Remembering to Play

Have you ever watched as a toddler learns to walk? There is no fear that they're going to look silly, or that other people are judging them, or that someone is going to do it better than them... There is pure wonder and excitement in their eyes!

I feel like as adults we lose this ability to look at the world with a sense of adventure and excited to take on new things. We develop our little comfort zone and draw comfort from the familiar and our routine. How many times do we think to ourselves, "oh i can't do that.." or "people will laugh at me." or "I'll look foolish". When was the moment that other people's opinions of us and our own self-doubt affected us so deeply that we forgot how to play!?

Yoga has helped me to reconnect with this sense of play and the ability to laugh at myself. I remember when I first started attending classes the yoga teacher would say things like, "smile" or "laugh if you fall its just yoga!". And I would think to myself - easy for you to say!!

Its as if over time those words eventually sank in, despite my best efforts to ignore them. So I slowly started to push myself out of my comfort zone and I tried things knowing I'd fall on my face. The more I did this the more I connected to that sense of adventure!

Instead of thinking, "what if I fail?" my thoughts turned to, "what if this is the time that I actually do this!!"

So I'm inviting you today, to reconnect to that sense of wonder and play. Are there things in your life you've been wanting to try but have feared other people's opinions of you? Are your own self-doubts holding you back? Approach each step towards your goal like a toddler learning to walk. No one will laugh. People will support you. And just think of the possibilities if you start one step at a time.

Peace out :) Go play!

#yoga #reflections #autumn