therapywithsakina

She walked in exhausted. Not the kind of tired that sleep fixes. The kind that sits in your chest and doesn't move. "I do everything," she said. "Yoga. Meditation. Workouts. Journaling. I have a routine. I am trying so hard." "And nothing is working. I still feel like a mess. Like a failure." We sat with that for a moment. Because she wasn't wrong. She was doing everything. And that was exactly the problem. When life feels out of control, we are wired to add. More structure. More habits. More...

In my first session with him, he asked "Have you heard of Sharma ji ka ladka?" I laughed and said - of course. He smiled and said -"I am that ladka." He continued- We all laugh at the joke. We pass it around at dinner tables and family gatherings. But somewhere in the middle of all that laughter there is a child. Quietly carrying a title he never asked for. The pressure to be perfect. To top every exam. To be good at everything, always. To never let the standard slip because the standard has...

She said it quietly. "I wonder. I really wonder what it's like to have a supportive family. Parents who say — we are here for you. Or even just — if it doesn't work out, let it go." No anger. No blame. Just a wondering she had carried for a very long time. Around that time she had heard Samay Raina share something his father once told him. "The show exists because of you. You don't exist because of the show." She heard that and felt the absence of it so deeply. What must that feel like, she...