my story
Guys, it's been a journey...
​
And for me, mental health has been at the centre of it.
I'm Rhi. I'm passionate about sustainability of mind, body, soul and planet. I try my best to approach life with curiousity and gratitude, because, with every turn around the sun, I find these to be foundational in my ongoing evolution as a spiritual soul, trying to live a heartfelt life in a challenging world.
During my teens and twenties I was habitually locked into a victim mindset, always feeling like life was happening to me and to be honest, feeling pretty helpless, especially when things didn't work out. I would move through endless shame and self punishment cycles, making self destructive choices because I found it so unbearable to accept myself. I won't lie, it got dark. And I had to reach my own rock bottom to learn how to rise back up.
I came to understand that the painful feelings I had been living with, were rooted in unconscious self limiting belief patterns. I had learned to think about myself through the lens of shame, which for me, meant having a problematic relationship with my body and my menstrual cycle.
​
For as long as I can remember, this lack of self acceptance was focused mainly on my physical appearance. It took almost two decades of self-abandonment before I was able to unlearn the conditioned beliefs I had adopted and realise that there was nothing ugly, or unworthy about my body, or my being.
​
A few years ago, I was diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), which I am healing through the work of self awareness and self compassion. The healing tools that helped me? Yoga practise and menstrual cycle awareness (MCA).
​
These modalities (as well as many conversations with amazing friends, family and therapists), served to change my perspective. They enabled me to build the skills of self awareness, to slow things down and operate from curiosity rather than judgement. This meant no longer placing my value on my physical beauty, or relying on the validation of others to feel good enough. I became responsible and accountable to myself, and this my friends, was the most radical act of self empowerment I had ever experienced.
​
I continue to grow these skills today. Now, I practise being the witness of my thoughts, which means I see my body and my life in a whole new light and it feels much better to live this way. The narrative has moved away from 'how does my body look? to how does my body feel?'
I now understand that society has scarred many of us, because capitalist patriarchy relies on us being sold the idea that we are not good enough and therefore we need to consume our way to beauty, health and happiness. This system targets you with false needs, constantly asking you to be productive so that you can keep buying shit and buying into shit.
​
Well, I say bullshit.
​
Creating hormonal yogi is my aligned action - to help others to discover self empowerment through mind-body connection practises, body literacy education and mindfulness.
​
I'm so glad you're here. Let's Attune, Empower and Flow