om family
O
ften life’s most anticipated
and natural events can catch
us off guard. Most parents
at one time or another look
forward to the day their
teenager leaves home, taking with them their
mess, requests for money, and late-night
schedule. Yet, when their bedroom is finally
packed, we crumble. While every parent’s
experience of emptying the nest is unique,
we can all benefit from adjusting our yoga
practice during this season of letting go, that
we might embrace the fullness that the next
season of life has to offer.
‘Empty Nest Syndrome’ is a clinical term
used to describe the feelings of sadness
and loss that parents experience when their
children leave home. The word ‘empty’ in our
culture speaks to a mentality, as well as the
physical absence of something. Most of us
are familiar with the analogy that, depending
on one’s perspective, the glass is either half
empty, or half full. It’s an attitude, and when
it comes to Empty Nest Syndrome, we also
have a choice as to how we approach the
transition.
In yoga practice, emptiness is regarded as
‘spaciousness’ – or an opportunity to move
in and occupy with something life-giving.By showing up for ourselves on our mats
with unclenched fists and a willingness to
seek out ‘What’s next’, versus sinking into
‘Why me?’, we enable ourselves to make
conscious choices as to what should fill
everything from our time, to our thinking, to
our pantries and what we put in our bodies.Holding space
Sometimes, however, it’s appropriate to ‘hold
a space’ rather than fill it. When the nest
feels empty, and a parent is experiencing
grief and loss, it’s important to sit in that
space for a time. Expressing grief is the onlyFinding the space to grow
when you find yourself
all alone in your nest. By
Katie Pearson
Can yoga
fill an empty
NEST?
way to move through it, and the yoga mat
is a beautiful place to allow the physical
manifestations of grief, including tears, as
well as the psycho-spiritual symptoms of
questioning one’s identity, doubt, anger and
confusion to emerge. Grief typically comes
in waves, so why not take the yoga mat into
your child’s bedroom, and practice feeling
in order to heal. Be in the space where
your child came to discover and express
their identity and begin to recover your
own. Celebrate the part you played in not
just birthing another human being, but a
unique presence that will go out and make
a difference in the world as a result of you
letting go. Grief requires confrontation—but
in the end it comforts.Opportunity
An empty nest is an opportunity, it’s a space
to be filled that already has a certain level
of comfort and familiarity. It’s lived in, but
vacant, waiting for the next occupant to
settle in. Who says that occupant can’t be
one person: can’t be you? When parents are
experiencing Empty Nest Syndrome it’s easy
to forget that their presence in the nest still
counts. What would it look like to take up“The word ‘empty’ in
our culture speaks to
a mentality, as well as
the physical absence of
something. Most of us
are familiar with the
analogy that, depending
on one’s perspective,
the glass is either half
empty, or half full.”