Featured conversations
Read about the conversations we’re having and learn tips on how to improve your life
It’s an unexpected spring day in February—76 degrees and sunny. Although my road bike is on a trainer in the basement and the bike rack is in the shed, I can’t pass up the opportunity for a ride on the Michael N. Castle Trail along the C&D Canal.
After lunch, I throw my hybrid bike into the back of my Honda CRV and head to Delaware City.
We have all had the experience of being away on vacation, and falling in love with the vibe, right? The calm, the relaxation, even the air even feels different! Why? Probably because you have slowed down, stepped away from the pace of everyday life (practices, meetings, emails…..) and more than likely, you unplugged. The constant stream of tv news, social media, pop ups and the problems of the world disappeared.
Have you ever struggled with anxiety, or has the thought of trying something like yoga give you anxiety? I was once there too.
When I first came to find myself in a yoga practice, something shifted quickly. Suddenly the anxiety I was feeling was melting away, my weight came to find a healthy balance and I was finding more calm in my day to day life. I stopped having chronic sinus infections, and my overall health seemed to improve. It was surprising because I didn’t expect it. Now I know that a yoga and meditation practice are meant to bring about just that – wholeness, balance, and good health.
Let me start by first introducing myself. My name is Cherise Michelle Lathan. My mom is black, my dad is black, and I am a black woman. I am also a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a board certified neurologic clinical specialist.
This has been my introduction since I can remember. My first memory is being five years old and introducing myself to my kindergarten class; feeling it necessary to define that not only was I black, but both of my parents were. There was an unspoken awareness of this expectation for explanation, and this responsibility for greatness.
The inexplicable forces that keep you from taking the plunge – signing up for your first marathon, quitting your unfulfilling job to pursue a dream, approaching the stranger across the room when every ounce of your being is urging you to do so – are what I call our subtle fears. They surface most viscerally when you stand on the precipice of a cliff about to leap into the clear, beautiful waters of Crater Lake 20 feet below and your feet are seemingly glued to the rock. You are not afraid of the water nor suffer from acrophobia, but the only thing that pushes you off the ground and into the deep, cold water is an 8 year old yelling, “Hey mister! What’rya afraid of?”
We often confuse pleasure with happiness, so much so that we sabotage our own well-being. The temporary high from indulging ourselves with food, media, material things, or status, can fool us into thinking we’re happier because of them. In truth, we’re not. But we seek more, hoping the next hit will bring the permanent state of bliss we are looking for. The thing is, we’ve already established that happiness is not a permanent state to aspire to. I think we can all agree on that. So maybe a better way to think about happiness with the following integral math equation, which continually ebbs and flows.
