Imagine you're drinking a really good Bordeaux.
A Grand Cru.
At least that's what you believe. 😊
At a wine tasting, 52 recognized wine experts were served Bordeaux.
40 of them preferred the wine with the prestigious “Grand Cru Classé” label.
Only 12 chose the simple “Vin de Table.”
You can probably guess what happened:
Both bottles contained exactly the same wine.
Crazy, isn't it?
But what does that tell us?
It's not just the wine itself that determines what we taste.
It's also the story we associate with it.
And that's exactly what we do all day long.
With other people.
With our bodies.
With our age.
With our feelings.
And most of all:
With ourselves.
“I’m just not very confident.”
“My body isn’t beautiful enough.”
“At my age, you don’t do things like that anymore.”
“What will other people think?”
“That’s just the way I am.”
The problem isn’t that we have stories.
Of course we do.
They grew out of our experiences.
The problem begins when we forget:
They are “just” stories.
Not reality.
And stories can be changed.
Not by simply telling yourself something nice.
But by starting to have different experiences.
You can’t rewrite your past.
But:
What you do today will be your past tomorrow.
I think that’s a wonderful thought.
Because it means:
You can’t change your story yesterday.
You can only change it now.
Maybe you can start with two simple things.
1. Recognize your story.
Keep asking yourself:
What story am I telling myself right now?
And even more importantly:
Do I have to believe it, or could I tell it differently?
2. Do something differently.
Act differently from the way you usually do.
Show yourself, even though you normally hide.
Say something, even though you normally stay silent.
Try something you’ve always thought:
“That’s just not me.”
Maybe you’ll even do yoga.
Completely naked. 😉
Because for me, that’s exactly what Naked Yoga is about.
Not simply taking off your clothes.
But also taking off some of the old stories we tell ourselves.
What am I supposed to look like?
What am I allowed to show?
What will other people think?
And eventually, perhaps, a completely different question remains:
Who am I, really, when I let go of all these stories?
For me, that’s where freedom begins.
And maybe that’s also where a whole new story begins for you!
Yours,
Elke
😘
