Sara Jaswal

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Farewell Sreedhareeyam: The Blessings And Lifetime Healing Are Forever In My Heart<3

Daily Siva Temple Blessings<3

Hiiii everybody!!!

I am back for another day, another heart reflection and story time with SJ<3

The countdown is on- 3 more days until I make my departure from Sreedhareeyam and then after spending a day in Delhi, I’ll be preparing to embark on the journey back home to Vancouver!!!

The last few days I have been noticing this feeling of annoyance, irritation and missing Canadian civilization. LOL as odd that as may sound, I’ve really been experiencing the void. It continues to be hot AF here too! I also miss my own home. By the time I get back, I’ll have been gone for 5 full weeks!! This is the longest that I have been away from home or travelled for this duration.

Of course, I am excited to get back to my life in Vancouver, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having mixed feelings right now. If I’m being honest with y’all, it feels a bit bitter-sweet.

I have been in such a great routine and flow here for the past 3 weeks that it’s become second nature. Yes, there are things I wish were different and certain things can feel bothersome, but I feel so at home.

And not just in the physical sense but at home in my body, in my mind, in my heart and in my soul.

As I was mentioning in a previous blog post, I feel very grounded, and my nervous system hasn’t been this regulated for years! There’s this sense of balance and serenity (Which happen to be 2 of my fave EO’s:)).

I’m just feeling so rooted in myself and in my life. I have this fear that as soon as I’m back home and get into routine and back into the swing of things, that I’ll lose sight of all the new insights and life perspectives I have gained. I know this isn’t true, but my ego is trying to sabotage and get in the way of the progress I have made.

Sreedhareeyam has taught me so many incredible life lessons and has shown me the true meaning of life and what it means to be alive. The conversations that took place this time around were just next level. I feel so inspired by every single person that I have been blessed and fortunate to cross paths with. These memories have been forever embedded in my heart. I’ll miss the connections and the heart-led, life-giving, soulful conversations.

This experience just further validates my values and philosophy on life. Every single one of us has a story, we come from different walks of life, and we all have our own traumas but in the end of the day, we are all one.

We are all here for the same reason. To walk each other home. And as much as society and the inhumane so called leaders of the world like to shine light on our differences, we are actually more alike than not.

These are our fellow brothers and sisters, yet we’ve built a world where there is so much hate, division, and discrimination. As much as we like to put the blame on someone outside of us, it’s just as important to take a closer look within and to really evaluate where we might also be part of the problem.

There’s a reason why community and connections are such a powerful source of bridging those gaps and bringing us all together. In the end of day, we all want the same thing.

We all want to feel seen, to feel heard, to feel acknowledged, to feel loved, to be able to hold our own world/life perspectives without any judgement or hate, to be able to show up in this world fully authentically expressed as ourselves and a space where we can cultivate connection, love and belonging.

This is truly what makes us Human.

None of the other shit matters, yet we spend so much of our time hyper-focused on it.

It is my mission in life to create everlasting change, to create a world where there is love, unity, acceptance, diversity, and healing for all of humanity.

To be able to create a beautiful, vibrant world as such, it all starts and ends with us. Each and every one of us needs to take full radical responsibility of our lives. We need to shut the excuses down and heal our past and present traumas.

This is a no judgement zone. We all have shit. We all have our own baggage and that’s just the way life is. If there was ever a time to be devoted and dedicated to your healing, the time is now.

The longer you wait, the more you’re perpetuating your own suffering.

Nothing changes until you change.  (Said with so much love)

Here's a little recap and glimpse into my last week at Sreedhareeyam<3:

(Again, in case you’re wondering, there is nothing glamorous about Ayurvedic Therapies. Haha😊)

Nethrapoornam: Medicated Ghee Treatment- They make a mask out of atta (flour) and mold it onto your face. Then they take cloth + cotton and dip it into hot medicated ghee and then place those onto both eyes, closed. It almost feels like teabags on my eyes. They then cover that and let the ghee soak in for 15 minutes. It burns a little.

After 15 minutes, they remove the “teabags” and take off the mask and then put these white flowers onto your eyes and cover them and blindfold you with a clean cloth. This is done for 1 hour, purpose is to let the ghee further absorb onto your eyes. The flowers aid as a shield so the cloth doesn’t rub right up against your eyes. The ghee is very potent and your eyes become super sensitive and tender.

The blind fold really puts having a visual impairment into perspective for me. For what it actually means to be blind or to have very limited vision. I have a lot of great vision, and as soon as I cannot see, my anxiety goes through the roof. As it does, when I’m blindfolded for just an hour. The gratitude and appreciation just rushes through my body and at the same time my heart prays for the healing of individuals who have no sight at all.

Due to the eyes being very raw and tender inside after the ghee treatment, light really impacts the vision, so we’re asked to wear sunglasses for the remainder of the day to avoid any further implications or severe sensitivity.

Abhyanga: Spa Day!! Full body massage using hot medicated oil done in a very specific manner by two practitioners. They are so in-sync!! The GLOW-UP is real. Obsessed<3

Pineapple Pop It: I am obsessed with this gadget. It definitely keeps my anxiety busy and under control.

Uttapam: Discovered a new South Indian breakfast dish. The batter is made out of rice flour and daal and then sautéed veggies are mixed in. Tastes like an Indian pizza without the cheese! I was impressed.

Shhh…don’t tell! Haha I definitely went off course with my diet. It was worth it! (the first few times anyways, not so much afterwards lollll)

Pure Bliss<3

Alright friends that’s all she wrote. This third lag of my #India24 adventure is soon coming to an end. I am forever grateful and blessed that I was able to blog my journey. Not only for myself, as a keepsake, a memoir of this beautiful chapter of my life but for everyone who will have the honor to read my story.

As a practitioner who works with Grief & Loss, I often get asked “Does the grief ever go away? Does it get easier? And my answer is Grief doesn’t get easier, it gets familiar.

Life is going to continue to knock us off our feet. It’s a part of the human experience. None of us are going to come out of this unscathed. Life is truly what we make it and so lets make it the best we can.

Through the art of storytelling, I hope you are able to find comfort and solace in knowing that YOU too have the power to Re-Write your own story. It’s never too late to course correct and change direction. In fact, it’s necessary!

Your diagnosis does not define you.

Your Trauma + Grief does not define you.

You are whole just as you are.

You are enough simply because you are.

I’m not entirely sure where my life is going to take me but something, someone😉 tells me it’s going to be really fuckin incredible. I cannot wait to see what unfolds for me for this next chapter of my life. 37, I’m coming for you!!!! It’s going to be SO good!!!

From my heart to yours.

With love & gratitude,

Sara Jaswal