I received an interesting request from a friend the other day. She is an artist and wanted to do a piece about ageism. She asked if I and a few other 50+ ladies would be willing to take some photos of different parts of our bodies that were showing the most signs of aging. We all agreed and had fun taking pics of the saggy, wrinkled sides of ourselves. It was liberating to be so vulnerable as we laughed about the ageing process and competed about who had more smile lines, cellulite and “low hanging fruit”. It was exhilarating to be full-on human!
This experience got me thinking about our behavior as a society lately. There has been a fire hose of very intense information being thrown at us through the news and social media. It is easy to read about an injustice that is happening and blow it off because it is not effecting us personally. In reality, the massive amount of news is intentionally meant to create chaos so that we dehumanize circumstances that we would consider appalling if it were happening to us or our families. We have allowed ourselves to become numb to others pain and suffering. So, today let’s pause. Let’s take a deep breath and ask ourselves a simple yet profound question:
Am I still doing the deeply human things?
Being human isn’t just about existing—it’s about feeling. It’s about compassion—the way our hearts ache for someone else’s pain. It’s about sympathy—the moments we recognize another’s struggle and offer warmth instead of judgment. It’s about thinking of others—not because we have to, but because love is what makes life meaningful.
So, let’s check in:
• Are you moving through the world with kindness, even in small, quiet ways?
• When you hear about someone suffering, what is your reaction?
• Do you walk away because it doesn’t directly affect you?
• Or do you pause, even for a moment, and let yourself feel into the pain they’re experiencing?
It’s easy to turn away. The world is heavy, and sometimes, it feels like too much. But our humanity is in those moments when we don’t look away—when we allow ourselves to care, to feel, and to hold space for others, even when it would be easier not to.
If your answers make you pause, that’s okay. This isn’t about judgment—it’s about returning home to yourself. The world can be hard, but we soften it when we show up as our most human selves.
So today, let’s choose to feel. To care. To connect. To remember that our humanity is not in what we achieve, but in how we love.
by Kim Goyette
This week’s 18-minute FREE Hatha Yoga Class, Yoga for a Different Perspective, is all about seeing the same thing from a unique view. Through postures that will turn things upside down like Side Plank and Flip the Dog, we will use multiple lenses to better understand the world around us. Yoga with Meditation Mutha is for everyBODY. Please join me in this opportunity to observe the planet from an alternate view.
Please subscribe to the Yoga with Meditation Mutha Youtube Channel to be the first to receive weekly videos. And check out www.meditationmutha.com to learn about yoga retreats happening around the world and tips for “Living Simply Extraordinary”.