On becoming real
Good news - the Oh My Yoga website is finally live! Check it out at www.ohmyyoga.com.au and let me know what you think and/ or if you find any spelling errors! 😉
To be honest, the website's been ready since early January and I've been telling people it would be live "next week" - for the last 6 weeks...
So what's been the hold up?! ME!!
I've created dozens of website for other people, but this is the first one that is personal and just for me... I finally know what it feels like and I've been so anxious about putting it out there - and putting myself out there!
It's always the case that it's far easier to give advice and support to others, and much harder to give it and take it for yourself...
I've been working towards becoming a yoga teacher for such a long time (about 7 years) and decided to create my own website once I was certified - but, when time finally arrived, I totally freaked out.
Hitting that PUBLISH button felt like such a big, scary and final step towards becoming a 'real yoga teacher' (as if I'm not one already?!) and opening myself up further to judgement and opinions from the outside world.
Self doubt is something I've struggled with throughout my life. Plus it's far easier to say you want to do or become something, than it is to actually do or be that thing - for real.
Do you worry about other people's opinions of you? Do you suffer from self doubt despite repeatedly proving yourself capable? What if you trusted yourself and pressed the PUBLISH button on your life?!
This passage from the Velveteen Rabbit has given me some courage - "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
It reminds me that becoming real or achieving your dreams isn't defined by one single moment, action or even a website (!) - but it's the accumulation of many smaller moments and a long journey of the many different things we do and create.
As a writer, getting the website content absolutely perfect was another big setback for me. I wanted to get every word right and was worried about what people might think. The Velveteen Rabbit passage was a great reminder to go easy on myself and let go of the often unrealistic expectation to be perfect...
So, here I am - a brand new website owner, and another step closer to becoming a real girl and real yoga teacher. Even though deep down I know that I am and always will be both of those things!
And anyway, I can edit and update my website whenever I want - it's not a static thing but something that can evolve and grow along with me...
Join me on the mat to keep working towards creating your most authentic and real self - pose by pose, and breath by breathe.
Your preparation for the real world
is not in the answers you've learned,
but in the questions you've learned
how to ask yourself.
- Rainer Maria Rilke
