How Yoga Helped Me Figure Out My Why

I’m a big believer in daily doses of inspirations which is why I’m a fan of Ted Talks. One of my favorite talks is Simon Sinek’s– Start With Why https://youtu.be/sioZd3AxmnE. Sinek got me to ask myself the big question – What is my why?

Who knew yoga would help me answer this question

I’ll never forget my first yoga class 15 years ago. Surprisingly challenging, I couldn’t even touch my toes. The best part was svasana (corpse) pose, the final posture where you lay down and let it all go. I swear a weight lifted off me. I experienced a sense of peace that I hadn’t known in a long time. I started carrying the weight of the world as a little girl when my mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Riding an Emotional Rollercoaster

If you know anyone with a serious mental illness, you know that it devastates the life of the person with the illness as well as those closest to them. The first decade of my mother’s illness was like being on an emotional rollercoaster. There were good years when my mom was on her medicine and stable. Then there were rough times when she was off her meds and it was as if my mother disappeared before my eyes replaced by a distant stranger.

I was stressed, confused, and scared. At times, I thought I’d crumble but I needed to be strong for my mom. In my young mind, I thought if I was stable and responsible enough I could save her. So I put my feelings on the back burner and that’s where they stayed even after my mother was in long-term recovery. The thing about unresolved emotion pain is that it doesn’t go anywhere. It fades into the background, draining energy, rearing its ugly head when your guard is down. Of course, I wasn’t aware of all of this when I first stepped on my yoga mat.

Yoga helped me get real with myself

Yoga is designed to help you discover the many layers of yourself. When you go deep inside yourself, you never know what you’ll discover which is the scary part. I realized that behind the mask of strength that I skillfully portrayed, I was growing weary from toting a load of unresolved emotional baggage.

Healing Led to My Why

My intention to heal led to ‘my why’. Yoga, qi gong and meditation were powerful practices on my path to healing. These multi-dimensional practices gave me tools to own my stuff and heal the unresolved emotional, mental, and spiritual wounding from my childhood, enabling me to find a sense of peace and fulfillment. I believe we can heal and transform ourselves with the right information which is why I am passionate about teaching people how to use mind-body-spirit practices to tap into their inner potential. I’d love to hear more about your why in the comments below.