Yoga Is For Everybody? Not Quite...

This 2-minute quiz shows you if yoga is for you. Or what you should do instead.

On Finding Your Voice Through Yoga

Yoga | Yoga for Beginners

A yoga practice may be the perfect place to find your authentic voice—even better than a Toastmasters training session or a pitch-perfect a cappella choir.

If you want to get in tune with your truth, then yoga can help through opening your throat chakra and helping you get in touch with your stories—the ‘issues in your tissues,’ and the lessons you alone have to share with the world.

I believe each of us has a tale to tell, but that we can be too scared to dig deep to discover our unique messages, or lacking in confidence to believe we have a story worth sharing (let alone shouting, or worse still—in my case—singing to the world).

To find your voice, you must first own your story.

Even though I’m sharing my thoughts with you now, I still feel like I’m stuck somehow, not quite on-song. I have a powerful story to share of infertility and adoption, of loss and gain, of change and growth, yet at times I feel mute.

We tell ourselves so many stories, often stories we have been told—fables that we unconsciously carry from past generations. They don’t make sense, yet we somehow believe them.

You probably know the ‘not good enough’ story—it’s a common one. As is the related ‘guilt’ narrative. The ‘victim’ story is played out, over and over. Why, when we should know better?

Our stories live within us.

All these stories reside in our bodies as pain and resistance linked to our thoughts and emotions. Through yoga practice, however, we access body, mind, and spirit, and we get to read and hear these stories for what they are—just our own (often dodgy) narratives, not truths.

The first step is discovering our stories, which might show up as tightness in our left hip, or a pain in our right shoulder. What is the physical manifestation signaling about our deeper emotions, thoughts, fears, beliefs?

In the process of first truly feeling, then releasing the emotions that accompany judgments, negative thoughts, and memories of pain, we can actually ‘own’ our stories—most importantly, we can start to move the narrative from the past, through acceptance in the present, into a brighter future.

Now write, speak, shout, or sing!

Once we own our stories, it is our responsibility to share them! Yes, it may feel hard to use your voice, but the power or your story should give you the strength you need—whether written or spoken, in speeches, presentations, in art, actions, or performance. Maybe singing is your thing!

Just remember that no-one else has your story to tell.

Entreat, write, proclaim, shout, declare, decree, beseech, exclaim, scream, sing, intone, plea, shout from the rooftops—you will be heard by those who will listen. And if you act in tune with your true voice, others might heed—some might follow.

I have a story of strength to share: of overcoming adversity, of faith, love, determination, and resilience. It is mine to impart, to broadcast so that others might benefit. And I am opening up, finding my truth, through Camel (Ustrasana) and Upward Bow (Wheel or Full Backbend).

I will be heard, and what I have to say will resonate, motivate, and inspire. How about you?

Featured in New York Magazine, The Guardian, and The Washington Post
Featured in the Huffington Post, USA Today, and VOGUE

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