Healing in Community

How aware are we of how our body feels when we are around others? Do we feel calm and relaxed? Are we tight and constricted, with our nervous system on high alert for potential dangers in our environment? 

 I just came back from a series of three conferences with hundreds of people - one of them was the wonderful Mindfulness in a World on Fire conference put on by Wisdom 2.0 - a great community at the intersection of spirituality and entrepreneurship. One highlight for me about those experiences was, for the first time in a long time, I felt comfortable in my body around large groups. 

 In the last few years, as I stopped drinking alcohol, and shed the fancy professional identities that defined me for decades, I started experiencing serious bouts of social anxiety - feeling uncomfortable in my body around people and having critical thoughts about myself and what people may be thinking of me. Today, thanks to a persistent mindfulness practice, many hours of somatic processing therapy, and patient friends, I’m grateful to be moving along in that journey, though not fully free from it. 

 As we heal, cocooning periods seem to be important. We move inside, alone, and do the difficult work. I certainly was in one for a couple of years after selling my company and had the luxury to disconnect and heal. And yet, we move back out…for this human experience is very much defined in relation to one another. Eckhart Tolle says that our spiritual progress can be tracked by how well our human relationships are doing. Ram Daas says that if we think we’re enlightened, we should go home to our families and think again. Ultimately, our healing must be integrated into how we show up with other people. 

 Community is important, especially during such a period of integration. Companionship is one part, so we are not isolated and feel supported by people who care about us and for whom we also care. The basic life truths we learn along the way are hardest to remember when we need them the most...reminders from friends are priceless in these moments.

 This is a special time in our history, as a tremendous amount of people in a very short time frame have moved away from traditional religions into more spiritual pursuits (see Pew Research below). Alongside that move, has come a loss of community. 

 At Manifestations, one of our core investment areas is in companies that help to build communities for people to heal together. If you’re interested in learning more about our work with these companies, please feel free to reach out. 

 I wish you ease and comfort in your body, especially around other people.

In January, I’ll be offering a 6-session meditation series on Zoom, Building a Daily Meditation Practice.  Sessions will be Monday and Tuesday mornings from 7:30 am – 8:00 am EST, for 3 weeks beginning Monday, January 16th, 2023.  If you’re interested in joining, email me and we can discuss if it’s a fit.  

We are currently working on our first fund closing - please contact us to be part of this founding group of partners.  Charbel@manifestationscapital.com

InspirationCharbel Zreik