Aham Prema

 

This is a picture that was taken at Stoll Park in Overland Park, Kansas.  We all gathered to celebrate the super moon and the summer solstice. I'm on the purple mat.

 

 

“My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find peace with exactly who and what I am. To take pride in my thoughts, my appearance, my talents, my flaws and to stop this incessant worrying that I can’t be loved as I am.”  ~Anais Nin

On the last Friday of every month, the yoga studio where I take classes holds Satsang, which is a Sanskrit word meaning "true company." My beautiful teacher, Emily Darling, leads us through various chants and meditations, and last week we chanted the Sanskrit words, "Aham Prema," which translates to, "I am divine love." As I was singing and listening to the collective unity of voices surrounding me, I was filled with overwhelming gratitude for the amount of love that I hold inside. How often do we recognize that we are love? When you begin to see your own true, divine love and light, the path ahead is illuminated. It became clear that I feel love because I am love, and I can be loved exactly as I am. I am lovable because of my imperfections, not in spite of them. What makes us human is what makes us capable of tremendous love, and the recognition of our own beauty allows us to share that gift with the world. There really is no other choice when I began to look at myself with love. When I say "No!" to the eating disorder, I'm choosing me. Everyday when I step on my yoga mat, I'm choosing me. I'm choosing me. I'm choosing love.