. My life is shifting a lot this year & I needed the support to get through it with more ease. I’m so grateful for her support and I know that without it this year would have been so much harder. I realized that I don’t have to go through this alone and it feels so fabulous to have her walk through this journey with me.

When change happens how do you respond?

Do you adjust quickly or take a long time to figure out the new “normal”?  We all change at a different pace and no pace is right or wrong.  However, how you adjust to a life shift matters.

Change will happen.  

You can accept it or push it away.  You have a choice.  What will your choice be?  Will you accept change and find a path forward or will you hide and hope that life goes back to where it was?  (hint:  life almost never goes back to the way it was)

Do you need support to grow through a life change? Let’s chat & see if yoga therapy can be the support that you need.