Self-love has the power to transform our world. Imagine: if every person moved through life with love, respect and compassion for themselves, how would it affect the way they interacted with the rest of the world?

I believe it is a fractured aspect of our society that there is so much self doubt. We are taught to be hard on ourselves, told that in order to be considered "successful" we must follow a certain set of actions otherwise be thought of as "wasting our lives."

The pressure and stress of obtaining these markers hinders our freedom to explore what we actually want. It takes away from the joy of living each moment as fully as possible and allowing life to unfold.

If you could be confident in knowing that your life would work out better if you listened to your heart and moved toward your dreams and desires with compassion, would it change the way you lived?

What Next?

I believe the first step is realizing we deserve happiness and not feeling guilt around receiving good things. I went through quite a journey to get to a place where I could release guilt. Even if it was just something serendipitous that happened, my default was to illuminate my hardships as "proof" to make sure it didn't seem like I was undeserving of something good.  

I remember a friend using the phrase "creating the space for something to fill it". By consciously saying "yes, I deserve" little shifts happen. You create "space" and it gets "filled". Think about the Placebo Effect. 

This definition comes to us from WebMD:

"One of the most common theories is that the placebo effect is due to a person's expectations. If a person expects a pill to do something, then it's possible that the body's own chemistry can cause effects similar to what a medication might have caused." 

THAT'S HOW POWERFUL OUR MINDS ARE.  That-is-how-powerful-our-minds-are.

www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect

Love in Action & More Serendipity

I wanted to highlight a beautiful organization I came across in January, and I kept the tab open on my web browser for about 3 weeks to make sure I would remember. 

During the last week of January I completed a 50 hour Energy & Subtle Body Yoga Training in New York. One of the men in the program was visiting from Africa, and a teacher with the Africa Yoga Project. This happens to be the very organization I wanted to highlight. Just another example of connections and serendipitous experiences that literally happen to me on a daily basis.

www.africayogaproject.org  Read a little about this initiative, and bring yourself some joy and hope for the world, amidst all the awful things that are still in the process of getting better.