"Yoga has made me more compassionate & less judgmental not only to other people, but also to myself" It was 2011 & I was accepted as an intern at a big investment bank. However, my initial joy was soon forgotten once I started work. I started to imagine that there were many things wrong with me . . I was a young woman, a foreigner from a poor eastern European family & I felt increasingly out of place in an office that was 98% male, German & quite wealthy. My fear of not being good enough soon expressed itself in physical symptoms: insomnia, headaches, nausea & fainting . . I had no idea that these could be anxiety symptoms & convinced myself that I had an incurable disease. I started to develop an eating disorder – I would buy a whole box of chocolates, eat all of them & then make myself throw up. I couldn’t sleep well at night, & I couldn’t concentrate during the day. I was dreading any new projects or opportunities that would excite me in the past. This affected everything: from my love life, to work, to my relationships with parents and my brother. . . The tipping point was when the only other woman in our team invited me to join her for a yoga class. I don’t actually recall the class itself, but I still vividly remember my feeling the next morning: for the first time in several months I slept the whole night without waking up & felt rested the next day, less anxious . . It sounds funny, but I didn’t immediately link yoga with the fact that I felt better. Nevertheless, I signed up to a monthly membership at a yoga studio & started to practice every day of the week. I was soon transformed 🙏 . . I have never looked back & two years ago I became a yoga teacher. While I still struggle sometimes with anxiety, negativity and self-destructive thoughts, yoga has taught me to notice that this is happening and I allow these thoughts to pass by without doing any damage. My goal is to pass this knowledge on to others who might ever feel inadequate. You are enough. Namaste, Guzel ❤🙏
