If you're exploring Kundalini Yoga classes in Los Angeles or want to experience mantra chanting to heal your story, this post is for you.

Have you spent years or maybe decades believing that you’re not good enough, not worthy, sexy, strong, feminine, smart enough, you know what I mean…beautiful enough…insert your thing.

Lemme tell ya, how you can transform those wounds into the medicine you didn’t even know you needed.

So, lemme take you back for a minute…

It’s the 80s, I’m 13 and taller than everyone else in my class. I still remember hating my voice so much because it was so deep, so deep compared to all those other cute girl voices.

What did I do about it? First, lemme remind you, this was the 80s, we kids did not have computers.

So what’s the only source of knowledge for a kid in the 80s? Fairy tales..LOL!

Yes, to make my voice sound higher…like the big bad wolf in Rotkäppchen (Little Red Riding Hood, for all my non-German speakers)...I ATE CHALK!!

Yepp, stole a couple of sticks from the chalkboard in my classroom and secretly ate it, hoping my voice would turn cute.

Can you imagine that level of self-rejection? And so early. I was only 13!

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Ok, maybe you weren’t eating chalk (please tell me you weren’t), but we all have those old stories, those old wounds, right? The ones that tell us we’re too much, not enough, or just plain wrong for how we are.

And lemme tell you, those stories can feel like heavy, old, smelly luggage that we didn’t even pack.

For me, that heavy shame hung around for decades. Yepp, DECADES of me thinking that my voice wasn’t beautiful, that I wasn’t beautiful.

Here’s the thing, healing is about unpacking that luggage and deciding: “This doesn’t fit me anymore…I’ve outgrown this…And this this is not my style, I’m not carrying that around anymore.”

We don’t have to carry those old stories forever.

And you know what fits better than shame anyways? Authenticity, positivity and self-love.

Like our mother-in-fashion Coco Chanel said: "Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself."

So, let’s talk about why positivity is so important and why it’s time to stop beating yourself up and start loving yourself up!

Because the thing is, you’ve been conditioned to think that growth and transformation only comes from pain, from criticism, from “fixing” yourself.

But, actually, science says otherwise!

Lemme give you some research here…

A 2012 study in the *Journal of Experimental Psychology* showed that positive encouragement significantly improved task outcomes.

So they found that positive reinforcement improved not only performance but it also motivated better. That’s right, encouragement lights a fire inside us…and criticism extinguishes that inner fire.

And here’s where it gets even cooler:

Neuroplasticity research reveals that positive affirmations can rewire our brains, replacing negative patterns with empowering ones.

Ja, positive encouragement actually rewires your brain!

So what does that mean for you?

Instead of saying: “Ugh, I suck, I messed up,” start saying, “Ooh, look at me trying my best.”

Cuz when you do that, you’re literally creating a new mind. And your thoughts are gonna start sounding more supportive.

Think about it like this: If your brain is a garden and positivity is like sunlight and water, then you can’t grow beautiful flowers if you don’t give yourself enough sunlight and water.

So, how you talk to yourself (and to others), it literally changes the game. Science said so!

I wish my 13-year-old self had known that.🥹

Remember that little 13-year old girl…you know, the voice…the shame…the chalk…gag.

Well, over 30 years later…yepp, we’re timeline jumping here…

Over 30 years later she…ok, I…it’s me…

I went on a retreat, a chanting and mantra retreat in Sedona…with my mantra teacher, Ananda Das.

At Kundalini Silver Lake, our Kundalini Yoga classes in Los Angeles help students reconnect to their authentic voice through mantra chanting, meditation, and sacred community.

So, picture this: a room full of beautiful souls but each one carrying their own wound, their own story of feeling silenced, being told that they can’t hold a tune, that their voice is ugly.

We’re sitting in a circle and one-by-one we have to sing one of the mantras we’ve just learned.

Yes, singing, chanting, in public, others actively listening. YIKES!

Can you even imagine?!

Yes, you probably can, because you’re probably an empath.

As it got closer and closer to my turn…thumping heart, blood rushing in my ears, wet palms, frantically trying to come up with a way to end the world…all the while trying to look cool and unfazed.

I mean, when it was my turn to sing, I thought my heart was gonna leap out of my chest.

All the old stuff came up…decades of shame…of hiding…of comparing and falling short.

But then…I opened my mouth, closed my eyes and let it out:

Maha Lakshmiye, Maha Lakshmiye, Maha Lakshmiye, Namo Nama.

I chanted, hot cheeks and all, my mind giving me a play-by-play critique of every note I sang.

And you know what happened next?

The room e-rup-ted. People clappin’, cheering, crying.

They said things like, 'That was so soulful…It was like the ancestors were moving through you.'

Can you imagine that?

The very thing I thought was broken became the thing that connected me to everyone else.

Y’all, at that moment I felt something shift. My whole being was vibrating, my heart was wide open and for the first time in a long time, I felt seen, really really SEEN.

And just like that, the wound, the decades old wound, it closed and I jumped into a new timeline, into a new way of seeing myself.

Talk about magic.

The thing is, criticism and negativity do not make you happier or a better person.

And healing doesn’t just happen alone in a quiet room. It happens when you show up, when you risk being seen and when you let others hold space for you.

And let me tell you, community amplifies courage. When we see each other, when we encourage each other, we become unstoppable.

And when you heal, you’re healing the past, the present and the future. That’s right, you’re jumping timelines, rewriting the old stories for good.

I really, truly believe that healing ripples backwards and forwards in time.

And that moment at the retreat, it wasn’t just about singing; it was about me telling my 13-year-old self: Your voice is beautiful. You are beautiful.”

Think about this: What would it mean to talk to yourself with the love and encouragement you needed back then? What would it mean to actually BE the person your younger self dreamed of becoming?

That’s the power of positivity. It’s not just about now, it’s about reclaiming everything you’ve ever been and everything you’re meant to be.

There this quote that I love by Rumi: “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”

But here’s the catch, the light can’t get in if you’re covering your wounds with shame and self-criticism.

Positive, gentle, encouragement that’s what pulls back the covers and says: “Hey, it’s okay. Let’s heal together.”

The moment you decide to love yourself up instead of beating yourself up, you’re gonna start rewriting your story.

Transformational journaling prompts:

1. What old stories about yourself are you still carrying around?...After all these years, what’s still sticking?...Where is there still shame or hiding?

2. Where are you beating yourself up when you could be loving yourself up instead?...Still using that negativity…that harsh voice?

3. What’s a courageous action that you can take to heal and jump timelines?...Something small and easy…Something you’ve been putting off?

Kundalini Yoga practice:

Mantra Meditation - Maa (6 minutes)

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