Most things I tried just sent me even more out of balance and way out of touch with my inner knowing, creative instinct, and natural desires. It always felt like there were too many things "out there" that had to be managed, fixed, or sorted out first, always leaving me craving that balance and alignment that I somehow knew was possible. My life was a lot like a spinning top. It would spin and spin and spin. When it got out of balance, it would waiver and rock on the edge, never quite finding its center. It might feel the same way in your life.
If you never find that balance, that center, that alignment with your true self - you will always feel out of balance. On the verge of tipping over again and again. But there are those moments that you finally find that stillness within the movement. Those moments can be expanded! Life will always keep moving around you, but you can feel grounded and supported exactly where you are so that the outer world won’t impact you as much. In fact, the outer world will start to look like a much friendlier and more beautiful place to be.
Yoga is one way to find that stillness through movement. Through relaxing. Through breathing. Through simply being alive. There is no one to please. There is no one to impress. There is nothing to fear. It’s that feeling you get when you are all alone, sitting on the edge of the ocean or walking out in the woods.
There is no one there to tell you who to be or what to do. There is nothing reminding of your to-do lists and schedule. There is nowhere that you need to be.
Just you.
It’s quiet. You can hear the wind blowing and the leaves dancing. Mostly, you can hear the faint sound of your own breath moving in and out. My question for today is, who are you in those moments? Are you able to be kind to yourself? Do you smile silently and think of all the wonderful things in your life? Are you gentle with yourself, even when you feel like you’ve been doing everything wrong?
The world will always try to spin you in a million different directions. There will be news stories that break your heart, mistakes that hurt your self-esteem and moments that you just don’t feel like the person you want to be. Choosing to align with your True Self means letting go of all the reasons why you aren’t good enough. It means discovering all the little things that make you uniquely beautiful. It also means letting other people express their own selves, free to discover their own path to happiness, without the judgment and criticism.
So today, be gentle with yourself.
There is so much you might not get done. There are goals you might not achieve. There is so much you could find wrong with your life/body/self. Just for today, in fact, just for this moment, be gentle with yourself. Let yourself center back into stillness -- that place in between your thoughts.
You see, as beautiful as our lives can be, sometimes we need to be reminded that we deserve a little space every once and a while. And you know what? For me and so many others I know, the minute we choose to find that still place inside ourselves, we have way more energy to move through life the way we've always wanted to.
My invitation for you today is a breath or some simple yoga poses to reconnect. A deep, cleansing, purifying, balancing breath with movement - to bring you back into alignment with your True Self. The type of breath you would take if you were on the edge of the world looking towards the horizon…with a quiet knowing that everything will be alright in the end.
By Amber Chalus
Amber Chalus is a Free-Spirited Explorer, Lifestyle Coach and Yoga Teacher at AmberChalus.com. She currently lives in Nipawin, Saskatchewan with her charming British husband and adorable rescue dog, Indi.
Her mission is to help and inspire women to nurture their physical and spiritual health through yoga, holistic nutrition and radical self love. She believes that every woman deserves to feel connected to her body, radiate with confidence and live the life of her dreams - naturally!
You are invited to join her amazing community of spirited women and join her 30 Day Wildly Nourished Challenge.
Download a free Beautiful Morning Meditation at AmberChalus.com
Twitter: twitter.com/amberchalus Facebook: facebook.com/amberchalus Instagram: instagram.com/amberchalus
This article was edited by Tara Nasira.
Practice inward kindness with the following YogaDownload Classes:
Gentle Hatha Yoga 1 - Jackie Casal Mahrou Rise and Shine Yoga - Elise Fabricant