Shine Bright Sister: The Real Girlfriend's Guide To Using Yoga and Ayurveda to Access Your Most Radiant Self

By Teri Ortt

Shine Bright Sister takes a lighthearted look at the ancient wisdom of yoga and ayurveda, presenting it as a practical To Do List for women. The author's humorous approach turns a typically dry subject into a lively exploration that readers who have little to no experience with the topics addressed will find accessible and engaging. Seasoned practitioners will find themselves laughing, but also drawn into the relevance and fresh presentation of the subject matter. With its emphasis on accessing your inner light, Shine Bright Sister offers simple advice on how to create a healthy daily routine using yoga, meditation, and other self-care practices. With its conversational style and witty observations, you'll feel like you're curled up on the couch having a chat with your best girlfriend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tablo Publishing
• Release date: Oct 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781685830625

Book preview

Forward

Have you ever felt like a camera was zooming in on you, no filter, no dress rehearsal? Just you and your awkward nakedness? No, My Beauty, I don’t have a background in adult films. I’m talking about your bare-naked soul. That’s right. We’re going deep, beyond the skin. The soul has numerous layers that it schleps around thanks to the physical body’s fear of facing it. I had been doing this for much of my adult life. 

I was sitting at the kitchen counter one morning with a dear friend from high school. We were drinking coffee with lots of half and half. The mood was light, punctuated with moments of raunchy humor, when the camera zoomed in. I looked my friend straight in the eye and the words tumbled from my mouth: I am living an inauthentic life. Cut! cried my ego, That’s a wrap. 

And from that moment everything shifted. I am living an inauthentic life. The words sounded foreign but vibrated in a familiar way. I am living an inauthentic life. I felt sick as I said the words, but relieved afterwards. Kind of like throwing up after too much cake. My friend's eyes fell on top of mine. Everything paused. The earth stopped spinning. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t flinch. The shape of her mouth betrayed nothing. I’ll never forget that moment. The way she held space for me. The way she didn’t intervene or ask for clarification. She didn’t deny, and she didn’t soothe. This is what a good friend does. I felt hot and then, sad. I started to cry. I’m listening, she said. I hope you have a friend like this. 

The soul, like all living things, requires room to breathe and flourish. If it isn’t nourished it withers away. But the soul is strong. It fights for its right to carry on. It cries out, Hey Ego, over here! Here I am Your Higher Self, Your Soul Sister. Pay attention to me. Sometimes the soul’s call is answered and it is resuscitated. It gasps for air, grateful for another chance to wake up its human’s container. Often, after years of suffocating, its cries get weaker until one day the soul gives up, and the earthly body claims victory. Sort of. 

Thankfully, my soul has grit. Despite the fact that I neglected it for years, not unlike an unattractive house plant, it wouldn’t stop screaming at me. It got to the point where I felt like I could hardly get up in the morning. That’s right. Me, the one with the seemingly wonderful life. Two outgoing, athletic teens in prestigious schools, an annual holiday card with all the trimmings, a pretty house, nice cars, two dogs, European vacations, fun friends, blah, blah. Does any of this sound familiar? 

In case you’re trying to figure out what kind of person I am, and why you should even care about me or listen to anything I have to say, let me tell you that I’m highly likable. I’m the person you want as your next door neighbor, unless you’re the neighbor that once lived on the east side of my house, but she's crazy, and that’s a different story. 

People tell me I’m funny. I believe them. I’m an outgoing introvert- attractive, but not overly. I’m not intimidating. I choose my friends carefully. I like animals more than people. I’m 99% vegetarian, a yoga teacher, and into healthy living. I have a cocktail from time to time, and I do enjoy sugar, particularly in the form of cake. I adore my  morning coffee with half and half, hold the sugar. I’ve given it up before, but decided that it’s okay to be addicted to something that allows me to be a kinder and more productive human. One more thing. I was that high school friend who would never bail on her girlfriends for a guy. I really think you’d like me. 

That being said, my soul was dying. I was married to someone who I couldn’t talk to and who couldn’t see me; as in- couldn’t see my soul. That’s on me. My fault. I take full responsibility. How could he see me when I had buried myself in crap for so long? ‘Crap’ meaning: other people’s expectations, other people’s expectations, and you guessed it, other people’s expectations. I was completely bogged down in the netherworld of fecal matter. No wonder I could hardly get out of bed. I was afraid to immerse my feet into all that smelly stuff. Gross. 

But despite all the goopity glop, deep down inside of me there was a flicker of light that wouldn’t go out. No matter how desperate I felt, something told me that there was an escape hatch. This was my soul speaking to me. Don’t give up, Teri. Keep moving towards the light. So just like those crispy June bugs that hover around the porch light at night, I kept my eye on the light too; my inner light.  

I am convinced that my inner light was able to survive and eventually thrive due