I took the leap and began to create a business around my passion for wellness! I remember the day so clearly that I had the logo finalized and created my website, created my Facebook page, Instagram I was officially an entrepreneur!
Within a week, my body was in pain and I could barely move forward. My body was sore, tight. I had a stiffness around my neck and it felt like my shoulders were connected to my ears. My entire left side of my body was inflamed and my left knee bared most of the pain. I continued to jog, drink tons of water, rest even took advil and still suffered from inflammation, tension in my muscles and joint pain.
My yoga, meditation and Reiki practice was in full force and was guiding me to tap inward and find out what my body was telling me. Sounds crazy? Have you ever thought your muscles and the pain are trying to “talk to you” and “alert you that you need to pay attention to your actions, thoughts and feeling?
Ask your body what it is trying to tell you! Before you ask, pause and focus on your breath to become present and ignite concentration which is key to listen within. You can do this anytime anywhere. You can also practice this on your mat as you move through asanas (poses).
As I began my yoga practice, I set my intention to “release and let go of tension”. I choose a slow and controlled yin practice and as my breath and body began to unify, I heard a slight whisper, that the tension was not muscular, but…emotional.
I began to ask my body why?
My curiosity brought to the surface that my body was holding tension to protect me, keep me safe and resist me from moving forward. This was my “ah-ha” moment! The physical tension in my body was the response to me propelling myself forward with my new business. I was leaping in to “new territory” and my muscles were acting like a mother, wrapping her arms around me keep me safe. My muscles were gripping me so tight to signal me to slow down and don’t jump but pause and take a moment to explore these emotions . In order for me to move forward, I needed to let go of this self-doubt that has held me back even stopping me in my tracks in my past.
How did I move forward? Here are a two yoga techniques I practiced:
1. Create a personalized mantra (simple and memorable words or phrases of positive to ignite well-being)
2. Cultivate the Opposite Positive (think the positive of negative thoughts, often times we have learned to think negatively and we can retrain our mind and body to think positively first, this takes practice…)
Throughout my home yoga practice I repeated my mantra “let’s move forward, let’s grow” . Repeating this mantra with each exhale, I was creating new pathways and space for muscles to remove the hold around my bones so I can move forward in the pose with comfort and ease. Exploring this further, I was violating the 1st Yama of the 8th fold path of yoga, Ahimsa (harming): I was causing harm to myself through the fear and self-doubt. To change this pattern of thinking, I then choose to “cultivate the opposite” so when I heard myself say things like “who do you think you are?” or “your not good enough” I would say the opposite “I am a wellness educator” or “I am good enough”.
Its been over a year and half and I have grown my business and most of all, sharing wellness with others from yoga classes to corporate workshops. When I feel the doubt, the tension, the fear creep in, I am equipped with these powerful ancient tools to practice and continue to create self-love and understanding. You can bring this practice into your daily life and create a life of awareness, curiosity, empowerment and resilience. As you continue on your journey of life, pay attention to the aches, pains and tension for they may just be telling you to pause, breathe and ask yourself what it is you need to let go of so you can continue to move forward. Your body knows best.
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