This article is for everyone who is imperfect, just like me.
To keep it short, I was very flawed and wanted to become perfect. When I was younger, I dreamed of having a perfect body, but it was never the case, I never managed to get to point when I was satisfied with it. I cannot be perfect.
Then I wanted to be perfect psychologically, get rid of my negative, destructive thoughts, get rid of my bad habits. I’ll spare you the detailed list. I meditated, I practiced yoga, I did my mantras, but my imperfection came running back at me.
Today, I would like to summarize my journey in the following fashion: painful imperfection, the search for perfection and welcoming imperfection.
Yes, I want to shout it out loud today – I’m not perfect.
Lately, what has been working for me was doing my yoga poses. I am not slender and flexible as you would expect from a yoga or a wellness teacher, but it was somewhat working out.
The thoughts of “I’m not enough in doing this, not enough in doing that” danced around in my head. Who am I to promote physical and mental health when I myself fight against my own greed and ups and downs?
Everything changed today though. I’m not perfect and that’s ok. I have the body I have and I welcome it. I have the mind I have and I welcome it. I have the intellect I have and I welcome it. I have the heart I have and I welcome it.
Yes, I welcome myself just the way I am.
All this questioning has almost led me to drop the yoga teachings. I told myself that there were far more qualified and legitimate people than me in the business.
I spent a lot of energy in my trying to become perfect. The image of this flawless woman for me was the image of a successful lady who has a healthy body enveloped in a healthy spirit. A woman completely fulfilled in her life, a mother always up to the task, and that, of course, all year around.
Today I understood that nobody ever asked me to be perfect in my teaching yoga, nobody except me.
And that’s where you come in. Yes, you who is reading my article. I teach yoga, I’m not perfect, but I love to do it and pass on the science of Ayurveda, and I want to teach it to those who, too, are not perfect.
Going into a yoga studio in salient clothes, surrounded by flexible and fit people, can represent a real barrier for some who suddenly cut themselves off from a magnificent opportunity to take care of themselves, their body, their mind and their spirit.
So there you go, with me comes all this imperfection with all its limits, with all its weaknesses, but also with all its heart. The heart in me wants to make yoga accessible to everyone. Together we will start practising very gently and as we along we will all evolve in welcoming what is and what should be.
So, if you have an internal dialogue going around like: “I’m going to lose weight and then I will register for yoga”, or “I’ll practice at home and when I am a little fitter, I will register for a course”, or “yoga is not for me, I am not flexible, not in shape, not this or that”, then know that with me you will be welcomed as you are with all of your perfect imperfections.
With love.
