ADVICE
Live Your Dharma
About living your true potential
Let’s dive headfirst into the world of Dharma and what it means to me (and hopefully can mean to you).
As an individual, your Dharma is your sacred duty, also known as your highest purpose. We can look at it as our mission on planet earth, the reason why we have been put on this planet. It’s our inner wisdom that knows our life’s purpose. “Your dharma is not a career, or a project, or a certain role you play. It’s the unique vibration that your soul carries to everything that you do and every way that you are.” — Sahara Rose, Ayurveda expert.
As Abraham Maslow states: “Your life’s work is to find your life’s work.”
So now we can pose the question: “What is my Dharma in life?” and: “Are you living by your Dharma or following someone else’s path?”
It’s easy to mistake someone else’s path or Dharma for your own. It can be you want to make a parent proud, see someone living a life that looks fun to you, wanting the approval of others… This way you follow the footsteps of others and see them as your own. It’s time to be conscious and think about how you want to live your life and what feels right.
Living your Dharma is not only job related, there can be many different areas in life where you can make a choice to live a life that feels good to you. Try to shift things up when you feel stuck. Imagine the possibilities and see if they make you enthusiastic.
How do you know you are not following your Dharma?
- You may experience feeling stuck, lost or confused.
- The future doesn’t excite you.
- Feelings like depression, anxiety…
What did following my Dharma in life mean to me? As a 30-year-old, I’ve been struggling with finding what gives me joy and a sense of purpose. I’ve been a landscape architect, co-owner of a brunch restaurant, tried many courses but nothing gave me inner peace. I was struggling with falling in and out of depression, having severe panic attacks and isolating myself from everyone I loved. My body was telling me something wasn’t right.
So, I began to feel and ask myself what my body needed. I quit the brunch restaurant although I had no plan of what to do instead. I also made a shift in living my daily life, as I felt it didn’t suit me anymore. I became a vegetarian and got into yoga and spirituality. Most of all I wanted a life that felt more at ease, one where I had plenty of time to share with my loved ones and could let my creativity flow. I was quite fine with that offer even if this meant earning less money.
The moment I took this inner shift I had less anxiety and felt much lighter as if a weight was lifted off my chest and I could finally breathe again. Was it scary? Hell yes. But I am so glad I listened to what my body was trying to tell me all these years. In this journey, I learned that what gives you joy can change over time and in life. It is often not a straight line.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.
- Baz Luhrmann
So, how do you know you are following your Dharma?
Dare to ask yourself the tough questions! Pose the questions and allow yourself to feel what comes up. Something that helped me was to meditate on the subject and feel all the feels. Quiet the monkey mind and listen to the beat of your heart. Trust that it knows the way. Trust that you know the way.
- What makes your heart skip a beat?
- What would make you feel like you lived a life without regrets?
- When do you feel connected?
- And my favorite question: What is the change that you so deeply want to see in the world? (this answer will give you an important clue!)
Finding your life’s Dharma in life can be very tricky. It’s all about feeling and quieting your mind. Trust yourself and the way your body feels about certain things. Keep in mind that what sparks joy right isn’t necessarily what sparks joy 10 years from now. We are constantly learning, changing and growing. Allow yourself to grow!
Two monks argued about a temple flag waving in the breeze. One said, “It is the flag that moves.” The other said, “It is the breeze moving.” Which is moving? They are berated by a third wise monk who says: “Not the flag, not the wind but the mind is what moves. So, is it your path that changes or your awareness that does?
A few tips to discover your Dharma (Discover your Dharma — Sahara Rose)
- Discover your Dharma archetype: take this quiz and find out which archetypes are your most dominant.
- Notice the mediums that come naturally to you: this can be writing, speaking, creating art… When you find the medium, get specific and introspect about what you like most about it. For example, when your medium is speaking, do you like this more in one-to-one conversations or for large groups?
- Realize the obstacles you have overcome; “These obstacles you’ve overcome are your soul’s unique curriculum,” Sahara says. “This is exactly what you can then share with others.”
- Pay attention to what excites you: make a list of things you love doing.
- Find your superpower: ask your friends and family members what they think you’re naturally really good at.
“It is better to live your own Dharma imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.”
-Bhagavad Gita
I hope you enjoyed reading this! I will upload a guided meditation on Dharma very soon!
Sending love and light,
El
