Turning Point

Why did my body have to shock me awake?

Why did it take the physical crashing of my body—the inflammation, the breakdown—for me to finally start living my truth?

For years, I believed I was doing all the “right” things to heal. I practiced yoga. I meditated. I hugged trees. I learned to breathe deeply. I worked with essential oils. I sought balance through the chakras. I sat with wise teachers, attended retreats, read inspiring books. I worked with gifted healers—dear friends like Jude and Thia—who guided me gently inward.

And still… I wasn’t at peace.

Why did my body have to shock me awake?

This morning, the answer arrived like sunlight breaking through fog:

I was doing all of it from fear.

I was running from pain, trying to outrun suffering, rather than turning toward the light of my soul. I wanted healing, but I was grasping at it—using spiritual tools as life rafts, not invitations to wholeness.

No wonder I was still suffering.

And even now, all these months later, it is only recently that I’ve begun to see, feel, and most importantly, embody my own light.

This, more than anything, is what I want to offer others. Not a list of practices or a map of methods. But a truth lived in my bones:

Healing begins the moment we stop running from our pain
and begin to walk toward the light within.

~Lee Byrd