I am widely known as “The Business Yogini”.
Over the last year or so, when people refer to me in that way, I feel pained – like I’m wearing pants that don’t quite fit. And I’m the one that pulled them on (metaphorically speaking), so I think, “Shit, I can’t take those pants off right here.”
Do you know why the physical practice of yoga was created?
To get little boys and men to sit still for meditation. To help them settle the fuck down. This is something I (and most women I know) really DON’T have need of. Most of the women I know really want/need to embody and express their unique female energy and channel it in powerful ways. Not put a lid on it.
Yoga kept me contained and ‘acceptable’.
Don’t misunderstand. I have loved yoga. I’ve been passionate about yoga. I would even go so far as to say that yoga saved my life by helping me feel safe and contained in my physical body at a time when I desperately needed it.
That being said, years ago I started injuring myself when I practiced yoga – pushing too hard to hold a pose *perfectly* or move through a vinyasa that my body simply wasn’t suited for. Yoga became somewhat of a love/hate relationship at that point. I have a rich and amazing meditation practice and the philosophy of yoga is a part of me now. But the physical practice?
I cannot tell you how many times (thousands? millions??) I have gotten 5 minutes into a practice and said fuck it. Seems like a sign to me in retrospect.
Being a ‘yogini’ became my self-imposed prison.
I’m not saying yoga isn’t fabulous for the many men and women who practice it with passion and devotion. But for me, it became a way of defining myself that kept me neatly packaged and boxed up. A way to contain my energy and enthusiasm and that which shines brightest in me into something less bright (and more calm). Something that it’s just… not.
SO many women do this to themselves.
Often we are holding on to definitions or ways of being because we think it will keep us safe. Maybe we don’t want to be “too much” or overwhelm others or be judged or WHATEVER the reason is. But too often, the price you will pay for keeping yourself contained or defined in a certain way is far too high. And you, me, WE, collectively as women, hold the keys to our own freedom.
To be honest, I didn’t really even recognize this until I started dancing again – then, oh and THEN, I vicerally felt MY energy and light and vitality and fire channelled in a very familiar way – one that feels like ME. I saw how yoga kept me safe, gave me a prescribed way to be in my body and act in my life and business that kept my intensity in check, where it can’t hurt others or invite others to hurt me.
Well that’s old news. And it’s certainly not MY story. So baby, the pants are coming off (you know, metaphorically).
My business and my clients and my relationships are showing signs of responding favorably to this shift, too. When we keep showing up being more and more and MORE of who we are? The Universe says YES in a big way.
What doesn’t fit any more?
Often the truth hides in plain sight. So take a deep breath and look at what is true and real for you. Where is the rub? The dissonance? Little by little, bit by bit – or, full monty - can you let yourself drop the self-imposed limits and say yes to the magnificence that is you.
Reveal it, revel in it and notice all the ways the Universe says YES to your magnificent essence of awesome….
I know I certainly will.
xoxo.nona
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