EXCERPTS from UM, LIKE...OM: A GIRL GODDESS'S GUIDE TO YOGA
...What does it mean to be a teenager? It means you literally zip through one of the strangest, wackiest, most traumatic, exciting, and fun times of your life. It means one minute you think your life is fantastic, and the next minute you think it sucks; one minute you're having the time of your life, the next you're wishing someone would just put you out of your misery. But the, at least, according to everyone over thirty, you spend the rest of your life wishing you could do it again, zits and all.
It's a weird time. You're not a kid, yet you're barely an adult. Your parents don't seem to understand anything about you. No one gets it. I mean, you go from buying underwear in the children's department to Victoria's Secret. Explain that to the sweet neighbor lady asking when you got so big. You freak out constantly over the injustices teenagers face daily. You're old enough to drive your little brother to soccer practice on a Tuesday afternoon, but you're not allowed to take the car out to the movies with friends on a Friday night. You can stay up past 11:00 studying for exams, but you're not old enough to stay out past 11:00 with the gorgeous captain of the football team.
Those are just the public battles. It would take a whole team of therapists, stylists, hairdressers, social planners, dermatologists, and personal trainers to work out your extremely private struggles with wearing the right clothes and keeping your skin clear, your hair done, your look fresh, your body perfect, your social calendar full. and, not to forget, staying on top of the effort to get into a good college eventually. God, I still remember the last time someone said, "Remember, grades count." I wanted to turn around and say, "Yeah, and so does this outfit!
...I don't think most girls know how absolutely incredible they are-how beautiful, inspiring, and powerful every single one of us really is. That's mostly because we have been raised in a culture that tells us that only if we are skinny, have a hot boy by our side, and make the big bucks are we okay. But the truth is, every girl is a miraculous product of God, the Universe, Buddha, Allah-whatever you want to call that which gives us the gift of life. We are awesome, simply because we were born.
...It is actually our duty to praise ourselves, to honor our spirits and our bodies, and to let our inner light shine brightly. You need to believe that your presence in the world actually benefits the world! I don't care who you are, what you look like, where you are from, what kind of family you come from, or how much money you have. You MUST believe that you have the ability to achieve even your wildest dreams because, well, why the heck not?
...I know that sometimes it is hard to believe that you have the power to create your own reality, but take if from someone who knows what it's like to be a teenage girl in these crazy times. Yoga taught me how to walk forward even when I wanted to run back home. Now it's your turn.