Lisa Davies was 20 years old when she found her boyfriend dead. At such a young moment in her life, Lisa struggled to come up with the positivity to face what happened. No one in life prepares us for how difficult and painful a trauma like this can be, to lose a loved one. But as humans, we somehow find a way to survive. We find a way to fight back. It might not be the right way at first, but we start to deal with what happened in our own way. Lisa became very superstitious, stopped trusting people, and struggled with obsessive compulsions.
Time was her greatest ally. What Lisa did not know then was that she could have found a safe port in those who loved her, support in those that surrounded her, healing in those that would listen to her. She came to understand that all of us deal with grief in our own way, and that it was okay to talk about it, it was okay to cry about it. She learned how to embrace her emotions and accept them for what they were. When the time was right, she discovered a magic in each detail of her path, a light in a dark room, that would make her journey have more meaning.
It was the little things of the everyday life that made Lisa get back to a healthier lifestyle. She had pancake Tuesdays with friends, her friend Mary introduced her to yoga, spent time with her family, and went travelling by herself. These things made each day more colourful, and allowed her to understand the way she wanted to live her life. Because her life was hers and no one else’s…because a traumatic event does not define who you are…and only you are in charge of defining who you will become.
It didn’t take long for Lisa to discover a passion for yoga. She has now completed many courses and keeps developing new knowledge for her mind and body. She found healing in healthy and wholesome foods, in rainbow colour plates full of vegetables. And it was also important to her to look at people from the outside to know that she was not the only one in the world getting through a hard time and trying to deal with it. She knows how to enjoy the fun in life, and to dance, meditate, regularly meeting up with her friends and family.
To think back to those days of pain and suffering, Lisa accepts them as something that made her stronger. Her experience built a determination and capacity to enjoy how fast and precious life is, and how much we should enjoy it. Life is to be lived in laughter and joy, in love and acceptance. She makes sure to be the one to support those in need by helping them to channel their negative thoughts and experiences through yoga, through energy, in the hope of guiding them into a life of light.
Lisa was fourteen when she first started volunteering. She spent every Tuesday at the local youth club for three years. She then spent some time working with children with physical disabilities at summer camp in America. More recently, Lisa went to Africa to volunteer in disabled centres and communities that struggle with severe poverty. It was in volunteering that she saw real strength and courage of all those that lacked everything but that despite their struggles had love. That made her believe in something bigger than herself and her sadness, made her want to succeed in life and become a better woman, a better human being. Sharing life and caring for those who she shared these moments with enriched Lisa’s life.
Volunteering opened doors to more than a spiritual path. It gave Lisa skills, connections and friendships that she carries with herself to this day. It gave her the opportunity to see new places, to experience new things, to feel new emotions, and to develop into the strong woman she has become. Regardless of our past, love can cross all barriers and it opens our hearts to compassion and care for each other, it makes us aware of our own humanity, and of how special it is to be human.
Lisa Davies is now a strong, happy woman. Her trauma became a way of building knowledge and understanding of the amazing opportunities that life provides. She is a Bubbleologist, bringing joy and entertainment to thousands of people. She also teaches yoga as a way to slow the pace of a fast life, bringing balance and peace to her own spirit. To her, it is of the most importance to have the freedom to enjoy what you do, to be grateful for others appreciation of how you do it, and to master a skill that you carry as a passion. Lisa knows that, despite anything that might come our way, we can always find happiness.
Written by: Carolina Capelo Garcia