Reflections on the End of the Year
Looking back on 2024 and seeing what I learned
I started Yoga Living 50 and Beyond in January of 2024. I was feeling burned out with promoting my business on Social Media and was looking for something else. The daily posts on Instagram and Facebook felt like I was screaming into the void. Despite all my followers, hardly anyone was seeing what I had spent so much time and energy putting out there. I felt stagnant.
I was tired. I wanted to move slowly, be thoughtful, look inward, and share what was there. I wanted to cultivate meaningful conversations about practicing yoga, having an aging body that didn’t always do what you wanted, and share about being an imperfect human navigating this world as best as I could. I am so grateful that I found Substack.
Instagram used to “yell at me” all the time for using too many characters in my posts. I had a lot to say, and I was being stifled. There is nothing wrong with editing my work, I do it all the time, but when I was trying to paint a picture, I couldn’t do it the way I wanted to.
I discovered that I am a writer and prefer this medium. While I teach yoga on camera (my classes are online), I like to dive into different concepts through words. My years of journaling set me up for this, I think. As an introvert, I like to chew on things before sharing them. I am a deep thinker, and have big feelings that I don’t always understand at first. I need time to sit with ideas and feelings, letting them percolate in my head before I unleash them out into the world.
So in 2024 I did something different.
I started writing more and posting less. I stayed true to who I am and what I want my yoga business to be. And this year has been different than the 3 previous years. Growth happened, both for me and my business. I realized that I could show up more fully in my writing and that people, like you, resonated with what I was saying.
I decided I would share my wisdom from the last almost 30 years of practicing yoga to support your journey. Covering yoga topics both on and off the mat fueled my passion for yoga even more. I didn’t have to write, I got to write, and you gifted me by reading what I wrote.
Because of this writing, my first book, Living Yoga: One Yoga Teacher’s Journey to Surrender, came into being. I had started many other books, but they never went anywhere, for so many reasons, but with this one, I felt ready. I am so excited to share it with you, and so far, you’ve had such a positive response to it! It began as a weekly series on the Yamas and Niyamas, the first 2 limbs of yoga, and blossomed from there.
For the first time, people responded to my blogs. I rarely got comments on my website or the other platforms I had used to write. I love engaging with you, hearing your experiences, answering your questions, and sharing with you what I love: yoga.
All of this happened because I aligned my business with who I am. I am not (nor have I ever been) a Social Media influencer. I am an almost 53 year old woman who teaches and practices yoga (and does a bunch of other stuff too—hello, Type A personality). Shifting my energy to Substack was one of the best decisions I made for my business and for myself.
Reflections on 2024
When you align your life with who you are, you find your flow. I grew my blog from 39 people to almost 500 people in this past year. I never imagined that could be possible. Thank so much to all of you who subscribe, and to my paid subscribers: no words can express my complete and utter gratitude for your support.
I am so grateful for all of you. It fills my heart to know that you are there, reading what I write. Thank you for choosing to spend your time with my words. I hope that they continue to support you in the way that you need. I often write what I need to hear, I’m glad it resonates with you too.
When you show up as yourself, you make deeper connections with others. I keep learning and relearning this. I first learned it when I set down perfectionism about 12 years ago, but the reinforcement keeps coming.
I met my love who was able to see me because I chose to show up as myself. Letting go of years of hiding and shrinking opened me up to receive love in the way I had always wanted. Our relationship over the last 6.5 years has given me more than I realized I needed. Letting go of what no longer serves you is a continuous practice, and I am reminded of it all the time.
The yoga community I have built is full of current and former perfectionists who are learning to live with an open heart. Having a safe community where you can be vulnerable makes such a difference. Feeling seen, heard, and not judged is what we all want. I know I do. You can’t been seen if you don’t share yourself, and if your perfectionism is active, you can’t.
Deep connections happen when you show up as yourself, messy and imperfect. We are all messy and imperfect in our own ways, that’s the beauty of being human. I love having a community that feels like home. The friendships here are ones I wouldn’t want to be without.
Keep letting go of what no longer serves you to make room for what does. This is also a continuous practice. Growth happens through letting go of old beliefs and things you thought were true but aren’t. Letting go creates space inside for wisdom to rise. The internal “clutter” gets in the way of you tapping into the wisdom that already exists within you.
I am always amazed, no matter how many times it happens, that I am my own source of wisdom. Yes, I read, listen, and expose myself to all sorts of teachings, but the greatest wisdom always comes from within. Through yoga, journaling, and meditation I have learned so much about myself that I can’t read in a book. Books point me in the right direction, but I can only learn about me by listening to me.
Letting go of faulty thinking is challenging for me (I can be stubborn), but I do get there eventually. Getting quiet and setting aside time for stillness and self-care allows the release to come. I shed the Me that I was which makes room for the Me that is now. Each day is a new opportunity to begin again, a clean slate. Sometimes I need to start again multiple times a day. As long as I give myself the grace and compassion to do so, it works.
Own your mistakes, own your efforts, and own your humanity. Own it all. Nothing breaks through shame like ownership. If I hurt someone’s feelings accidentally, I apologize. Hurting someone else is rarely my intention, and if it is, I own that too.
I am not perfect, I am human. Humans make mistakes and owning those mistakes takes the sting out of them and keeps you out of shame. Shame happens when you feel like you have to hold your secret in isolation. You feel like you are a bad person and can’t let people know what happened or who you are. Taking ownership of what happened empowers you since you are no longer hiding. Step into the light, out of the darkness, and own it.
These are some of my reflections from 2024. What are yours? Share in the comments if you are so inclined. What have you learned this year about yourself? Let’s learn from each other.
Thank you for being here as part of this wonderful community. I am so grateful for you! If you are new here, thanks for reading! Please consider tapping the heart and becoming a free or paid subscriber. I write about practicing yoga when you are over 50, both on and off the mat. Thanks for coming along for the ride! ~Janine 💜
New Year’s Beginning
This year on New Year’s morning I am teaching a mini-workshop that combines yoga, meditation, and journaling to help you set your intentions and discover your word for the year. Last year my word was Self-Love, and this guided my actions and behavior through the year. I’m excited to share this morning with you!
Join me online, Wednesday, January 1, 2025, 8:30-10am EST for New Year’s Beginning. Click below to sign up!
I'm glad I found you here, Janine.
It just so happens that I appreciate and am grateful to you as well. Thank you for not giving up and continuing to push on with your writings.