If someone had told me this time last year I'd be an avid yoga student, someone who meditates daily, buy organic food, attend healing circles and go to Goa for a 200-hr yoga teacher training course, I'd have told them they were mad! But that's exactly where I am in my life right now.
I remember when I was 17, I attended a yoga class with a friend of mine and I really didn't like it. Which is funny now, but I guess timing in life has its reasons.
On Self Image and the "Perfect" Body
I grew up with a lot of body issues and I punished my body with grueling workouts because that's what I thought I needed to do to achieve this "perfect" body. Its quite sad that we grow up in a society that triggers feelings of unworthiness, self doubt and self-hatred if we don't look a certain way.
I have struggled with my weight and self image for more than twenty years. To be honest, it's still something I'm working on, but yoga — yoga has changed my life.
The emphasis on losing weight as my goal has completely shifted to a new goal of healing myself. I never imagined the impact it would have on my life, but within the space of nine months, it has filtered through to the rest of my life.
What Yoga is Truly About
A lot of people, when they think of yoga, they think it's only for relaxation or you have to be an acrobat or be super flexible to be able to practice and bend yourself into all these crazy shapes.
And while it can be relaxing (who doesn't love Savasana?!), and you need a certain amount of flexibility to achieve some of the asanas, yoga is so much more than that. In fact, yoga can transform your life.
The Eight Limbs of yoga show us that our physical practice is only a small percentage of yoga as a whole. But it does start with our physical practice. Eventually, it seeps into every aspect of life, transforming it completely.
You become so much more aware of everything around you. You start questioning the way you live your life and you start to make the necessary adjustments and changes for you to be in harmony with the world. It wakes you up. You start to practice gratitude for the miracle of life. You open your heart chakra and compassion and empathy fill you.
We all have a purpose for our precious time on earth. Yoga and meditation help us to access our inner guide, our intuition, our higher self, our soul. When we quiet the mind we hear that inner guide and if we listen to it, it'll guide us on the path we are meant to take.
May everyone take time for themselves to hear their soul.
Namaste ❤