In this day and age it is all too easy to forget who we truly are. We have all of these ego-building, social networking sites, like facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube, pinterest, blogs, etc. and are constantly looking to other people to tell us who we are and give us our identity. We look to others to give us the answers in life about nearly everything. What to eat, when to eat, how to look, what to buy, how to homeschool, how to raise our kids, what our homes should look like, how to be happy, how to be spiritual and anything and everything else.

I’ve noticed this often in life and sometimes have to ask myself, how much am I being myself, my true, individual self and how much of who I am being is really just colored by what I have read or seen or was taught as a child from my parents or from observing the way society works and the way people in society operate? How many of my thoughts and beliefs about the physical and spiritual reality are my own and how much is my life being lived authentically? I’ve been observing how much it truly steals my peace when I am not following my inner intuition and I am looking outside of myself. If I spend too much time at the computer browsing pinterest or looking at other women’s blogs, I never feel too good afterwards. I begin to lose my sense of direction and it becomes all too easy to start comparing myself to others and questioning the way I do things. I learned that a while ago and have stopped looking at or listening to things that steal my peace and are not nourishing for my spirit or helping me be me.

But oh, how easy is it to just search anything on your computer and find a million different answers to whatever questions you may have! You could even search “how to be spiritual” or “how to be happy” and there can be answers from anybody and everybody out there who claim to have found them and can offer you any quick fix to whatever area you feel lacking. There are countless ways to follow others and seek externally for solutions to your problems. And if you don’t even feel lacking or as though you have any problems, I bet if you spent a few minutes at your computer, browsing around, it wouldn’t be too long until you begin to think that you have some.

What I have always believed is that each person is an individual. Each person is unique. We weren’t born to be followers of other people or to all try and be the same and from experience, I can say that being a follower or trying to fit some kind of mold has never felt right to me. I want to be me! I want to know who I am and what I really want. I don’t want to be trying to create myself by seeking externally for a me to be in this world. I want to go inside and find out who I am, discovering and removing all the obstacles that have been placed in the way of my true being as I have accepted different beliefs and listened to so many outside voices and answers, hoping, trusting or believing that they would lead me in the right direction.

I started doing yoga again recently and have never felt so relaxed and in tune with myself. I had taken a break from it all summer long and I had forgotten how enriching the yoga is, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Those moments in silence, when I am breathing and letting go are the best moments of my life. I feel total peace and harmony, like nothing else matters. All worry, fear and disharmony completely melts away. I am able to step back and observe myself and the way I have been thinking and feeling and identifying so closely with my thoughts and feelings. I am able to realize just how many obstacles that I have placed in front of my own inner peace and just let them go. After an hour or an hour and a half of Ashtanga yoga, I feel centered, calm and able to be the wife, mother and woman that I really want to be. I carry on that peace and attitude of surrender throughout my day and am much more able to be pleasant and present.

My question to you today is do you know who you are? Are you being your true self or is your identity colored by other people’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs? Do you feel open, flexible, peaceful, calm and able to easily let things go and observe yourself in a non-judgmental, loving way? Or are you in the mindset of holding on, staying rigid, getting things done, searching outside of yourself and following others?

Could you benefit from stepping back, unplugging, relaxing and taking the risk of finding out who you really are, letting go of the obstacles in your life to your own inner peace and intuition?

Just an observation from today’s yoga practice that I felt I would share.

Love and Light,