Why It’s Okay to Be Vulnerable on Your Yoga Mat

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Vulnerability doesn’t care whether you’re student or a teacher – practicing by yourself or in a big class – it demands to be felt. On our journey of self-knowing, vulnerability is inevitable.

We’ve all been there: our thoughts and emotions catapult, and all of a sudden we’re our own mental piñata. Thoughts once tucked away now weigh heavy and unavoidable.

One minute you’re in tree pose, the next you’re crouched down in child’s pose reaching for your broken fragments and trying to piece it all back together.

Why It’s Okay to Be Vulnerable on Your Yoga Mat

Your ego, your insecurities, and your expectations scream a little louder as they clash, and emotions become dense enough to cut with a steak knife. No matter when it happens, you’re caught off guard, wide-eyed and wondering.. why here? why now? why me?!

You’re unraveling, your armor peeling off layer by layer.
Vulnerability, in its soul-baring nakedness, is scary.
To ask for forgiveness is scary.
To ask someone out is scary.
To step out on your mat and face the mirror is scary.
To move to a new town is scary.
To muster up the courage to be imperfect is scary.

Give yourself permission to let it go. Let it ALL go. Yes, it’s okay to let out a good cry–we all have to remind ourselves to take deep breaths. Relax–this unraveling is a way of healing.

The fragments of you, neatly wrapped like a pretty little present, aren’t meant to be hidden in a cocoon forever. Just like the stars that lead us in the night, we are shining fragments of a million pieces in the midst of space. Unravel, untie, and unbound yourself and let gravity be the force that grounds you. Burst into your widest expansion scattering outside of your lines.

We can’t heal what we can’t feel.

Allow yourself to process your thoughts and feel your emotions. We can’t heal what we can’t feel. Be gentle with yourself. Dip your toes in first, slow down, but don’t be afraid to fully immerse in it. I promise, if you stay in the chaos of your feelings, sort through the monkey madness and the pain, a feeling of peace will soon emerge.

This peace of allowing yourself to feel this fully and wholeheartedly is a journey of accepting yourself. Your laugh, your weaknesses, your dreams, your insecurities and all the tiny fragments that make you human, is worthy. Worthy to be seen, heard and accepted as is.

You Are Worthy

Let yourself be seen. Be deeply seen. Vulnerability requires the practice of letting go. To be softer is to be stronger. Find the strength in vulnerability and know that with breakdowns come breakthroughs.