If you have ever gone to a yoga class, this will be familiar. In yoga class, they encourage you to try new poses, expect to fall and return to center. Yoga encourages starting, practicing, falling out and beginning again. A reminder that we can always start again. I often find so much wisdom in yoga that relates on and off the mat.
As children, we also are expected to try and fall and get up again. At what point did fall translate to fail? When did shame attach to failing? No one has ever said to a baby’s first misstep, “well, that’s the end, you will never walk at this rate!” At one point, as adults, when did we get to a point that one attempt leading in a misstep means we have failed to perform.
A quote I heard from Dr Wayne Dyer:
“You have not failed. Your actions have produced a set of results”.
The results then have the opportunity to be judged, challenged, reassed and reattempted. The energy and thought we connect to the results determines the next set of actions.
I began this health coaching biz or passion nearly four years ago, the cart was indeed ahead of the horse and filled with manifestations and heart. While that is important, I needed it fueled with action, purpose and education. While fear can sometimes be motivating, my parasympathetic nervous system activated the “freeze” behavior, thoughts of not good enough and questioning what I had to offer.
This period of “freeze” lasted much longer than a usual season. Looking back, I know I have still been collecting and learning along the way. I have become aware of releasing and healing old stories specifically about money/worth, shame and self worth. When I reviewed this block of time that I had decided was disconnected, unproductive and “failing”, I now can see path lit with learning and healing.
A reminder that we can always start over again and we are never starting from the same place. As we move forward each day we are learning and becoming more. Becoming someone that can restart with more information, wisdom, healing and strength. Our journey is our own and we decide where it starts, pauses, or finishes. Other people’s opinions are the narrative of their story, a story that may be wrought with their own self doubt. We get to invite new stories in and let the ones that don’t serve, go.
I have been inviting this idea in lately and feeling the desire to be more productive consistently and it feels good. So if it happens my fire smolders a little and needs stoking, I know that I have got to this place where I know my fire roars and know I still have it in me to return to. Inevitably new layers to peel back and heal will surface and being patient with myself to fall and rise again is human and it is ok.
If you are struggling today and don’t feel the as on top of your game as you would like, pick one thing to do consistently this week to improve how you nourish yourself. Let it be simple. Going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night, waking up consistently to your alarm clock or making sure you drink enough water each day can be small yet mighty changes to how you feel about yourself, allowing the momentum to spill into other areas of your day. If you shake, stumble, or fall, know you can get up again. We call can.