Allowing

I recall around this time last year; I was heading into the final weeks of my 200-hour yoga certification which was an exercise in permission throughout the entire process. Permission to really honor my imperfections. To be okay with them. To respect and embrace the imperfections in others and to provide grace. Heading into June of 2021, over the course of about 15 years, I had already had 7 hip surgeries, multiple foot and ankle surgeries and two minimally invasive spine surgeries. Often times, I have felt so incredibly imperfect. I know it can seem to be a ridiculous feeling since we really all are imperfect, but I have felt more imperfect than most, I think.

I work really hard though and I fully acknowledge that this is a way that I have coped over the years. There is a reason for the stubborn diligence of my lifestyle of eating relatively healthy (ignore the ice cream sundae I secretly inhaled today) and my very consistent exercise routine. That primary reason is that it empowers me. It allows me to be in control as much as I can with a body that doesn’t always listen to its owner. I feel strong. I feel in control.

But I have realized that one of the more important lessons that I have had to inculcate into this thickish noggin of mine is that I’m okay with being imperfect. I have been okay and will continue to be okay when there are blips on my life’s radar.

I know in the past that I have shared songs with you all that speak to me. There is always a characteristic theme that I am becoming aware of. The themes focus on gratitude. Gratitude for life. Gratitude for my pack. Gratitude for my life bearing hips. Gratitude for my imperfections and, most importantly, gratefulness for strength through those imperfections.

There are some songs that seem like they were written for me and, when I listen to them, they are being sung to me! My new fav song is called Allowing. It speaks to the permission that I have granted myself to be who I was called to be. Yes, my moniker has been Hopeful Hippie, but more importantly, the hippie part does not sum me up. I am a Hopeful Human who has become empowered to be. Hopeful. Thankful. Resilient.

So as the song goes,

"I'm allowing Me to be me I'm allowing Me to be free

I'm allowing my power I'm allowing well being I'm allowing my path to light up before me I'm allowing, everything to just be as it comes to me I'm shining brightly I'm allowing, easily allowing all my dreams to be In the right timing

I'm allowing my worth I'm allowing my brilliance I'm allowing my path To unfold now before me I'm allowing, everything to just be as it comes to me"

-Alexia Chellun

And, that my friends, is the power that I have found through these challenges. To just be. To be satisfied with the imperfection. To be satisfied with what I’ve got. I have an imperfect body which sometimes can be the generator of pain, but it is also the generator of life. A life full of hope.

My wish for you is that you realize that this temporary time of hip and/or life struggles is just a small bump in the road on your life’s journey. It has the power to teach you so much more than the pain it gives you. Find your Hopeful Hippie attitude, but more importantly find that Hopeful Human.

Namaste!