“It’s Your Body - It’s Not You.”
In the Summer of 2021, I interviewed my dear friend & favourite yoga teacher, Rachael Fallon, and after taking one of her juicy classes just last night (for the first time again in over 2 years!) - I decided to pull up the interview article and give it life again.
I hope her words inspire & enlighten you, as her wisdom has for me time & time again over the years…
Yoga, Emotional Eating, & How It’s ALL A Gift
As a woman, yoga has taught me to love all of my parts. There are times where I gain extra weight, because I am an emotional eater, and I've learned to love that part of myself. It taught me I am perfectly, imperfect, at every age, size, and cycle. I want to emphasise that because I work with women, and this definitely a theme. Yoga is a daily practice of self-love, acceptance and purpose. it's a medicine that fosters compassion and humility. I see my body as a temple I honour every day, as a sacred ritual. It's a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual practice to create harmony with ourselves and the world around us.
Moving Past Insecurities - Even As a Teacher
Humility, is big one, and it's not an easy practice. I've learned to get out of my own way a lot while walking this path. I've been teaching yoga for 18, before social media, and Instagram was a thing, and I thankful for that. I didn't even know what yoga looked like when I started.
Our culture, society teaches us, we are not enough. We can't possibly sustain the image of beauty the world expects from us. So, I would say, it's about learning to love ourselves, unconditionally. Nurturing being authentic, and showing up exactly as you are.
For me, when I teach, it's not about me, I get out of my own way, because I am there to serve and enhance the other. To enliven someone's day, and show them how to love themselves. I think in life, if we showed up for each other this way, we could shift our consciousness collectively. I believe as a yoga community, we are. Yoga is an ancient healing modality, that connects us to the heart.
When we live from the heart, we move from love. If we move from a place of love, this planet would become a safe space for all living beings.
The TRUTH on Yoga
Yoga is a practice for our mental health. It's a way to bring the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual body to life. It's is a true awakening experience, to be present to our true nature, which is love.
It's not about fancy postures, that we see on social media. Let's use breathing as an example. Our tendency, is to breath from the chest. Our breath is usually shallow, tight, restricted, and we hold the breath; which brings of into fight or flight. Our bodies are constantly overstimulated by everything around us, including the collective fear of this pandemic. So we think our true nature is anxious, stressed. We identify with the anxiety as who we are. But, it's your body, it's not you.
When we learn to breathe slow conscious diaphragm breath work, this stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which brings us into rest and digest. In this state we are calm, relaxed, less reactive, and peaceful. This is where our Yoga practice becomes a practice our mental health.
How To Feel Beautiful NOW
Practice Yoga, sit in the heart, breathe, and consciously let go of all of the things that don't serve me. Taking time to just sit, and be. It's a self-inquiry practice, that softens my dialogue with the inner critic, and invites self-love into the room. My Mantra Meditation, inspired by Ram Das, is on repeat - " I am loving awareness."