Dharma.....Your Life's Purpose

Yesterday I led a workshop on Manifesting in Business and Beyond with my lovely friend Bridget Morris. It was the 2nd session of a series of workshops called The Ladies Luv Sessions created by my dear friend Julia Horn of Forma Yoga and hosted by the divine Lilavati at Temple of the Lotus. These are practices created by women, for women and done in the company of other women to foster, nurture and radically unleash the Divine Feminine.  We are meeting every Sunday in March.  So far I am blown away by the magic that is being spun in these sessions and am full of gratitude to be able to participate in such a big way.

One of the main teachings in the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text, is the importance of the realization of Dharma (Duty or Life's Purpose). This teaching is conveyed through a conversation that takes place between Krishna ( God) and Arjun ( a Warrior).  Arjun is conflicted because he is fighting in a war between families and is being asked to kill.  He doesn't want to carry out his Warrior duties because he feels it is wrong but Krishna explains that it is his Dharma and there is no right or wrong when it comes to duty.  So, sometimes our duty may not be exactly what we want to do, but it is why we are here, and if we don't play the part everything else will not carry out as it's supposed to.  So recognizing your part and where you fit into the larger picture is a key component to your happiness.

I spent most of my time talking about Dharma yesterday and how this is a vital part in achieving happiness and abundance and necessary in order to manifest anything great in your life.  The question "what do I want to be when I grow up" can be replaced with " what am I here to do?"  By answering this we are lining up with the universe and coming from a place of intention.  We are all here to contribute something very special and only we can contirbute our gifts, no one else.  It's only when we synchronize our actions with this energy that everything else falls into place effortlessly.  So in other words, if you are feeling stuck and lacking in joy and abundance chances are you are not aligned with your Dharma!

This reminds me of a conversation that I had with my amazing Father 10yrs ago.  He has since passed but I still am reminded of all of his teachings.  We were stopped at a red light and I was sharing how I was bored and uninspired in my cosmetology teaching job.  This was something I had been doing for a little over a year after leaving the salon industry for various reasons.  I was sharing how even though I was unhappy other people were telling me that teaching was a wiser choice than being a hairdresser because it provided more reliability, steady pay and health insurance.  He responded with, " people tried to tell me the same thing about bartending and being an entrepreneur but I'm glad I didn't listen because for the last 50 years I have woken up happy, successful and loving what I do....who cares about reliability and health insurance.  I do what I do because I love the people and so do you!" He was a simple man who managed to give a major life teaching in 2 sentences!  It was at that moment that I understood Dharma and recognized that it was a very natural thing for me to be a hairdresser and time to get back to that.  But, there was another element that was missing and that was why I left the industry.

I realized that people were walking away with much more than a hairstyle when they left my chair.  My clients were feeling good about themselves( and not just esthetically) and inspired.  It was from there that I knew I had to create a space ( hair studio) for this to happen on a much greater level in order to carry out my Dharma, which is to provide and hold a space for people to heal.  So, I started to explore what this would look like, what this would feel like through a simple process called manifesting.  It was from there that I discovered that my desire had to be followed up with intention and taking a risk, something I saw my Dad do all of the time.  No matter what my father always jumped at an opportunity when he felt strongly about it.  So that's what I did, it was scary, very scary, but I knew this was a part of the process so I kept on.  It took almost a year but after setting the foundation everything started to fall into place.  The right people showed up to work there and the clients just kept coming.  After being in business for about a year and a half I realized that my Dharma needed to be stretched a little further.  I needed to provide a space for my staff to grow and heal, as well.  So, at that point I decided to step away from the chair on Thursday's. I now coach my staff on many things, not just to reach business goals but to reach their personal goals and to overcome the obstacles standing in the way of their happiness and abundance.  I have had the opportunity to witness such amazing growth in them and feel blessed to be on this journey with them.  I draw so much inspiration from the clients and the staff.

I am sure my Dharma will continue to expand because I am in complete sychronicity with my purpose, "why I am here."  I continue to follow the signs and take risks as they arise.  That is something else I realized on this journey, when you are aligned with your true purpose the Universe will conspire to support you and continue to affim that you are in the right place!

Are you feeling stuck?  Are you living your Dharma?  What is your Dharma?  Are you recognizing the signs the Universe is giving you?

From my experience a daily practice of Yoga or meditation can be an amazing tool in realizing this.

All the Love ~*~