Feeling supported?

I spent the past weekend at a restorative yoga retreat. The basic concept of a deep restorative practice is that your body is fully supported with all of its needs met so that it can drop down into a deep state of relaxation and rest.

It’s indulgent. One of the postures I set up had 14 different blankets and cushions - 14 perfectly placed props that were chosen specifically for my comfort by incredibly thoughtful assistants that literally make sure you could not be anymore comfortable. 100% comfortable. Not 96%. 100% comfortable.

Restorative Yoga has taught me so much. It has taught me the benefit of asking for your needs to be met. It has taught me that resting is ok - vital even, to living a busy life.  

It occurred to me this weekend that we have become unhelpfully independent in our lives, we are so ‘busy being busy’ that we forget to stop and are resistant to receiving help.

The first step is to know WHAT you need - often easier said than done! Verbalising what you need takes some practise.

Once you have an AWARENESS about what you need, you need to ACCEPT that you need help. Accept that perhaps you are not a one stop human shop that can do everything in the world on your own! Asking for help can be a huge exercise in VULNERABILITY - it can be hard exposing your needs and reaching out for help.

Then comes COURAGE. It takes courage to ask for help to be brave enough to approach someone and ask for something! Work out who is the right person and then put yourself out there to ask.

The fourth and final step is to be GRATEFUL and appreciative for the help that you have received. So often people who do ask for help take the help for granted and show very little appreciation!

An attitude of gratitude is always a good idea.

So what help do you need? What do you need to have taken off your plate in order for you to function better at what you do?

Who could help you?

Who could you help?

There are many different ways to support someone - financially, emotionally, physically. The key to supporting people well is to give them what they need, not what you want them to have! It is a really interesting exercise to ask people how you can best support them?

The responses may surprise you.