The Art of Showing Up for Yourself by Marzia Prince

It was a typical Monday evening; I had driven directly to the gym from work for my regular yoga class. I like to show up about 10-15 minutes early to set up, say hi to my regular yoga friends, and get settled. But on this day, it felt different. I walked into class and the room was empty. I instantly thought ‘How weird! Where is everyone?’ The classroom was dimly lit; yoga music was playing as if class was about to start. There was no people or instructor in sight. I sat on my mat stretching and watched the clock go 10 minutes past the starting class time. I knew something was off. I checked on the app to make sure they did not cancel class. I did not see a notice, an email, nada, nothing, zip. Hmmm…I went onto social media to look, nothing. I decided to let everyone know on my IG that I was the only one who showed up to class today. After I posted, I checked the gym app a few more times and my email for a cancelled class, nothing. Was I being punked? Was someone playing a trick on me for TikTok? My mind reeled as I looked around the empty classroom. I wanted to leave.

I needed the deep stretch, but even more, I needed the will to stay there and do it. I argued to myself in my head for a few minutes on why I wanted to leave. I can’t do yoga by myself. That is why I come to a class. I need accountability. But the other voice reasoned that since I was already here, I might as well stay and do it. Something stronger inside of me told me to stay. I mean the yoga music was already playing and the classroom was set at the perfect yoga mood. I knew that I was not going to do a yoga flow by myself, so I YouTubed a yoga video. It was official, I was staying.

After my yoga video, I felt good and it was not just from the stretching, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I did not walk out on myself. I could have quit but I did not. I smiled and thought: I showed up for myself

Showing up for yourself can look different for everyone. It can be doing the right thing when you don’t want to. It can be honoring yourself in the form of self-love. It can be speaking up for yourself when you are too scared. It means being there for yourself when you need yourself the most. Showing up for yourself can be hard at times but when you push past the excuses, fear, and self-doubt, you just grow into a stronger person.

You talk to yourself more than anyone else in any given day. How do you talk to yourself? Or better yet: how many times have you talked yourself out of something you truly needed to do for you? Think of why you talked yourself out of it. Was it fear? Was it the easy way out? I can think of many times that I talked myself out things for all kinds of reasons. Even when I had a gut instinct to do the right thing and I talked myself out of it. Why? Simply because I could not show up for myself. I let excuses and negative self-talk win. Most of us struggle with self-worth and old wounds. Our brain remembers old thoughts that are no longer relevant to our current situation. I had to learn my self-worth. I learned the art of talking positive to myself daily more than being negative. That day, the positive me showed up for myself. I became stronger in making the right decision every time. Hence, I stayed and did yoga.

I used to spend a lot of time putting other people first and taking on other people’s problems too.

I kept allowing myself to get walked on and would blame others for my shortcomings in life. I realized one day that I had no boundaries: no boundaries with myself or other people. There weren’t even blurred lines. I was open to get walked on 24/7. After years of failed situations with no win in sight, I still wondered how I got here. I had to learn to say no. Saying no was scary for me. Saying no did not feel natural for me. Over time I started saying no to people, places, and things more often. I started to say yes to me. After years of consistently saying no to others and yes to me. I was finally showing up for myself. It felt good. Think of where you need to set boundaries. In today’s busy-technology-driven world, we are pulled in so many directions. Not having boundaries is detrimental to our mental health. Understanding how to set up personal boundaries is essential to taking care of yourself. Next thing you know, you start showing up for yourself. The more you set boundaries, the more it will change your internal dialogue.

Show up for yourself in small ways every day. It can be by keeping a time commitment to yourself or voicing your opinion on a subject matter. These small acts of consistently showing up can shape how you move through your world. Today it is being on time for a yoga class and tomorrow it might be pitching the biggest deal of your life. Small consistent acts of showing up improves your mental health and overall well-being.

Showing up for ourselves isn’t all fun and games; life is hard. We must do hard things to be happy and succeed at life; and I am not talking about getting good grades in school. I am talking about daily choices. I saw something on the internet that resonates with me:

You are 100% responsible for showing up for yourself. Get to know yourself better during the self-discovery phase. You can pray for and meditate upon ways to show up. You can journal goals and celebrate wins. Be present and self-aware through the process. It is not going to be an easy road, but it will be worth it. You are worth it. What are some ways you can show up for yourself today?

Marzia Prince is an award winning health and wellness expert.She empowers women to live their best life from the inside out with simple sustainable lifestyle hacks.

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Marzia is on Instagram! @MARZIAPRINCE