Today we’d like to introduce you to Seema Desai.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Seema. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Namaste from Austin, Texas! My Name is Seema Desai. I wear a lot of hats—wife, mom of two, and dentist, to name a few. I have a really wide range of interests, but the closest to my heart are yoga, mindful living & parenting, and finding easy ways to help make eco-conscious living feasible without investing a significant amount of time and effort.
I love being a mom, but my journey as a mother did not start as I expected. I found yoga as relief from postpartum depression, and as time went on and my yoga practice deepened, the mindfulness began to follow and blossom. I came to the realization that I find dentistry fulfilling because I get to help people in physical pain, but that through yoga, I could help people not only in physical pain but emotional pain as well. This epiphany served almost like a seed in my mind. Once aware of it, I began to feel the need to focus on yoga more and take a break from dentistry. One day, I took a leap of faith and decided to start an Instagram page, though I wasn’t entirely sure where I was headed with it. The more I posted pictures and captions, the more I realized how much I loved writing. I began to see that my quest for mindfulness and my desire to help others was manifesting so profoundly in my posts. I began to hear from those reading my work, telling me how helpful they have found my words. So, with the support of my family, I decided to launch a website, Seema Says Namaste!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The decision to start blogging and take a step back from dentistry required a lot of courage, and a strong desire for personal growth–a desire to challenge myself to forge a new path. Here’s the thing about growth though: in order to grow, you have to let go. I don’t know from whom I got that, exactly, though I’m sure it’s been said by many people in one way or another. Without examining what it is that’s anchoring you down, you can’t expect to rise above. It’s important to stay anchored—to your Self, to what matters to you, be it family, or your faith, or whatever. But I’m talking about letting go of the anchor as in letting go of dead weight that is your source of unhappiness or suffocation. Letting go can be really hard, even scary.
The thought of walking away from something that was a part of my life for years was unthinkable for me. The more I thought about taking a break from dentistry, the more restless I got. I just couldn’t find the joy and magic in life that I once saw. Being a dentist was all I knew, all I had worked for since before I can remember. Sure, I had taken breaks from it before, but they weren’t really breaks—they were maternity leaves. So the prospect of taking a break to pursue something else that I loved seemed ludicrous. I mean, why take a gamble on something when I have a good thing going? It’s risky. There’s a potential for failure. I could be laughed at. The list of anchors seemed endless. Sure, I was still grateful for all the amazing things in life that I had, but I felt like a stranger in my own body.
At times, I even felt guilty; I had everything I had ever worked for, so feeling unfulfilled just seemed like I was being ungrateful. But feeling guilty only served to worsen my perspective. And one day, I had just had enough—enough feeling guilty, enough negative self-talk, enough caring about what others will say or think, just…ENOUGH. So, I decided to just let it all go; to breathe in the good stuff and exhale the bad. And while I still have days that seem heavier than others, for the most part, I feel like a new person. Not worrying about what others think is still a challenge, but it’s sure getting easier. I never thought I’d be someone willing to talk in front of a camera for a social media story or be comfortable striking random asanas in public places, but here I am, doing it.
Please tell us about Seema Says Namaste.
The goal of Seema Says Namaste is to inspire others to be kind–to themselves, to each other, and to the planet. To be well and thrive. When I leave this earth, I need it to be better than it was when I came into it.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I think it’s equally important to recognize that everyone in my life has helped me get to where I am–even the ones that made my life more difficult or challenging because without those, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: seemasaysnamaste.com
- Email: namasteaustintx@gmail.com
- Instagram: @seemasaysnamaste
Image Credit:
Manish Desai, Seema Desai
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