As you might know, I got my start in the world of coaching through yoga when I became a certified yoga instructor about 15 years ago.
I was drawn to yoga at a particularly difficult time in my life.
It was around the time of the housing crisis, I had a sick kiddo and as a result, lost “everything”. My husband and I were both in the building industry and as you know, everything related to building at that time halted almost overnight.
We also happened to be saddled with unbelievable medical bills and as a result, we lost our house, our work, and for a while, our connection to one another.
It was a very dark, vulnerable and scary time.
We were forced to start over and in doing so, moved to a new city. It was there that I really found yoga and as it turned out, along the way, found myself. I became so fascinated with the impact yoga was having on me, not just physically but emotionally too and I wanted to learn more.
I never intended to teach. I only wanted to understand what was happening to me and make sense of this new found appreciation of myself, even amidst all the pain and shame I was reeling from.
As I delved deeper into philosophy, anatomy, postures, beliefs, etc. more than anything else, one thing stuck out to me. It was this incredibly foreign yet optimistic and very fundamental belief that we are all born perfect.
The practice and philosophy revolves around this simple concept: We, every single one of us, are born perfect. And that’s when yoga had me. Hook, line and sinker.
Despite thinking I had loads of evidence to the contrary, I allowed myself to consider that this may apply to me too. This wacky, pollyanna-ish concept that we are all born with a bright light filled with wisdom, resources, value, knowing and beauty. It was worth considering.
While we all share this light, over time, however, it can dim. It gets buried under years and experiences of trauma, grief, expectation, culture, duty, and more until often we barely know it exists anymore. Yoga is one way we reintegrate.
And here’s what I love most: that light never goes away. It never gets extinguished. So, the work is to remember that and to tenderly and lovingly begin to peel back all those layers that have kept it from shining bright.
Of course, I ended up teaching and what started out as finding my own way out of darkness, was the pathway to helping others do the same. I got to love on others so they could find the love and light in themselves again too.
Now, here we are, many years later, and this continues to be the foundation of my practice . . . and my life. I see the perfection and light of every woman with whom I work. I get to hold that vision for them until they can remember it themselves.
We live in a culture that often adds to the many layers that tend to dim our inner light. And that distance between us and our light leads to feelings of unworthiness, not-enoughness, unlovability and more.
I offer this to you today because I want to remind you – nay, I want to shout it from the rooftops! You are, always have been and always will be PERFECT.
So, if at any time you feel unworthy, unimportant, unlovable, remember that your light is not gone, only hidden and that it (and you!) are seen, known and loved.
Sending you tremendous love and light ✨