It has been said that the world we live in is a continuously co-created experience of life, connection, and suffering. It is also true that either consciously or unconsciously, we are all participating in this dance called life.
The question then becomes: How can we become more consciously involved in our dance? Be it in our relationships, our career, or health-wise.
This past year for me was all about making positive changes. Some were smaller, and some were huge. Regardless of the perceived size, it’s the act of committing, the conscious choice to make a change that is important.
I noticed how tired I was of waking up day after day feeling that something was just not right. Wishing I had something else or that I was going to a place of work that was a bit more in line with my personal goals. I soon realized the only way to improve my situation was to pause, and get real with myself. To ask myself what I really valued in this life and what I wanted to participate in, and then to explore what was keeping me separate from that.
Through meditation I was able to see the parts of myself that were not allowing me to move ahead (fear, doubt, lack of confidence), and I could get more specific about what needed to change. After isolating these areas it was time to create an actionable plan to move away from what was not serving me, and to move toward something more in-line with who I wanted to be and how I wanted to contribute to my life and the world around me.
What came up was what some might call a radical shift. To leave a job that for over a year had served me in my growth, but that at this time was no longer in line with who I was becoming. Not an easy to do and certainly scary for me considering I didn’t yet know what I was going to do. But what I did know was I needed to honour the little voice inside that said “Enough is enough, make a change.”
Change can be scary. In order for us to make changes we need to lean into our supports; our friends, families, pets, yoga bolsters or our meditation practice. I believe change is available, possible and necessary for all of us. There is an element of trust required to surrender to the belief and knowing that we are being taken care of at all times and that the universe is on our side.
Yoga and Meditation have been the most valuable tools in my life - technologies that provide me with the support and strength of remembering how to show up. Everyday. Through practice I wake up my connection to my heart. And there I find a seed of gratitude. From that place, I expand my ability to connect to what has meaning and is purposeful for me.
To summarize, the main ingredients for transformation that have surfaced in my life this past year are commitment, communication and space.
Commitment to actively creating a life that I feel responsible to show up for.
Communication with my loved ones and the universe for what support I need to do so.
And lastly, I choose to maintain a sense of space in my life that allows opportunities to manifest more naturally out of abundance.
And here I am now, having taken the plunge and committed to the next big step in my journey. I’ve signed a lease on a space and have committed to opening a new yoga studio. This is a true creation of space (literally) and a reimagining of how a yoga studio can be. The project is based on community, education, accessibility, self-care and sharing. I believe so strongly in the power of community, of supporting each other by practicing together, and in co-creation. We can attain more together than we can individually, this is the greatest lesson I have learned in my short life thus far.
I am so grateful for the supports in my life that allow me to make this change, and to trust the abundance that is being revealed through this process. It’s thrilling, and scary, and oh-so-worth it.
As the New Year approaches, find a quiet moment and ask yourself: What do you want to create in your life? What can’t wait any longer? It could be as simple as more home cooked meals, or as big as asking the love of your life to marry you. Whatever it is, trust support is there; you might just have to ask for it.
I invite you to check out what is happening in your heart, and find a way to support one another in choosing to live from there more frequently. The result: a more connected, and engaged life. YOU deserve it, we ALL deserve it. What are you waiting for? Let’s make it happen.