Here we are, the end of the beginning. As many of you may know, I will be continuing my education towards my 300-hour teacher training, but I have decided that this is going to be my last post within this particular series. I will still write about yoga-related topics to share what I’m learning, but as with every new chapter, one thing must end before another can fully come to fruition.
Curated Track: Life is Hard by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (listen along for full immersion)
World’s greatest roller coaster: Life. And you already have a ticket.
Today’s post is not about the flowers or the rainbows, but about the darker side of being a human. The “shadow” side. Every human has a shadow side, everyone has skeletons and insecurities. This comes with our human experience, with our ticket to ride the roller coaster that is life.
From an early age, I’ve been told (as I’m sure a lot of us have) to be happy, smile, be positive… sound familiar? You turn on the TV and you see a good looking human with nice clothes, the perfect romantic partner and a house in Maui. Casual tuesday, amirite? Except not really, at least not in my experience. But that becomes the expectation, so that is what we choose to show on social media.
We may not like feeling sad or angry, but once we give these emotions the space and freedom to be felt, we can begin to invite them to leave. Or better yet they show themselves out. I believe we are on this journey with the intention of experiencing a whole range of emotions.
I encourage being present and vulnerable with where you are. Fuck, if you want to cry, then pull a JT and cry a whole river. Be honest and understand that you always have the option of taking a step back if it becomes too overwhelming; that’s where self-love comes into play.
Sometimes the lows feel like trenches and the highs like a grain of sand.
This is a quote that came to me yesterday, and it really hit home in this moment. On this rollercoaster of life, just as I am about to rise, I plunge even deeper into my own shadow. I’m in a space where it’s hard to remind myself that this, too, shall pass as I dance within these moments that truly make me appreciate the light.
Maybe it’s not about how often we backtrack, crack or fall into our shadow, but moreso, how often we can find our way back when the time is right. And as long as we can do that, that’s about as “perfect” as any human can get. Now this takes time as our hearts must experience something fully before we can move on.
As I walked into work, I was surprised to see a friend already there. She noticed my tear-struck face. Out of habit I quickly apologized that she happened to see me this way, and here is how the remainder of our conversation went:
She: What are you apologizing for? Being human?
Me: I feel that we live in a society that isn’t very conducive to sadness.
She: So then let’s change society.
To end, I’d like to share an article by one of my teachers, Karen Macklin. Perhaps it was this conversation that initially sparked my curiosity to explore the topic further. The full article can be found here, but for now I’ll leave you with this: “we can remember that, within each one of us, lies a neighborhood we’d rather not go into alone—and that we don’t always have to.” I’ve seen firsthand that vulnerability is contagious, and as humans we are wired to want to help one another. I love you all…. We are in this together <3