About 5 years ago my yoga teacher wrote a piece called Making Dots. It was about making connections with people in different places such that if you marked them as dots on a map, you would see lit-up connections dots all over.

When I read her post, I remember thinking 3 things - 1) what a cool concept, 2) how wonderful and lucky she is to have many connections in many places (she is a beautiful, kind, and loving person and she deserves it), and 3) feeling envious and sad because I didn’t have that kind of connection and deeply desired it. My heart craved more friendships, more loving connections, more meaningful relationships, but I was shy, anxious, and introverted. Fear of being judged and misunderstood, taking risks, and exploring the unknown kept my world very small.

Now - 5 years later - when I reflect on my own dots, my heart bursts with love and gratitude because I have made so many amazing connections. Through life-changing personal growth work that I have been passionately investing in for years, my world has gotten incrementally bigger, happier, and fuller in ways my shy younger self could have never imagined.

As I reflect on the beautiful life I have created for myself today, I contribute the following to my life-changing shift:

Self-connection, love, and acceptance: Getting to know myself, making choices from what feels right to me (rather than what I perceive is expected), showing up as my authentic self (alone and with others), loving my soul and the being that I am here in this lifetime, and accepting what comes from being unapologetically myself...letting that create real connections while artificial interactions fall away.

Opening my heart: Getting outside help, going within to heal my heart, and letting go of past hurts, judgements, and losses. Lots of therapy, meditation, yoga, dance and emotional healing practices such as EFT/Tapping, EMDR, and Past Life Regression allowed me to be increasingly open, vulnerable, and ready for new experiences. This took time, dedication, and trust, but ultimately living with a free and open heart is the greatest gift I could honor myself with.

Choosing love over fear: Trusting that if I take risks that feel true to my heart and my path, the universe will take care of the rest and I will be OK…actually WAY better than ok! Time after time, even if it’s scary, I am rewarded for taking thoughtful risks towards what I want…more than I could have dreamed.

Embracing the unknown: Understanding that excitement and anticipatory jitters produce the same feeling in the body as what we label as anxiety - anxiety is just the negative connotation to that particular sensation while excitement is the positive. So much of life is simply about the perspective, attitude, and mindset our thoughts take. It’s a choice; choose positively!

Sharing what I love: Doing more of what I love and sharing those experiences with other people creates magical bonds; like attracts like and it’s a beautiful, fiery, source of connection and creativity when people come together around their passions. Sharing dance, yoga, spirituality, health, fitness and a variety of other activities that feed my heart has exponentially blown my world wide open.

Today my heart feels full, AND I'm excited and already in love with my future because I know that I am only near the beginning of the incredible journey of living my true path and making many more deeper connections, passionately sharing interests, and creating love, joy, and energetic magic with others.

Here's to me being myself and to you being yourself…

To shining our light in this world, to connecting with others in a way that encourages them to shine their light bright as well, and to many many many more dots - spreading love, connection, and peace all over this great planet. <3