“Babe, could you please write 3-5 lines about yourself for the website please?” my friend @carlijnvandelaar asked me yesterday. “Yeah sure, I will, tomorrow, today it’s too busy”, I replied. Tomorrow is now. And now I am already staring at an empty screen for hours in a row. I have started writing, editing, rephrasing, erasing, rewriting. It is really hard to write about yourself.
Let me share a little insight in my inner process with you. So where do I start? With my name of course. I am Brigitte. Many call me B. And then what? Well, let’s throw in The Personal Yogi straight away because it’s my business, it is what I represent and what I want to bring focus to. So what would you like people to know about you? And this question alone already filters out what you don’t want others to know about you. Uhm, well, I want them to know that I am a woman (apparently I feel the need to make this explicit). And of course not just any woman. I am different. Really? Yes, of course. I am unique. I am a woman of duality, polarity and union (loving the clarity here, B). I want to be free yet deeply connected. I want to spend my days doing something meaningful, out of purpose instead of necessity. I want balance and therefore I stir things up within me and around me, all the time.
I am a mother, a wife, a lover, a child, a sister, a friend, a boss, a yoga teacher, a student. All roles that I want to fulfill to perfection. I am a perfectionist. I am never done, I can always improve something. That of course brings conflict because I can’t fulfill all those roles to perfection all the time and have time for myself, my needs, my dreams. So something has got to give. But how do I choose? How do I choose what to focus on and what to let go of? And do I focus on it from me, my perspective, my needs or from someone elses? Shouldn’t you always choose and take care of yourself first, before you can care for others? Isn’t that question the answer itself already? Or is that something invented by selfish people?
I find it really hard to choose me. To choose me first. To be selfish. I don’t like selfish people. I have a rather strong opinion on selfish people actually. And bam! Hello shadow side! Welcome to the show. Long time no see. Because, honestly, I would love to be just that: selfish. There are a lot of things that I would love to do, things that make me happy, but that I choose not to because I put other people’s needs and wishes over mine. And when you keep yourself in that situation long enough, it causes imbalance. It causes friction within, it is annoying, draining and it hurts. So I become rebellious, I push back and stir things up.
And that brings me to where I am now. I am going to put me first. Choose me. Choose to do what makes me happy. Me first, than the rest. And as I write these words, I realize I find it super hard and uncomfortable to put it down in black and white. That in itself says something too. It is completely out of my comfort zone. No more excuses on why something is not possible, not an option, not the right moment. I need to release my own inner rebel (yes, indeed, I benefit from my own training).
I am Brigitte. I am B. I am fierce and soft. I am determined and insecure. I am grounded and intuitive. I am altruistic and selfish. I am The Personal Yogi. And this time I am adding a picture of my face instead of a yoga pose, which is also out of my comfort zone.
Hopefully my friend is able to summarize this in 3-5 lines :-).
Wanna come out of your own comfort zone and release your own Inner Rebel, than please join us November 5th/6th. Check out for more info: RYIR