MY JOURNEY
Born in 1975 to Gujarati Indian immigrant parents who migrated to the UK from Uganda in 1970. The youngest of three girls, British Indian, Hindu, Gujarati mother tongue, culture, lineage and ancestry.
Scorpio Sun, Aquarius Moon and Leo Rising
I wanted to be a lawyer since I was nine years old. I spent over a decade chanting ‘I want to be a lawyer’ like a mantra. I manifested. I prayed. I was razor sharp in my focus and determination. I never once wavered. This was no childish romance. I realised much later that I had been clearly in my ‘Shiva’ archetype. When I qualified in December 2000, a woman of colour entering and succeeding in what was then a white middle class and largely male patriarchal profession was no mean feat. I worked really hard, I grew and excelled then became a Partner in a leading London law firm at age 32. In 2010 I joined my current law firm, Mishcon de Reya LLP, as a Partner and subsequently took a management role as Head of Group for a few years. Coincidently (or not), at this very peak of my career, my Yoga journey was simultaneously unfolding. I recognised during those initial years that I was so much more than my career.
Intellectually I was stimulated, but my heart and belly were yearning for deeper connection
With the benefit of wisdom, experience and a huge dose of courage, I took a giant leap of faith and decided to make a change and shake things up - I stepped across from my senior positions. I am still a Partner at the firm but now work flexibly to enable me to 'Live Yoga' everyday, on and off the mat.
Yoga has been a faithful companion since 2008. My journey started with Hot Yoga as a mechanism to release physical, emotional and mental stress – a way to balance work, home and life. As this evolved, I embarked on my first Teacher Training journey in 2016. This cracked me wide open. I discovered that Yoga was so much more than just showing up to do asana on my mat.
The shapes I make on my mat, the way I move in meditation, pulsing with the breath of life, meeting myself where I am in that moment, alters my somatic experience. It teaches me how to show up for myself, for others and how to navigate dissonance. My teachers and soul friends on the path have been instrumental companions and guides in this journey – I have learnt that everything starts with ‘Know thy self’. It is uncomfortable and messy. It is challenging and reveals difficult truths. Yet, it is also beautiful and expansive. It is love and joy. It is where the most profound growth occurs. It is deeply connecting and I have learnt that my vulnerability is my biggest strength.
Yoga is my passion and it is my life. It is not something I do, but rather, it is how I live
Most profoundly, from Living Yoga, I birthed Nada Yoga, the Yoga of Sound by weaving sound vibration through Crystal Alchemy Sound Bowls made from precious gemstones, rare earths, metals and minerals. They are vessels enabling me to channel and express my creativity and my essence. When I picked up the mallet that very fist time, I felt like I came back home. It was familiar, I knew what to do, I recognised what I felt. I knew instinctively that I had been the Guardian of Alchemies over lifetimes. Sound is vibration. In Yoga, vibration is referred to as Spanda; a Pulsation, the contraction and expansion of everything. Weaving sound in intuitive play and in Crystal Sonic Therapy trained techniques and in alignment with Music Theory has become a life changer.
I choose to vibrate Resonance over Dissonance
Living in the state of union between the dual polarities of my career and my spiritual Self at either spectrum, together, united as my core, my essence. We do not have to lose or give up anything. Instead we can transform that very thing. We integrate everything that we are and we come into wholeness within.
The Heart of the Yogini feeds the intellect of the Lawyer
We are all these things and more.
Sonal x
