Soundtrack: SYML, Sacred Spaces
This month has been so transformative.
We're in the dead of winter. A time when retreat, rest, retrospection and recovery are essential to our wellbeing. I've been focusing a lot of my time and energy into self-care, and it feels so good.
I've been really committing to my yoga practice. For the past 18 months, I've explored physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual expansion. Notable physical shifts; being able to hold poses that I once found difficult or 'impossible' remind me that our limitations are always self-imposed and can be challenged. Each time I reach an edge, or a point where I feel I can't push forward, I focus on my breathing and surrender until something shifts. It's such a beautiful practice.
Feeling my physical strength grow day by day is for sure a big part of what motivates me, but it is not the main reason I practice. Yes, landing a good camel or crow is gratifying, but yoga has also given me the tools to push through emotional and mental blocks, which is the greatest gift of the practice. There is no start or end to yoga, there is no 'final level'. You're never there. The destination really is the journey, and it's ever-changing and always provides me with what I need in any given moment, which is why my mat has become my sanctuary.
Every session is an an opportunity for a new discovery, a new lesson, a new answer, a new perspective. No matter how I feel going into a class, I always leave feeling lighter, more free, more curious. And this curiosity is what life is all about. I always want to see life as a beautiful mystery that is not meant to be fully understood, but is meant to be flowed through with grace and awe. And that's what practice allows me to embody. That sacred space where mind, body and spirit connect and get to play for a bit and get curious. Release. Readjust. Remember that unlearning is the highest form of learning.
Yoga has helped me stay committed to myself, to my truth. It's helped me to not just speak my truth, but to live it. As a recovering people pleaser and someone who has consistently put other peoples' needs and feelings above my own, it's really nice to see the shifts manifest into the life choices I am making. The woman I was just a year ago would probably have stayed in places that were not beneficial to my well-being, places that didn't bring me peace or safety. Knowing that I have the emotional strength to walk away from people, places, and situations that cause me to self-abandon is so empowering.
I've been thinking a lot about what our 'life's work' is, and I think that's the closest definition I can come up with. Can we make choices that keep us aligned to ourselves above all? Can we find ways to trust and love ourselves so much that it is immediately obvious when we are not in the right spaces? Can we bravely walk away from what doesn't help us grow and feel safe, even if it hurts? None of this is easy work. It's gonna be hard, boo. Attachment styles, personal history, trauma and past/present family dynamics all play a part in how we show up in the world for ourselves and others, and often, we do have to repeat lessons a few times before levelling up.
One thing I know is that when I am true to myself above all, I CAN show up for others with a bigger offering. It's like the analogy of putting on your air mask before helping others. If we're not fulling pouring into ourselves, how can we possibly show up in healthy and meaningful ways for others?
So I guess this is the current CTA in my life. There are still (and there will always be) situations that trigger old patterns. Just like I push through limitations and expand in my yoga practice, I want to embody these changes and shifts in my day to day life, too.
Remembering that life is uncharted and unpredictable by nature, enjoying the mystery, embracing the adventure. Releasing the control and just staying in alignment so that when magical moments happen, when the magical people appear, I can truly appreciate them and let them in.
<3
Comments