Metamorphosis

“You have to be confident in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.”

-Rosalynn Carter

I recently celebrated my seven month mark of being released from prison. This day coincidentally happened to occur on the First day of Fall, as well as the first time for me to teach a new yoga class at my current job. The morning that I was set to teach, I started to feel in intense sense of anxiety and I wondered where it was coming from; as I was going to teach something that I love, that I am passionate about, and have an adequate knowledge of.

On the drive I realized that it was a lack of confidence in myself that I was really experiencing . I do not believe that we cultivate a lack of confidence from within ourselves, I believe that it comes from external sources: society, social media, our upbringing, something that we may have heard from another person, or any combination of these things, the list goes on and on. So right then I decided that I would not allow this feeling to settle into my mind or how I operate in the world, as this was not MY feeling. I once learned that feelings are not facts, they are only sometimes a response to a situation, but we do not have to own them or allow them to control us or how we move in our lives.

I said a prayer to God to have the confidence to use the ability that I have been given, not only for myself, but for others as well. This helped me tremendously.

Growing up, I did not feel like I could adequately express myself and lacked the knowledge of how to seek and find the power to do so in a healthy way. When I was incarcerated, it was very frowned upon, if not forbidden to express yourself or any displays of self confidence. And although these are not my own beliefs and feelings, over time these habits can become ingrained in you to where you do feel as if they are your own. While this can be a difficult thing to overcome, it is possible to hit a personal reset button and define your own set of beliefs in how we treat ourselves and how we present ourselves in the world.

Today I want to encourage you to have the confidence to carry yourself in the way that you would like to, to do the next best thing, even if it is unfamiliar or scary. To trust your power and ability that you have received from God, the Universe, or whatever it is that you may believe in. To follow your dreams and your passions with excitement and CONFIDENCE. And finally, to allow yourself the opportunity to share your light, love and beauty with others.