Life’s Many Professions.
Episode 29.
We all have many professions. Profession = what one professes to be or to do. This can take the form of an occupation, a role, a state of being... dentist, daughter, teacher, cyclist, mentor, writer, chemist, musician, husband...
We have all had many job titles, many roles, many ways of being in this world. Some have defined us; some have refined us; some have lasted for a season; some may remain for a lifetime. I was reminded last month of the vastness of who we are and what we do, when I was interviewed as a Speech Pathologist, but could not keep the boundaries of my yoga teaching from bleeding into how I see my “profession”.
I will share a man’s initials: MM. This sets the story as this man being a case; one of my patients. I certainly don’t remember all the initials of all of my former patients, or all of their faces, or their diagnoses, or the family members, or the modified puree diets I would prescribe, or the trach tube size when I would suction their airway as a standard practice. I do not recall every patient who was successfully weaned off the life-sustaining ventilator and made it back home, and I also do not recall every patient who passed from life to death as I worked intensely to help them regain their ability to communicate, breathe, and swallow. I do have engrained in my brain, the ventilator beeps, the percussion sound of delivered breaths from the periwinkle blue box of the ventilator, and the tears rolling down the cheeks of MM when he heard his own voice after 4 months of being tethered to a machine that was breathing for him.
MM was young. He was a social worker, and he became acutely and gravely ill with a neurological disorder, landing him on a vent, without warning. His story is not completely unique, because, like so many of the patients I treated during my 12 years in this hospital, he was lying in an uncomfortable, partially reclined bed, without the ability to communicate. And like every patient I met, he had a story; and being in that bed would shape the rest of his story for the rest of his life.
I knew that walking into the room. As I crossed the threshold from the frenetic unit, to the bedside of my new patient, I couldn't help but recognize that each moment and each interaction would shape his story; could impact his life.
MM did walk out of the hospital. He did make a full recovery. He and his wife had a second daughter, and he returned to work and play. His story is still unfolding. But, surely, he also has the sound of ventilator beeps and the jolt of a mechanical bed being raised and lowered, engrained in his story.
I remind myself of these “cases”, these initials, who have inspired my devotion to human well-being, and why I have been drawn to my “second profession” around the life-transformational power of yoga.
I remind myself why I love so deeply and root hard for love, eventhough it can be devastatingly painful.
I remind myself that we are all connected and it is not possible to let go of hope in that connection, even when life seems to be unraveling.
And so, when I thought of sharing my little video interview, and my new snoring program below, to give a window into the Beyond of my “Yoga and Beyond”, I thought of sharing the story of MM. I share in honor of all the courageous warrior humans who have been in my path to remind me that we are all just walking each other home...
I am grateful that we all have stories of our professions, even if they are seemingly, “just a job." I guarantee, your showing up to that job means a great deal to someone, somewhere. I am grateful to be able to share. I am grateful to be able to love. I am grateful to know what it feels like to hold someone’s hand through their most vulnerable moments. It is far beyond a profession. It is hard. And it is beautiful. Life. Unfolding. The full human experience. We are all just walking each other home.
Sharing with Gratitude,
Jessica
“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”
- Alan Watts
BEYOND Yoga.... SNORING!....
NEW PROGRAMS
Do you or someone you know (perhaps your spouse?!) have chronic snoring? Maybe even Sleep Apnea- diagnosed or undiagnosed?
1) Myofunctional Therapy for chronic snoring & sleep apnea with proven oropharyngeal techniques to improve quality of sleep.
2) Tactical Breath Training for Anxiety and Stress Management.
Details here
Private virtual sessions with Speech Pathologist, Jessica Ackerman, MSCCCSLP-RYT
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