"Yoga has changed my life in countless ways, it started my journey to find myself. Many come to Yoga for the physical and remain for the mental and spiritual benefits"
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That's how Yoga teacher Mariel Witmond @mindfulsonder
replied when we messaged her asking if she'd share her #yogasavedmylife story. These are her words and pictures:
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"The second of those two photos, beautiful as it is, was taken at a time in my life when I felt completely and utterly lost.
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I had done a lot of travelling that year as I had just left 11 years of corporate work and friends commented that I had such a life of luxury and how great it was to be me. I was ashamed to tell people I wasn’t working and at the same time dealing with health issues that all stemmed from stress.
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I didn’t realise at the time that who I am and what I did were two separate things, that I had the power within me to live the life I longed for as soon as I learned to quiet the negative voices in my head, that passion and drive are important parts of fulfilment, and that we all hold the answers we are looking for within us - they’re just hard to access when you’re living in autopilot.
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I certainly didn’t know that part of my dream would be teaching yoga and inspiring others through my own personal story.
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We all have a story to tell, not the stories we convince ourselves of that hold us back, but those stories of struggle to find ourselves and be ok with who we are, those stories of overcoming our own hurdles to shine.
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It is these stories that link our common humanity, our vulnerability and willingness to be seen - imperfectly perfect as we are.
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Be open about your journey, be ok with those moments when you are not ok. These gifts of imperfection are what bring us together, are what connect us and make us relatable - don’t buy into the scenes of “perfection” you find in social media, there is always more behind the image. Be curious. We’re all in this together." www.mindfulsonder.com .
