Thoughts on gurus.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about gurus. Although the word "guru" can mean a spiritual teacher from Eastern tradition, I believe gurus take many shapes in our lives today — from medical doctors, massage therapists, and Reiki masters, to business consultants, professors, and yoga teachers. Some spend years helping us through uncertain times, and others are a profound blip on an otherwise massive radar. Some we hire to work with us, some show up unannounced and go unrecognized until years later.
 
As someone who spends most of her days showing others the path of yoga, business coaching, and managing my own businesses, I wouldn’t be where I am without my own team of gurus and healers. And before I added Tod Lonergan to that team, I didn’t realize the depth of what I was subconsciously holding onto. And despite immersing myself in a world of connection through yoga, I didn’t realize how disconnected I truly was.
 
I was in Southern Colorado helping facilitate a Silks Yoga Teacher Training, and my dear friend Alana (who owns a yoga studio and healing center) suggested that before I leave, I get a healing with this guy Tod who she'd just started renting space to. Literally — that was all the information I got. Always up for an adventure, I booked a session (not knowing what that even meant!) on sheer instinct.
 
Walking into Tod’s space, there were three massage tables — one taken, two available. The man who I could only assume was Tod, was providing a hands-on adjustment to a woman on the table. Completely unassuming is the best way I can describe him… typically wearing a hat, t-shirt and gym shorts, Tod carries more joy and compassion on his sleeve than anyone I’ve ever met. Working on 1-3 people at a time, Tod uses a combination of energetic work above the body, and body/fascial massage, doing what he describes what he does as “internal Qigong.”

It's hard to describe the work he does without feeling it yourself — it's not unlike taking a Silks Yoga class for the first time... it hurts so good. Tod uses vital points on the body to relax, root, and realign. It's like getting all the knots out in a deep tissue massage... but not knowing when you walk in that the knots even existed in the first place. 

Our fascia (once thought to be an uninteresting "filler" in the body, but now thought to be a vast, interconnected organ itself that connects all parts of us) is programmed with the experiences we’ve built up — both consciously and subconsciously, physically and emotionally — throughout our lifetime… and without consciously re-programming our limiting beliefs and physically releasing that energy, we struggle. And we are not hard wired to struggle!  Tod teaches powerful lessons on how to feel, and yet harness our emotions to defend against daily stress, help us from being reactive, and transform the way we move on this earth.

I literally came home from that trip and told my husband, Sean I had changed. He felt it too. My body, mind and spirit finally felt like they were running as originally intended. I was rooted, I felt lighter, and I felt "tooled up" for life. Hands down, one of the most profound shifts in my life — right up there with my yoga teacher training.

Although Tod isn't quite yet armed with a website and online presence, he will be soon. And you'll absolutely be hearing more about him in the future. Until then!

In light,
Mollie