I thought I knew and was living my dharma, or life mission, but the more I dove into it, the more I realized it was all about me and very little about other people. And no worthy dharma is about ourselves.
I left my corporate job in 2013. Frustrated with how the company I worked for defined leadership – very aggressive and take charge – I decided to pursue teaching yoga full-time. While I did work remotely for a few years, most of the next several years were filled with learning more yoga, meditation, and teaching. I thrived in the environment and was very excited about taking what I learned into my classes. My focus was on my transformation being a light to others. My. My transformation.
Something happened after a few years. People slowly, but steadily, started coming to me to create websites. I loved it, as it used many of my areas of expertise: business coaching, creativity, human factors, project management, and technology. I found I could lose myself in creating websites for hours at a time. But I would often resist going after more work – wasn’t my dharma, after all, to spread the light of my yogic transformation into the world?
Then I realized my journey had finally taken a step to the next level. Yoga teaches us the profound fundamentals of who and what we are. It teaches us to breathe, be present, and to connect deeply with ourselves and with others. We can’t all dedicate our lives to doing and studying yoga full-time. If we did, there would be no groceries on the shelves, cars to transport us, or websites for hardworking small businesses who want to take their passion into the world. Once we embed what yoga teaches us into our life, we are to use it to bring our unique gifts into the world for the greater good. That is our dharma.
I still love and teach yoga, though the focus has drastically changed. I intend to greet each yogi exactly where they are and to project less of me, reflecting more of them. And I have fully embraced my website business, working to effectively hear my clients, creating a digital presence that reflects them and helps their business. My new dharma? I am not sure yet. But I know now that while transforming myself is an essential, lifelong endeavor, what matters is what I do with that transformation. It’s how I use it to make a difference in other people’s lives using my MY unique gifts. Yoga is not the destination, it’s the journey. And the beauty of yoga can be shared in a yoga studio, in an office, or a line at the grocery store.
2021 Update: As a part of my practice, I have come to an updated Heart Wish: I am a Weaver. A Weaver of Light. This evolution of my old dharma gives me more focus on my unique purpose in the world. I still integrate technology with my yogic background, but I now have a broader personal mission to use my talents to bring souls into the energetic tapestry of light and love to which we all belong.
