Finding and Living Your Dharma

When I began to study yoga, something that shifted my entire way of thinking was the concept of dharma. It’s a word perhaps we’ve all heard, but one that can be translated and defined many ways. Dharma can simply be described as our life purpose, but to truly comprehend dharma we must also acknowledge its literal translation of “that which upholds righteousness”. This righteousness refers to the idea that not only do we each have a unique duty in this world, but that the entire harmony of the universe depends on us fulfilling that duty. If we are following our dharma, we are following the path to our truest self, and in the process, we serve everyone around us. We are doing a disservice to ourselves and to the world if we do not honor this role. 

When we are not following our dharma, we feel it. This can show up in so many ways - a nagging sense of emptiness, a longing for something more, depression, anxiety, or chronic physical pain. This discomfort may lead us to use alcohol, food, drugs, exercise, etc. in hopes of filling the void. Or maybe we experienced trauma in our lives which created so much dis-ease and pain in our bodies that we use unsustainable band-aids that get us through the day, but simultaneously pull us further away from our true calling. Sometimes it’s a chicken or egg scenario - do we feel bad because we’re not living our purpose, or are we not living our purpose because we feel bad?

It felt right to write about dharma in my first Sea Change blog post because the last few years for me have been about a ruthless commitment to finding my own. Yoga and meditation have been so critical for me on this journey, because ultimately to know our dharma is to know ourself. To know our truth. Each time I get on my mat I have a little more willingness and strength to find my breath and return home to myself. 

I recognize that it’s been a privilege to have this time to turn inward, to get closer and closer to revealing my soul’s purpose. That for so many, this journey is foreign, inaccessible, frightening, overwhelming, and perhaps seemingly impossible.

That’s why I am ecstatic to be Sea Change Yoga’s next leader. Imagine a world in which we are all living our dharma. In this age of suffering, what would it look like if we all had the chance to explore and discover our unique purpose? This is the world I get excited about, and the work we do at Sea Change will contribute to this vision. 

I am so honored to be joining this community of yogis, dreamers, leaders, advocates, givers, lovers, and believers. I am grateful to be on my dharmic path in my new professional role, and humbled to think I might help others find theirs.

Happiest Holidays to you all, and thanks for reading. Love,

Elise