Peace: Who You Are Is Sometimes Vague

“For me, depth means looking beyond what presents itself superficially, beyond the first layer of current events and the ABCs of your routines, to a language you may not know.” Patricia Akkermans

On Sunday 3 September, Patricia Akkermans and Lidy van Lie Peters will lead a silent walk in the series ‘the Walk of Wisdom in a year round’. Patricia has her own practice: Dankh, practice for Naturopathy and Life Coaching.

“At the University of Applied Sciences, I supervised students of Social Pedagogical Assistance. I helped them grow in their professional practice through reflection. I saw and felt much more than could be discussed during the conversations.

I continued to learn about people’s layers of feeling and how you can access them by increasing body awareness. It’s my new profession: I work with my hands and coach people with what is released in their bodies.

For a while, I lived on a plateau: I thought I understood my story and life. I have now entered a new phase. I am 51 and major events in my private life have turned the letters of my story upside down. Do I still understand myself? I sometimes wonder. The strong and independent woman I thought I was, turns out to be much more layered.

Yet I also experience a new kind of peace. Being able to tell one story is flat, unambiguous. I’m learning a new language: that of complexity. I accept that who I am is sometimes vague and not always clear.

I walk a lot and meditate, seek out the silence. Do you know that quote from Pema Chödrön?

“We don’t deserve stability; We deserve something better. We deserve our birthright and that is the middle way: an open state of mind that is at home with paradoxes and vagueness.”

Maybe that’s why I chose the theme for the walk: inner peace.”

More about Patricia: dankh
More about the silent walk: guided silent walks