Humans are hardwired to seek community. Throughout our history, building community has been a means for us to stay safe, share our workload, disseminate information, and to foster our need for human connection. What community looks like has evolved significantly over the millenia, however, our reliance on it hasn’t.
At various points in my life, I have felt severely disconnected from community. I’ve moved around a lot, including living in six different countries and traveling to over sixty. Home has been an elusive feeling at times. One motivating factor for me to set up Suan Sati was to sink some roots into one location in order to fulfill this lack of connection I felt when I was moving around so much. I knew that I wasn’t the only one feeling disconnected while traveling. While yoga and meditation are central to what we do at Suan Sati, the community connection is critically important to the overall experience here.
It’s my intention that everyone who walks through the gates to Suan Sati feels welcomed into our home. The teachers and Thai staff set the tone for that, and the guests who have been there for a few days support that by warmly welcoming the new guests that arrive each day. They remember how it felt for them when they arrived, and they pass that on to the new arrivals. It’s cool to sit back and watch this flow of kindness being created with minimal guidance from us. It’s obvious people are yearning for that warmth and connection, and it’s special to both give and receive that with each other here.
If you ever feel lonely, isolated, or perpetually like an outsider, I feel you. I’ve been there so many times in my life. It takes some very hard work to find your community, but you will eventually. It also takes vulnerability to put yourself out there and potentially get rejected or things not work out. When things get difficult, be compassionate towards yourself and then try again. Remind yourself that a sense of belonging is really just a feeling that you can be completely vulnerable and authentically you with someone else, no matter what. Nurture those relationships if you have them, and if not, be that safe space for others and see how they open up to you.
That’s all this month, thanks for reading 🙂
