Anxiety/Depression, Poetry, Self-love

Hand On My Heart

Approximate Reading time: 3 min

Written: 5 March 2021

I had a CI training

Therapy session last night

I was determined there wouldn’t be

A bloody tear in sight

Last week’s session

I was a weeping

Blubbering mess

Overwhelmed and confused

About stupid flatmate stress

So, I chose a topic

That was safe and mundane

That wouldn’t cause tears

Or trigger any pain

My simple intention:

Should I put my poems online?

I felt like I had my answer

(Already sorted, in my head)

but I was curious to investigate

What my body said

I know 2020 was the year for me

To practice sitting quietly

Learning how to breathe

I’ve conquered solitude

Being on my own

My enjoyment in my own company

Has significantly grown

But my head says

“You’re not ready

You still need more time

There is still a way to go

Before you’re ready to go online

I was wondering if this feeling

Simply masked a hidden fear

I hoped that a session

Might make it more clear

My facilitator asked

Where my anxiety would start

She asked me to breathe and sit for a bit

With my hand on my heart

(I felt the tiniest of shifts)

My heart vice lessened

Warmth spread through

(Strange what simply being present

With another person can do)

We sat quietly; she asked

Where do you feel at home

in your body?

I burst into tears

As her words that came to me

“Absolutely nowhere.”

Nowhere at all……

As emotions flooded over me

I felt like such a fraud

No, wait!

That’s not true. I feel at home in my head

With the billions of words,

I’m always trying to thread.”

Dammit all

I was crying

What an epic fail!

(I’d soooooo wanted to present

Calm & centred Gayle)

Then she asked me still

With my hand on my heart

“What’s the answer to your intention

that your body imparts”

Without a shadow of a doubt,

I simply said:

“The answer is no

(and that’s not coming from my head)

I really need to continue

To spend time with me

Loving myself

Continuing to breathe

When I’m stronger

Less emotional

When my anxiety’s not so raw

That’ll be when I can open

Up my heart door

This is not fear

This is listening to my gut

Continuing to wait patiently

Avoiding the need for shortcuts

It’s about letting go of the clocks

Silencing time

Accepting where I’m at

At this present moment

is just fine

I don’t need to do more

Than simply find time for me

Learning to be the container

That my inner child so needs.