What I've learned this year.
As the year draws to a close and we look ahead to new beginnings, I'd like to share some reflections about the big things I've learned this year.
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you do certain things repeatedly? Why do you practice yoga?
I practice yoga to value my self worth. I teach yoga because I want to help you do the same. That's really nothing to do with the poses. The poses are a mechanism, a process to access something deeper. As my practice matures, Yoga is bringing me much more than just physical benefits: it illuminates everything I do with an awareness.
Looking back over the past year, the single most helpful thing in my personal growth has been developing a daily gratitude practice.
I started the practice on a beach in India. I didn't really believe it would work, but I was at a very low ebb personally so it was really a cry for help.
Now with nearly a year of gratitude practice under my belt, I realise it has helped me to connect into the love within me. When I say that I am learning to 'love myself' it's not a smug egotistical statement, but a slow process of awakening that I can be my own best friend.
My gratitude journal enables me to see wonder in the every day things around me and to truly give thanks for them. Each morning as I write what would make today great, I get to practice behaviours I'd like to adopt.
Yoga is a process of personal growth: physically, mentally and emotionally. It is not a religion, but a school of practical philosophy. Preparing dharma talks for my Jivamukti classes has probably been the biggest area of both stretch and reward this year.
It's incredibly liberating. I model different versions of my best self and see how it feels. Just 5 minutes each morning and evening has given agency to grow and to learn. It is so powerful. You can do it too if you choose.
May you sparkle as your best self.