How to Get to Know Yourself Better: It’s Scary, But Necessary

I USED TO BE A POWER FLOW YOGINI. I LIKE MY YOGA FAST AND HARD. I LOVED BARON BAPTISTE POWER YOGA WITH A PASSION AND STILL DO. GOING FAST AND POWERING THROUGH ASANA MADE ME FEEL ALIVE AND SHUT DOWN MY WANDERING MIND.

It wasn’t until I met my first yoga teacher that I learned that slowing own was so much more rewarding. My Teacher Linda said me and I quote, “You rush through all another aspects of your life. Why rush through your yoga practice?“

It got me thinking it is time to slow down. I stepped away from my power yoga practice and found my first yin class, incidentally taught by my mentor and yoga teacher Linda. It was so tough to find stillness but it still challenged me in ways. I LOVED IT.  Slowing down encouraged me to find myself and make peace with what I was running away from in my practice-myself.

Getting to know yourself is hard work! It is something we can do well by taking up a yoga practice. Your first step is to learn how to breathe and how to be still. Learn how your thought s to not rule your life and that your thought are not always your own. It is time let go of old stories and other people’s expectations of you and fall in love with just you.

Here is the challenge:

Find just 10 minutes out of your day. Set a timer for 10 uninterrupted minutes. Now take a comfortable seat. It can be on your yoga mat, a chair or a park bench. Get rooted.  Sit heavy into your sitting bones, make contact with the earth, the bench, yourself! Then be still and focus on breathing in and out deeply and slowly. Relax your jaw, the space between your eye brows, your face, your shoulders and return to your breath. Please breath smooth and even and deeply.

Notice what comes up? Just notice your thoughts. Please do not judge or chastise yourself for thinking. Just notice your thoughts and let them pass like clouds in the sky on a sunny day.  Awaken your awareness to just being still. Feel your body and your breath. After 10 minutes open your eyes and notice how you feel. What is different? Just dwell in that moment for a while.

Remember getting to know yourself starts with being still… you can’t do that if you are always rushing. I challenge to just 10 minutes alone with yourself…get to know yourself. You are worth knowing!