I find it easy to get lost in mental loops. Maybe you can relate? Everything becomes about me, me, me. I worry about if I’m making the right choices. I worry about how I’m not as skinny as I used to be. I worry about what other people think about me. I worry about letting people down, and letting myself down, not living up to my long-held ideas and standards. I go round and round like this. In the land of “me.” In the land of “I.” The loops can get vicious enough to make a ballerina dizzy.

You, you, you. A dear one told me to repeat the phrase. You, you, you.  It felt odd, and I was hesitant. But it was needed to catapult me out of the brain chatter. It was needed to shift my perspective. Suddenly, I was on the other side looking back. I was outside of my body. I escaped myself and turned my eyes to someone else.  Just saying the words was enough. The you didn’t even need to have a face.

Ultimately, what controls our mind controls our behavior. When we close in on ourselves, we eventually pull away from our relationships. People sense something is off, and it is just as easy for them to take it personally as well. If this goes on for too long, we become lonely islands floating in a sea of doubt.

That’s why I like the simple idea of sharing with another. When you bring a loved one into your picture, things immediately begin to change for the better. Just knowing you’re not alone, by allowing their words to shine some light on your worries, these simple acts take you out of your self. You become able to feel and release.  Like the wall of my favorite yoga studio, says, “take a deep breath and let it all go.”

After all, the bigger picture always offers more beauty to appreciate.