Hey Beautiful, thanks for checking out my very first blog post! I’m Shannon, or Queen Namaste (a funny story of how that name came to be later ) and this is my blog. What you can find here is my collection of travels,(along with tips, tricks and hacks) fitness and yoga inspired workouts, and just fun (recipes, dance moves, CATS… whatever I’m liking that day LOL).
Laying here in my cozy sheets, on Friday, October 13th on this autumn evening with my laptop, trying to think of something insightful to write. Thinking about my life this far, and how I got here. The past six years into my twenties have been quite eye opening, as I’m sure many others venturing through this coming to age timeframe would say the same. If you were to ask the seventeen year old Shannon if she thought she would be writing for her very own blog, teaching yoga and traveling the world, she would probably say “oh ya, sounds about right”.
Even though I didn’t really have any direction of where I wanted to go or what I wanted out of life, I always had faith and knew it would be interesting, to say the least. I grew up in a family that wanted me to go to school and get a great career like a doctor or lawyer; I even toyed with the lawyer idea for a bit- but if I was honest, I didn’t give a crap about that stuff. I never wanted a job. I just knew I wanted to have fun, and fun was not walking up at the crack of dawn and waiting in traffic to go somewhere and spend the majority of your life, trading your time for money. Fun has been guiding me since I was a kid, and still does to this day. Fun has led me to where I am. I am sure I am not the only millennial who thinks their work should be fun, since it takes up a big part of our lives.
My dad was always working; leaving the house way before I would wake up to go to school, and always returning late in the evening for dinner. He’s always been my role model, telling me to go for what I want. What I really wanted was a job that didn’t feel like a job. He taught me the definition of hard work. But as I got older, and the more I learned outside of traditional education, work doesn’t have to be hard, it can be fun. If its not fun, what is the point? Life is too short to take so seriously. So, with that all out on the table, I hope to bring you some insightful shit from time to time.
Oh, I am also going to keep it real. Is that ok? The intent of this blog is to bring authenticity to this world where right now, with the over consumerism of technology and social media, people are obsessed with looking good, and wanting others approval. I have learned that not everyone is going to like you and you will drive yourself nuts trying to get EVERYONES approval. As cliche as it sounds, there is only one you, so embrace that shit! The world needs more REAL people.
We’ve also forgotten how to interact with people. Like really stop and listen to what’s going on with people. Being with them, and being ok with being alone; slowing the eff down. We all have our faces in our phones, and of course, I am no exception. I am practicing how to limit my use, and get back to the basics of real communication with others and the wild world around me. My promise to you, is to bring to you tips on how to do that, along with stories of my adventures and how you can allow yoga into all areas of your life.
Ok great! Now that we got that out of the way, going back to how I got here. Like I mentioned, growing through your twenties is an interesting time. You can have drastic change. By the time I turned 20, I had already been a regular drinker for 6 years. Going to clubs and bars and just getting shit faced. It got pretty bad, where I got pulled over for drinking and driving and got a breathalyzer in my car. Sad. My life was going no where pretty fast. Looking back at it, I must have been bored. Nothing else to do then to get drunk and tossed up at the local bar. Even though we were 20, I still had the same friend group, and it was just like high school. I wanted a change of scenery. I decided to go travel to Thailand and get shit faced there too. LOL. Little did I know, that that would be the trip that sent my life in a 180 turn- for the better.
I remember, walking for miles in the dark to this “jungle party”. Looking around, there were white kids, mostly Canadian and Australian, drunk all around me, not in their bodies, somewhere else out to lunch. I was waiting in this massive line at the bar for more booze. Then it had a epiphany … I came all the way across the world for this? I can do this at home. What a waste of time and money. Why wasn’t I experiencing the culture, or getting to know the people of that country? Why was I just pissing my life away?
There are more revelations from that journey to Thailand,and we can save that for another time. When I came home, and I came home early, I just decided I didn’t want to live that life anymore. I didn’t want to drink to get wasted everyday, or to serve drunks at a bar anymore. Lessons happen every day. Life is always happening for you, and not to you. You are the creator of your life and you have a choice everyday of how you want that day to go.
Life today looks a lot different. I am teaching yoga, helping others travel for cheap, creating this blog, and growing a community of AWAKE PEOPLE! By the way, if you have stubbled upon this blog and are still reading, THANK YOU! And really, how amazing is LOA (law of attraction) and serendipity? If you are wanting some more, you can head over to my youtube channel for some yoga and videos of my travels! Looking forward to being on this incredible journey with you all.
Namaste.
