Rebecca Watson - The Limber Liberator
Rebecca Watson - The Limber Liberator
Rebecca believes her current dharma, is to serve others in discovering movement and breath as a means of healing. She honors all students, and encourages them to listen to their inner teacher louder than any external voices. She believes healing and wholeness are crucial to our collective liberation, and acknowledges that her beloved yoga is simply one path among many.
What is your definition of freedom? What does it look and feel like to you? And how do you cultivate it daily?
To second Sister Nina Simone, freedom is no fear! Freedom is showing up as your Self, in any space you choose, without having to shrink or contain or edit. Freedom is moving your body as and when you choose. Freedom is love. Freedom is compassion. To me, it feels like getting clear on my desires, so that I may act of them wholeheartedly and without reservation. I cultivate it daily by listening. By getting still, so that when I move, I know how to move to honor my needs.
How have your thoughts, perception, and understanding of freedom evolved with time? What was it before and what is it now?
Over time, the unfoldment of life has given me the lens of nuance, and a better understanding of unspoken truths. In my younger days, I would probably equate freedom to a movement like the abolition of my enslaved ancestors, or Civil Rights/women's rights/gay rights. After apartheid ended, I may have briefly thought we were all free; that is until the next conflict commenced in Somalia/Bosnia/Afghanistan/fill-in-the-blank. I began to realize freedom on a macro scale is not as simple as world peace. These days, I view freedom as an imperative to each individual. Someone under an authoritarian regime is still free if they so choose to be. If they are cultivating freedom in their inner landscape. For some, self-included, freedom looks a lot like resistance -- when we as individuals/collectives start pushing back against historically oppressive systems. Freedom now is a reclamation.
Freedom can feel like something we’re all seeking, but may have trouble grasping. What's one piece of advice or some words of wisdom you can offer to this community as they look to "get free"?
Pause for a moment, and take a deeper breath. Your freedom is yours to define, and yours to realize. You might begin by freeing yourself from the limitations of your own expectations. Get free of worry about judgment from others. Feel free to stop second guessing yourself. Any time I consider if an action I am about to take is "too much," I stop to consider the origins of that impulse. I say, "says who?" I usually end up moving forward, and this check-in boosts my cache of inner freedom.
Share an anecdote, memory, or practice in your life that embodies freedom in every way.
I am deeply blessed that many of the women in my familial lineage have been free women. From growing beyond traumatic relationships, to moving away from a home that was no longer 'home,' I have always had models of choosing freedom above the status quo or the easy path. As I create my current reality, I find freedom in who I love, how I move, and how I have chosen to offer my teachings. I find freedom in travel. I find freedom in staying put. I find freedom in each exhale.
Yoga was a critical tool in helping me to honor and cultivate kindness to and throughout my body. I haven’t thankfully not suffered as much as many with an overwhelming lack of body love, yet I longingly await the days when our bodies will no longer be unloved or under-loved for any reason. Yoga gives us the freedom to simply be. Being/existing in our bodies as is, is a skill we are all at work to relearn hopefully. I’ve recently taken up Kundalini Yoga in addition to Vinyasa, and the difference in how the body is approached has been educational and remarkable. While I love my Vinyasa practice, and I know it to be truly healing; there are still so many who fall into the trap of acquiring ever difficult — often ableist — poses as a means to track their “goodness” at yoga. While I have long ago unlearned the acquisition of skills as a means to accomplishment, it is still interesting to exist in an industry where literal posturing is often heavily relied on as a metric of success.
You mention that mindfulness and creativity are crucial for sustaining individual and global wellbeing. what steps did you take to integrate your creative endeavors in your everyday life? And how did it impact you? What advice can you offer to the members of our community struggling to achieve this synergy in their lives?
Yes, I do believe that! The steps I took and continue to take to integrate my creativity is simply honoring that it exists, that it is an expression of who I am and it matters. The more space I have to my creativity, the most honest I felt. In very practical ways, I chose to believe in the things that make me uniquely me are the things that are going to have the greatest impact for my community.
Move towards what feels like an honest expression of yourself and do it. Do it often! Release yourself from feeling time constraints and just chose your art. Whether it’s dance, song, writing, painting, cooking, gardening— there’s a way in which we all express beauty. Even if it’s for 5 minutes. And if your access to it feels out of reach, I invite you to visit a space of beauty— a gallery, museum, nature. Take it all in, be present with what is beautiful.
What is one song that helps you get free?
What is one book that has helped you claim your freedom?
Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist.” It came to me at precisely the right time. Even though I feel I’ve outgrown it at times, the message was essential on my path of freeing myself from doubt and inaction.