We all Start Somewhere

I'm always curious to hear about where people started their journeys, got their ideas, birthed their passions, for whatever it is they have decidedly to wildly embark on in their lives. That is why I thought  you might be interested in hearing a little bit of my background. A piece of my unfolding that started to take place before I really had any of my credentials, before I really started considering fitness or yoga an important part of my life, and you better believe before I had any idea what a "growth mindset" is, when meditation was still laughable to me.

When I visited Kauai for my first time in 2010, I was a couple months fresh out of culinary school and excited to be exploring a new place. I heard this ancient Hawaiian story called The Bowl of Light. Of course I didn't realize it at that point in time, but this ancient story has come to encompass and change the course of my entire life.

​This story tells that each child is born with a perfect bowl of light. This bowl represents the child's true identity: a vessel of shining Light. If the child is taught to love and respect their light, then they will grow in strength and health and the child will have the ability to do anything – swim with the sharks, fly with the birds, know and understand all things. If, however, the child judges their experience of life as bad and becomes fearful, ashamed, or resentful, then the child must drop a stone into their bowl of light. Stone and light cannot hold the same space, so naturally some of the light gets blocked. If the child continues putting stones in the bowl, they will eventually be full of stones, causing the light to go out, and soon enough the child themselves will become a stone. A stone does not grow, nor does it move. Stones are heavy and cold. It can be hard for the child to move when the bowl is weighed down with so many stones. Before long it becomes easy to forget all about the light. However, if at any time the child tires of being a stone, all they need to do is tip the bowl upside down. The stones will fall out, the light will grow, and shine luminously once more.

In this Hawaiian story, the bowl of light represents our true essence: pure light, pure love. If we fill our bowl of light with stones, we lose connection with who we really are and feel separate from the source of love and light. When we are conscious and respectful of this light, we are living in our highest state of freedom, our sovereignty. The stones in the bowl represent the pain and suffering that we cause ourselves by resisting life instead of trusting it and by not accepting others, and especially by not accepting ourselves, as we are.
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It would be nice if we could just dump our stones out and start over again. However, the reality is that all of our experiences, both painful and pleasurable, will always be part of who we are in some way. It’s not possible to deny or eliminate them. What we can do is return the light to our bowl so that the memories of our wounds no longer affect us negatively. We have the ability to change our stones by polishing them with love and turning the stones into crystals. This is the alchemy that transforms our experiences of pain and suffering into a treasure chest of jewels. Our bowl of light is now full of shimmering, sparkling crystals, representing a richly lived life. Or as I like to call it, living life lightly.

This story has truly become an inspiration for me and a metaphor for my life (and I LOVE life metaphors!). I believe everyone is capable of living a truly light life. Light both in the sense of weight and vision. Don't carry anything heavy with you, (the stress, negativity, gossip, etc.) and instead commit to being a light that shines through, become more positive and uplifted. Discover your potential, find light within you, and start shining it on everything around you. Learn that fear is simply opportunity in disguise and just how far a positive mindset and some self love will get you in this life. Really, the opportunities are endless.

Only recently, within the last year, did I start to come across music that resonated with me on a level the same as the new direction I am striving to take my life. I was blown away when I came across Trevor Hall's song Bowl of Light:

Be sure to ask yourself: Are you ready to start living a life you love? Do you already love the life you live? What's holding you back? Why not start now?