By Molly Strawn
Samir Janjua and Gavin Masumiya, both up-and-coming personal life coaches, spoke at Hub101 recently. They discussed their own life stories, struggles and what made them into the person they are today. They led the audience through self-discovery and self-reflection, engaging with the audience in conversation.
They explained that emotions can be cultivated through action, and that positive affirmations and incantations can set the tone for an entire day. They closed with a meditation exercise called the Emotional Flood, encouraging participants to get in touch with the beat of their hearts and with past memories that reflect love, pride, and gratefulness.
As a person who is always focused on the next best thing, living in the moment is sometimes difficult for me, let alone the past. Memories often escape me with the overwhelming reality that is the future. I never pay attention to myself, even through other grounding exercises.
But feeling my own heartbeat during the Emotional Flood exercise let me connect with my base humanity, and changed everything for me.
I am not an emotional person by any means. I power through the day, all business and no play, with an attitude bred through professional devotion and desire for academic perfection. So it shocked me when someone was able to break down my facade and leave me in tears.
The most powerful memory reconciliation for me was love. At first, I thought of my corgi. As cliche as it sounds, that little dog is the better half of myself. He is an extension of my soul and completes me. He always encourages me to be a better person; the person he sees me as.
But then memories I haven’t thought of in a long time struck me out of nowhere. In December 2015, my grandmother had a stroke. Recently, she has struggled with depression, diabetes and breast cancer that has left her a shell of her former self. I try not to think about it often.
And it hit me during the Emotional Flood. Spending time with her is one of the strongest memories of love that stood out in my mind. And yeah, I cried after I shared that memory with everyone in the room last night. Nobody expected me to. That room was full of my business partners, my bosses and my work friends so it was not an atmosphere I would ever see myself expressing those feelings, but I needed it.
So thank you, Gavin and Samir. Your powerful session has taught me a little more about myself that I didn’t know before. I plan on going to see my grandmother this weekend, something I have avoided doing for a long time. If she is in my happiest, purest and most powerful memories of love, that should mean something.
From the bottom of my heart and from everyone at Hub101, thank you for your special visit. To check out more about Gavin and Samir, visit samirjanjua.com and lifenthuziast.com.
Operated by Cal Lutheran University in Westlake Village, CA, Hub101 offers coworking, programs and community for entrepreneurs and small business owners to start, grow, and scale their startups with the help of mentors, coaches and service providers.
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