What is Enough?
Let me explain, beginning with a material and non-material example: “stuff.” Here is where I ask myself the quintessential question: “Do I have enough?” To answer the question, I have too much stuff, yet I buy more. I could argue that I need some of the stuff I buy. But how do I know when I have enough? For example, how do I know when I have enough flour to bake bread? Do I really need to buy three bags of flour when one will do the job?
When I start to think of the concept of enough, it can also drag me into a downward spiral where I ask other universal angst-creating questions, such as “Do I have enough money?” That really depends on who’s asking. And it is completely dependent on context and will always be subjective to the asker.
Then I typically move on to this question: “Do I have enough time?” Don’t we all have the same amount? The question is really about what I am prioritizing right now, or where I am focusing my attention in this moment.
Eventually, I get to the question: “Am I enough?” That nagging, powerful, existential question that pops up far more often than I want to admit. Am I?
Grounding myself in the here and now is the first step I take when I feel myself in the slippery downward spiral of “Is there enough of xyz, or am I enough?”
Moving my body and focusing on my breath is usually a good way to ground myself in the present. Why? Because the body and the breath are always in the present moment. It is only the mind that is a time traveler to the past and the future.
As a result, I go for a walk and get some fresh air, or this Heart Soothing practice:
Let’s begin by sitting up straight in the chair… place your arms out
like a goalpost… elbows at right angles, if that is available to you.
Breathe here for a few beats… on the inhale, we are going to twist to
the right … bringing the left hand to the heart… and then
exhale back to center, returning the arms to goalpost.
Let’s try it in the other direction… on the inhale, twist left and bring
the right hand to the heart… then exhale back to center.
Sitting with your back straight. Chest lifted. Breathing in and out
through your nose… and repeat… keep it going to the rhythm of your
breath… twisting to each side… inhaling and exhaling as you move.
How does it feel to move in this gentle, caring
way?... is there a sense of soothing?
Notice how you feel.
Designed with both mental health clinicians and clients in mind, Trauma-Informed Yoga offers 47 short, simple practices that regulate the autonomic nervous system, calm the racing mind, and center those of us living chaotic 21st century lives.
Drawing from over 20 years of teaching and clinical practice, Spence masterfully weaves together the ancient wisdom of yoga with modern neuroscience and clinical practice in an accessible and compassionate manner.
This how-to toolbox will arm you with knowledge and with powerful, yet simple, mind-body activities that reduce suffering and increase well-being.
Joanne Spence, MA, ERYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP, is a recovering social worker and certified yoga therapist, and author of Trauma-Informed: A Toolbox for Therapists: 47 Simple Practices to Calm, Balance, and Restore the Nervous System (PESI Publishing, 2021). She is the founder and executive director of Yoga in Schools. Joanne trains and teaches all sorts of amazing people, both nationally and internationally, in yoga. She has taught yoga in prisons, hospitals, schools, churches, and sometimes on street corners. She specializes in working with adults and children who are experiencing chronic pain, trauma, depression, anxiety, ADHD, and insomnia.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Joanne Spence is the founder and executive director of Yoga in Schools. She is an author for PESI Publishing and receives royalties.
Non-financial: Joanne Spence has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.
