Nothing Defines You, But YOU.
Think back to the last time you were introduced to someone. How did you describe yourself? Perhaps you said: “I’m Matt, a compassionate, open hearted and spiritual being”; more likely your introduction sounded like this: “I’m Matt, a New Yorker, an architect, and a runner.”
Culturally we are taught that our identity IS the things we do, the relationships that we have, where we come from, etc. Inextricably we’ve linked our understanding of who we are to these external identifiers. As a result, the loss of any one of these identifiers, be it a relationship or a job can rock us to our core. When I left my job in consulting after eight years, it took me six months to stop introducing myself as a management consultant. Each time I met someone new I was utterly conflicted about what I should say about myself; what was I without the “Executive” title?
The truth is that these external labels don’t provide the full picture. In fact they separate and inhibit us from tapping into our true nature. Beneath the labels and perceptions each of us has a true blissful nature that doesn’t seek or require external validation. Yoga can help us shed the need to attach our identity to something outside ourselves.
Yoga philosophy teaches that we are already complete. But our ability to experience wholeness becomes obscured through how we process our past experiences. In essence, we harbor the past deep within our physical, allowing us to then experience our true nature.
Mindfully focusing attention on the breath and the sensations experienced in any given moment works to release our grasping for external validation. Practicing consistently with deep awareness and self-compassion softens our desire to seek external validation and affirmation of who we are.
When I left my “Executive” title behind, I leaned on both yoga and meditation to help me explore and re-write the story of who I am. The more I practiced the easier it was to let go of the culturally imposed labels and to see that it was completely up to me to define ME.
