Hey there community,

How are you?

What has been on my mind lately is: discomfort.

As humans we tend to avoid discomfort like the motherf*cking plague. Naturally so. Our minds often relate to discomfort as pain, as our needs not being met…and ultimately viewing it as a threat to our survival. And sometimes, yes our discomfort is a sign we are unsafe. Yet mostly, in our modern day society we are simply… uncomfortable. Out of our zone of familiar, comfort, strength, knowing.

The dictionary definition of discomfort is “mental or physical uneasiness”.

When we learn how to work with discomfort instead of against it, we get stronger, wiser and more competent. This can support us on and off our yoga mat. As with many life lessons, learning this on the mat can make it a hell of a lot easier to implement within your daily life and relationships.

More often than not, (if we are not in physical pain or danger) and we choose to stay present our discomfort can transform into power. With breath, intention and steadiness an opening can occur from within the nucleus of the discomfort. From there, you have expanded and reclaimed your power.

Here are a two ways this comes up & how you can work with it.

1. On the yoga mat

Imagine you’ve landed in Warrior 1 during a yoga practice.

You quickly meet your working quads that begin to burn, your tight low back and your shoulders feel tense. You want to leave the pose, your teacher reminds you to stay.

There is discomfort, for sure. Is it wrong? Not necessarily.

Your teacher reminds you to take a deep breath and offers you assistance to optimize the pose to alleviate tension from your low back and ease into your shoulders.

Your quads are still burning and now actually your core and your back leg are speaking.

There is discomfort.

You breathe again.

When discomfort (not pain) comes up in our yoga class we get to remember that this means we are growing, getting stronger and potentially meeting areas in our body that have been tense from our daily life.

We get to pause, breathe and continue to show up again and again to that pose.

Until one day.. perhaps that warrior 1 feels like a f*cking breeze.
Your quads still burn…yet you learn to love it. You actually can get HIGH off the thrill of feeling then aliveness in your body.

Your low back is less tense because you have showed up again and again and learned better biomechanics + alignment to support your low back and core.

Suddenly, that fleeting moment of discomfort has passed and you're in warrior 1 experiencing a new level of self connection, strength and joy from the pose.

2. In your relationships

Imagine this, you’re chatting with a friend. It’s your very best friend. You see them every week or so, you know basically everything about them. There is ease, comfort, safety and sweetness.

They feel spontaneous and invite you to join them to an event with a new group of friends. It’s in a new area of town and you will know noboddyyyy there.

Your throat gets tight, your belly contracts, you catch yourself about to say…nah I am going to pass. Yet, something deeper speaks inside to you. A little nudge, a little spark…a little aliveness. There’s some adventurous part in you that twinkles at the idea of a new experience. You actually want to be brave enough to say yes.

So..you do.

You arrive to the party and again your throat contracts, you're sweating lol. Social anxiety hits.

You hear your persistent yet helpful yoga teacher in your head (me), she reminds you to BREATHE.

After a few breaths and taking in the environment, you begin to realize that most people in the room are probably nervous, too. That it is not just you.

You decide to dance, you talk to people, you make a fool of yourself. You ride the thrill of the newness, the discomfort, the aliveness. You fall IN LOVE with the discomfort and suddenly, it’s a lot less uncomfortable now.

Your discomfort dissolves and from within it a new energy emerges.

You are having a great time. Feeling alive, connected, fun and maybe a little thrill.

After this evening you have a solid memory of a time you were brave.

Instead of allowing yourself to stay “safe” and “comfy” you chose the unfamiliar and it was liberating.

A little reminder on pain versus discomfort

If a physical pose in yoga causes you pain that is not useful..leaning or collapsing into old injury or joints, this isn’t the discomfort I recommend you lean into.

Same with off the mat, if a person is causing you pain that is damaging to you or an activity doesn't support your vitality, you do not need to stay around to see what emerges. You get to take what you need and say no.

In moments where we are simply out of our comfort zone, we have a profound capacity to evolve, expand and wake up to new parts and versions of ourselves. Both on and off the yoga mat.

Personal Story

I am currently in an acting class. I am legit so out of my comfort zone 😆 

As someone who is OBSESSED with feeling vulnerable (its a problem lol) + evolving past my comfort zone, it is honestly rare that I experience the tightness fear and discomfort (the yummy kind that means evolution is on its way).

So, as I am standing in acting class experiencing a new edge of vulnerability, I get a huge quiver of fear and insecurity. My mind starts racing with doubtful stories.

“who are you to act?”

“you have no idea what you are doing”

“you’re just going to make a fool of yourself!”

(do these sound familiar to you?)

It is the same quiver I felt before did a handstand, taught my first yoga class and told my man I loved him for the first time. It’s all new, it’s 100% out of comfort-zone.

Yet, I have learned how to alchemize this on the mat so I 100% trust that on the other side of my discomfort is more self-awareness, more fun, more thrill and more aliveness.

So, I show up week after week. Practicing lines, embracing vulnerability and challenging my capacity to be seen. I love doing the things that scare me.

It makes me feel alive.

My recommendation for you this week is to make a list of all the things in your life that currently scare the sh*t out of you. Or at least make you a little uncomfortable. Use your discernment to sense if there is growth here for you or if it is just painful.

Lean into the spaces that are ripe for growth, baby.

Ask that lady out you’ve been eyeing, drive down an unfamiliar street on your way home, take an pottery or poetry class, do the challenging or awkward pose in a yoga class and receive the discomfort as a sign of your evolution.

Enjoy the aliveness that follows.

If you want to explore this on the mat with me, email back or reach out. I offer 1-1 yoga both online and in person. You deserve a break-thru! Private yoga is the safest container for this.

In devotion to keeping your inner spark ALIVE!

Warmly and with all my love,
Kam