The Un-Yogi Lifestyle
Nearly everyday of the week I unroll my sacred yoga mat, sit my yogi bum down and smile to a crowd of fabulous people and faces full of joy and potential. It is a gift I cherish more then you can know. Most days I stare back and am immediately charged, motivated and inspired as my ‘flow’ unfolds, however lately I have been feeling out-of-balance myself and have definitely felt it unravel me both on and off the mat.
Its a job I wouldn’t trade for the world, but a busy one that has me switching hats from Studio Owner, Yoga Teacher, Pilates Teacher, Sculpted Teacher, Holistic Nutritionist, Cooking Class Instructor, Blogger, Author in the Making between my own book and the one I am contributing to with Sadie Nardini, Active Participant in community events, Host of 2 of my own shows ‘Core Fusion Flow’ and ‘Living Simpliciously with Jenn’, Mom to two pretty incredible children and a wife. I KNOW!!! I read it and I get it…I am slightly insane. And this is where is the un-yogi lifestyle steps in…
I have a serious passion for wanting to educate and help people to live their best life possible. I get extremely excited about any and every opportunity to be part of something that I think will make that happen in a bigger and better way, so I immediately jump at the chance and YES without thinking about the ‘how’, the ‘why’, and the ‘in what other way is this going to affect me now’ issue. And then it happens…the reality of me being human and not ‘super-human’ kicks in and my body quite literally tries to kick my ass:)
I truly don’t get ‘sick’, I get worn down and my body will hit me where it counts the most ~ my throat. The vehicle of my soul and of my job. If I can’t speak I can’t inspire.
Over the years, 15 to be exact in this industry, I have had what I call quarterly burnouts; once every 4 months or so my body needs a re-set, a few days of lying low and chilling. Well since I have become a Mother and more recently a Business Owner, a few days is now more like needed a week. A week that never comes because when you are a parent there is no such things as ‘rest’ and when you are a business owner you are not only the employer BUT you are also the employee!
I am very fortunate to have an amazing circle of women and colleagues around me who own their own business or work for themselves and get it that when you are sick or need a cover or take time off it actually cost you money! Yup you need to pay someone to give you time off, so it’s a bit of a conundrum. You either push though or you suck it up and pay it out!
To be in balance in your life – your whole life – it’s about more than simply exercising or eating right, getting enough sleep and managing your stress, it is about all of it. Nourishing your body, your soul, your spirit and your mind with all the necessary things that keep you feeling vital…feeling ALIVE. I have always taken pride in eating well for my body, using good products and preparing fresh wholesome meals, it is the one area I make no sacrifices in and it has kept me strong in times of weakness in the other areas of my life. But it’s not enough.
The saying is sometimes you have to hit rock bottom in order to rise stronger from it. I definitely have not ‘hit’ anything, especially not rock bottom, but I have had enough of taking on too much, not honouring my bodies wishes and feeling like I can’t take any time off ‘just incase’. Little by little I am creating some changes.
I am choosing only the things that bring me 100% pure JOY. I have a fantastic team that supports me in my business and my studio and I am finally at the point where I can delegate more so that I can create better products that will reach the masses in terms of how to truly live with more SIMPLICITY in your wellness journey.
I share these stories and experiences with you because I believe it is so important for anyone and everyone to understand that we are all human, it doesn’t make us any less strong, passionate or fabulous ~ it makes you all of those things even more so because you recognize the signs of burning out, fatiguing or no longer being happy with the way things are and you CHOOSE to change.
You choose change over something much more serious that could develop like a major illness, despair, anxiety or feeling trapped and overwhelmed. I have watched it happen to many around me and hold these stories and images closely now when I feel myself becoming lost and on the line of a very ‘Un-Yogi Lifetsyle’
Yoga is not confined or restricted to what you do on your mat. Yoga is who are you are and how you live your life.
Join me over my next few blogs as I share with you some of my own personal strategies to creating a Foundation of Health, concepts and strategies based on over a decade of research, work and practical experiences that have influenced programs so dear to me; Master Your Metabolism, Metabolic Fire-Starter with Sadie Nardini and my latest co-creation with Dr. Laura Foster ‘SHIFT’.
I look forward to taking you on this journey…
Namaste,
Jenn