The Morning Muse

Today I was thinking about all of the freedom I have to show up as the best version of myself (or close) regardless of my circumstances. I am very fortunate, I have developed a “close relationship” with the transformational practice of yoga. Every day, I get on my mat and move my body, giving yoga my time, and in return, yoga has gifted me with inner healing, a calmer disposition, and a more limber and light body. Often immediately after yoga, I stay on my mat, chanting Sa Ta Na Ma, in the blissful rhythm of a Kirtan Kriya. Sometimes, I do the kriya earlier or later, but again, every day.

Every day, I think and reflect, and most days, I do writing exercises to help me discover my innermost thoughts. It has all been a humbling and inspiring growth journey.

And what I have found is that in part thanks to this now strengthening foundation of inner peace and support, I have the freedom to show up as my best self. I have the ability to make the moment about the person sitting across from me, to listen deeply, to put on a smile (and mean it), to speak about what’s vulnerable without adding layers of stories, but also to share what’s bright and happy.

I used to think that people who can show up this way, dressed well, without complaints, that the presence they carried was a reflection of their outer world. That things were “perfect” in their lives, and they simply had no challenges. I had all the challenges. I had too much to do, hadn’t done my laundry in a week, hadn’t completed my projects, couldn’t think of what was going right.

But now I feel like being present and showing up as my best self is effortless, and that feels like such abundance! It feels so rich and luxurious to be able to show up in my own life without a million pounds of baggage, without any at all.

It’s such a big trap and an optic illusion to think others are at their better/best because they have unlimited money, no struggles, or no past pain, grief (a big one for me) or regrets. It keeps you waiting on life to change before you can “be” the person you know you can be. I won’t say it always starts on the inside, but it can. You can build a resilience you wouldn’t have known to dream of.

I am not here to keep beating the drum of yoga. Even if doing yoga daily has transformed my life, what it did even more was to make me believe that change was possible, that healing could be real! It doesn’t matter what it is for you. Maybe it’s taking on an epicurean perspective, or something completely different, like a little Abraham Hicks. Maybe it’s a ritual of watching the sun rise with your first coffee of the day, or drinking a big green smoothie to nourish yourself. The ways are infinite.

What has helped build my peace beyond yoga and meditative practices has been journaling, embracing plant-based food and reading self-help books by experts about the hard topics. It’s been making room for grief and planning for a more aligned life. It’s been finding music that plays the beat of my heart. It’s been looking over the horizon (sometimes literally and always figuratively) in those post-yoga-bliss moments to appreciate just how fragile, vulnerable, wild, painful, and beautiful life truly is.