How do you Define Yourself?

I walked into my normal yoga class, Wednesday at 5:15, expecting to see my favorite yoga teacher.  Instead when I stepped in the room there was a stranger in the front of the room where the instructor stands.  In an instant a wall came up inside and resistance set in.  Who is this?  Where is Brigitte?  She won’t be as good as Brigitte, I thought. 

You see, I attend yoga once a week and I have two instructors that I have found I really like.  I love their flow and rhythm as well as the spiritual/meditative aspect they bring to the class.  I enjoy going to their classes knowing what to expect.  So needless to say, I was disappointed and let down when I saw an unfamiliar instructor. 

As class started she introduced herself and shared that Brigitte was sick and called her just prior to cover her class.  She then went on to say “Thank you for letting me teach you today.”  At that moment, the wall of resistance inside of me came down, and I accepted her as the teacher.  It was the simple act of thanking us for letting her be there and allowing her to be a part of the yoga practice that made me realize that she was grateful for being here, and she was asking permission to teach us. 

So we were on with yogaing and in between warrior one and half moon, she stated some wise words that I will not be able to replicate as eloquently as she said them.  But the idea of what she was articulating was to shed the day off, all of the stories that we play in our head, all of things we need to get done, and find the true you.  As what you are looking for is already inside of you, you just need to find it.  “Don’t leave the ocean in search of the ocean.”

Later she asked, “How do you define yourself?”  This question made me stop and think.  People often define themselves by what they do, their friendships or relationships, or their reputation.  You identify with being a mother, a father, a husband or wife, a daughter, a teacher, a nurse, a therapist, or a bitch.  We all do it; we label ourselves and even tie our self worth to what we do and what we have accomplished.  But what happens when we take that all away?  Take away your titles of daughter, teacher, girlfriend, poor, and how would you define yourself?  Take away the stories you create in your head, the ones that connect you to the past and present.  Remove the assumptions you have about yourself and the assumption you think other people have about you, and what would you be now? What is left?

This is a great philosophical question that will take me more than one yoga class to work through.  It is deep, who am I truly?  Am I just cells working together in harmony to create a human body?  Am I a vessel for a soul? Maybe I am ever changing from one moment to another. 

When you strip yourself down, take away the labels and the attachments, how do you define yourself?