Finding your DHARMA
When I first heard the definition of Dharma I was immediately intrigued. But I also loved the practice and philosophy of it. The thought of living each day with intention and purpose sounded peaceful. It was something that I craved…
In traditional terms, which roots in Hinduism, it is seen as your duty or individual conduct. However in more modern terms, you can think of it as your life’s purpose. Which sounds daunting af. Life purpose? What does that actually mean?
Living your dharma means living in alignment to your soul, or what lights you up. It is not a one-size-fits-all career path either- you can live your dharma through several different expressions.
For example, one of my favorite examples comes from the dharma queen herself, Sahara Rose (Dharma Life Coach & Podcast host of “Highest Self”). If your dharma is to bring beauty into the world, this could be expressed as a hairstylist, artist, interior designer, landscaper, etc.
Although I feel as though I am just starting to understand what my dharma is, I know that it is deeply rooted in connection.
I help connect my clients with their dream clients and customers.
I connect with aligned and powerful women daily.
I connect my mind + body + soul through my daily rituals.
And I am becoming a trained yoga teacher and my intention from day one has been allowing myself and future students to connect to their inner power so they manifest the mind+body+soul connection in their daily life.
Reading this, is your dharma coming to mind? As a reminder, you don’t need to have your own business to live it. It is expressed through us- it is a part of us regardless of what we are doing. It also doesn’t need to be through a career or a job. Again, this is our soul’s fullest expression and can be shown through several different aspects daily.
If your dharma is to teach others, think of the variety of jobs and activities this can fall into. It could be shown as an actual teacher, or maybe you just got promoted and now have an intern for the summer to teach and train. The way you express your dharma is YOURS.
I love the idea of all of us stepping into our truth. Can you imagine if we all woke up and did something that we absolutely love? The duality and variety of our dharmas would create balance and equilibrium.
Because let’s be honest, not everyone wants to do what YOU want to do. I love being a business owner and can’t wait to start my yoga business. But my life-partner on the other hand THRIVES with numbers. He prefers to code algorithms, problem solve, and use his creativity through numbers. Our creativity is displayed quite differently, but we feel we are in our zone of genius when we are doing what we love.
When you step into your truth, you not only inspire others to do the same, but you give space to those to step into theirs. Here’s an example of what I mean: I recently hired two assistants to join Social Honey. By allowing me to delegate and ask for support on the tasks that do not fill me up or are in my zone of creativity, I allowed them to step into this role and live their dharma.
This might be an unpopular opinion but here’s a hard truth: Thinking we need to do it all is actually selfish. Letting others step into their zone of genius by us stepping back for them and stepping into our our own dharma creates synergy. It creates space for all of us to focus on what fills us up.
If you are wondering how to discover your dharma, here are 4 journal prompts to help you on this journey:
- When do you feel yourself? What activities or roles allow this? Think about what feels the most natural to you.
- What have you navigated through? Whether it be capital T Trauma, or an obstacle that you had to overcome, what did you learn from it? Does this lesson resonate with your life path, or did it guide you in a new direction?
- What are things that weigh you down? Burn you out? Think of this in your daily life (work, relationships, home-life, self-love, etc)
- List your core values, intentions, and dreams. Is there a theme? Is there something that connects it all?
Discovering your dharma is liberating. It creates a new sense of freedom you never knew you had. When you are living your dharma, you are vibrating at a higher frequency, which is not only healing to you, but the entire collective.
