Empowerment

When you hear the word "empowerment", what words come to your mind?

For me, I think of emotional strength, support, and positive.

What symbols come to mind when you hear the word "empowerment"?

I think of a tree being roots but its branches are open to the sky, the sun burning bright, helping hands, and Rosie the Riveter.

Empowerment, to me, is that space just above motivation. You can be motivated to do something, but not do it. I feel empowered when working on something I am motivated about and when achieving it. The same goes for yoga.

Sure you can feel empowered after going for a run or doing zumba because your heart rate is up and you moved around a lot. For yoga, not just the feeling when you finally stretch enough to touch your toes or work your core enough to do inversions. I feel empowered knowing I took the time out of my day to work on myself. I feel empowered when I

s l o w e d d o w n. Running and zumba are fast paced where you don't have time or the energy to think about stress. Practicing yoga slows you down where you put yourself in a space and you disconnect from the stress. Running and zumba distract you from it, but yoga helps you push it away on your own.

Another way to feel empowered when practicing yoga is the community you are in. When I practice, no one tries to go ahead (because it's the instructor's routine), no one judges you if you can't easily do a standing forward bend, and no one belittles you if you can't achieve crow pose. I do yoga surrounded by people I don't know and I feel comfortable. As a very shy person, the feeling of empowerment is strong when practicing yoga around people I don't know with ease.

I feel motivated to return after every practice. I can feel my body getting stronger and I noticed changes in my attitude and behavior. When I'm stressed or something doesn't go right, I quickly resort to panic. Recently, I've been able to shrug it off and remain positive. With this, I feel empowered and capable to handle busy schedules and other added stress because I know I can do it. I slow down and approach it one thing at a time. There's nothing more empowering than noticing improvements with yourself.