I cut my hair. It had been a long time coming, but I finally decided to get it done. My hairdresser has known me and my hair for a long time, and we have built up some serious trust. I have loved my long, curly hair, and then I changed.
It had to do with lots of things – getting older for one. By that I mean being even more sure of who I am right now, and being really comfortable with me. The main thing though was my lifestyle. It’s changed so much over the years, and I am now living a healthy and vibrant life, happily settled with my man, with an amazing job that I am creating as I go in an even more amazing dynamic group. And I’m becoming a yoga teacher.
It finally dawned on me that it might be a bit, well, easier, with short hair now I spend so much time standing upside down. One reason I have kept my hair long for all those years is that it’s been less hassle than keeping it short.
Long hair can be put up, moved out of the way, it didn’t need styling and was really carefree. Until it wasn’t any more. I was moving my ponytail away from my face when I needed both hands on my yoga mat. I was fussing about my hair coming loose and falling down when I should have been concentrating on keeping my balance.
It was a revelation having my hair cut off, a whole different side to me emerged. I guess I was just ready. Less is more, I thought as my ponytail dropped to the floor.
In the days that follower I did not feel any diminished spirituality, any less feminine. I rather felt that everything was simplified, clearer, more to the point. I felt more centered, more comfortable and absolutely ready to step into my new existence as yoga teacher.
Becoming a yoga teacher isn’t just about teaching yoga, it’s about living a life with slightly different values, embedded in a slightly different belief system. I’ve always been very sensitive, but now I’m becoming super sensitive.
As a Dru Yoga Student Teacher, I find myself spending more and more time at that still-point, absolutely blissed out. But it’s a part of my everyday experience, talking with people, working, cooking, and obviously while doing yoga. And while I am exceptionally good at timekeeping, time is also becoming something that isn’t really real – only love is.
I think cutting my hair was my way of telling myself that this was for real now. I have those conversations with myself in the mirror, trying to reach every aspect, making sure I know and embrace all of me. And now the short-haired me has stepped to the foreground, leading the way for the rest of me to grow and develop and follow. I guess I just moved on with my life, leaving lessons learned behind me ready to embrace new ones.
Vild Prestegard is a shop keeper, yoga student teacher, anthropologist, holistic therapist, Reiki master and public speaker based in Norway. She is a regular blogger for Cycle Harmony and part of a Norwegian Cooperative developing new ways of living and working. You can learn more about Vild and the Coop here: www.allmenningen.org
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