Shake it off, it’s gonna be alright!

I was lying down on my mat at the start of a recent yoga class and my wonderful instructor Leslee invited us to “Let go of all the labels you may be wearing as you start this class.”

Most of us are wearing so many labels on a daily basis – is it no wonder we lose ourselves?!

The label of wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, colleague, carer, profession are some of the defined easy to assign ones.  Consider now all the subjective labels, either self imposed or attached by others. Are you the sensitive one, the rebel, a good listener, a loud mouth, so organised… on and on we can go.

One of my labels is “Non singer”.  I was told when I was young that I couldn’t stay in tune, couldn’t follow a tune, so I didn’t sing.  Not in public unless as a general mumble with others in an audience and I’m not a shower singer but, in the car oh yeah i can let rip!  Have I ever explored singing lessons or entertained the possibility of singing perhaps in a choir? No!  This label stuck and it has defined a small but definite part of me.

Labels aren’t all bad. A simple sticky tag can quickly turn an awkward new school parent function into one where you can confidently approach strangers knowing their name, and their child’s, and possibly which class they are in.  We’ve all been there in a room full of strangers when a label saves the day.

That one label doesn’t define us though, we are so much more than the identity our labels give us.  Most people we meet will only know a small part of us through the lens of the tags they assign to us.  But, what about us?  Do we know ourselves without all the labels tied on or do we present ourselves according to those we are given, or perhaps choose to wear?!

Our curiosity, growth and potential can be limited by the words on our labels.  They can give us preexisting beliefs and limitations that we don’t venture beyond.  Ripping them all off and getting down to the real and authentic you may mean being uncomfortable, vulnerable, feeling exposed and uncertain.  The opportunity to explore, grow and create is immense though.

Gorgeous lady will you grab a piece of paper and jot down all the labels attached to you – the good, the bad and the ugly.  They may have come from friends and relatives, acquaintances or you gave them to yourself – these you may not even think of immediately because they have become your persona.

Read through the list and consider how they make you feel.  Are you proud of some of them?  Absolutely, I know I am!  Do some, like my husband’s Gran calling him a foghorn as a young boy, have a negative feeling attached and perhaps they influenced your behaviour in a certain way?

As we hit midlife there are a whole ream of labels we can start to stick on… the hot flushes may mean they drop off but, they are there in spirit 😉

Flip this around for just a minute and think about all the labels you give others – ouch right!!

As Taylor Swift says “Shake it off”  Send all those tags flying and get uncomfortable and CURIOUS.  Who am I?  Who do I want to be?  What do I want to do and have?  There is a New Year fast approaching and the energy to embrace new and exciting challenges will be felt.  Can you acknowledge where you are now and begin to discover the authentic you?  

Remember you are enough, you are amazing and wonderful stripped bare of all the labels you wear!!!

Here’s some of my favourite part of the earworm I may have just planted haha…

‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play

And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate

Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake

I shake it off, I shake it off (hoo-hoo-hoo)

Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break

And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake

Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake

I shake it off, I shake it off (hoo-hoo-hoo)

I never miss a beat

I’m lightnin’ on my feet

And that’s what they don’t see, mm-mm

That’s what they don’t see, mm-mm

I’m dancin’ on my own (dancin’ on my own)

I make the moves up as I go (moves up as I go)

And that’s what they don’t know, mm-mm

That’s what they don’t know, mm-mm

But I keep cruisin’

Can’t stop, won’t stop groovin’

It’s like I got this music in my mind

Sayin’ it’s gonna be alright