Yoga and Multipotentiality: How to Build an Aligned Life

Here is the 6th article in my Series:

“7 Surprising Ways Yoga Changed My Life (and Helped Me Find My Why)”

After my love letter to the older woman I will one day become, this chapter marks a turning point — the moment I chose yoga not just as a practice, but as a professional path.

✨ This may be the most essential chapter. The most raw. The most personal. The one that touches the heart of my Why.

It’s about coming back to yourself. About those moments of feeling lost, when everything shifts — and how yoga, far from being a ready-made answer, helped me integrate every facet of who I truly am.

💥 Quitting… and Then What?

When I left my job, it was visceral. Something had to stop. Something had to change.

But very quickly, another pressure crept in:

Find a new path. Create stability. Come up with a plan.

So I threw myself into a career change that ticked all the boxes: “useful,” “practical,” “reasonable.”

I needed to prove I could bounce back. Fast.

But in that rush, I skipped a crucial step:

👉 What had brought me to the breaking point in the first place? What parts of myself had I silenced to get there?

I hadn’t come back to myself. To what truly nourishes me.

And that’s when I realized something essential:

Leaving is not enough.

You also have to return — to your values, to your inner compass.

Because yes, you can flee a system that doesn’t fit you…

only to land in another that’s just as misaligned.

And the trap?

These new choices often look like good decisions. Sensible. Respectable. Reassuring.

But truth is, we often act from fear. Not from joy.

I found this note I wrote in Amsterdam, right after quitting my job.

It hit me like a wave:

“I don’t know how to shake this feeling. This sense of being useless, out of place. It’s been there since I came back from Latin America. I was so happy in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia. Still happy alone in Portugal. Figuring things out. Doing it all myself. Needing nothing.I look at job listings and I feel sick. I don’t think I’m fit for anything. Everything looks so boring I can already see the misery of doing something that just matches my résumé. I’m disgusted. I’m scared of the future… This all terrifies me so much…”

😨 When Fear Hides Behind Good Sense

Reading those notes now, I can see that I had already identified most of my core values in just a few lines — independence, freedom, movement, versatility, autonomy…

But I was also deeply driven by fear back then. The usual suspects:

Fear of emptiness. Fear of failure. Fear of being useless. Fear of disappointing others.Fear of not earning enough. Of not being “enough.”Fear of being exposed. Of not being “legit.”

You can tell yourself — and hear it from others — that

these fears are irrational,

but when they’re deeply rooted in your mind, it’s hard to see that the way out is not only possible — it’s wide open.

In truth, these fears are mostly fed by deep-seated limiting beliefs,

reinforced by societal norms — especially for women, from a very young age.

💬 The Confidence Gap: A Silent Barrier

According to a 2025 study cited by HP, women only apply to a job when they meet 100% of the requirements, compared to 60% for men.

As a result, nearly 50% of young women turn down opportunities because they don’t feel “good enough.”

And 32% of them cite lack of confidence as the main obstacle to their career growth — compared to 25% of men.

👉 This “confidence gap” is an invisible but powerful barrier.

These aren’t just statistics.

They reveal something deeper:

Our choices are often driven by fear and self-doubt — not by our core values.

But… what do we really mean by “values”?

It’s a word we often throw into cover letters (“I share your company’s values…”) but do we truly know what it means?

👉 Have you ever taken the time to clearly define your own values — the ones that truly guide you?

Before chasing the “dream job,” the real question should be:

What are my dreams?What fuels me?What do I stand for — and what do I refuse?

Personally, I didn’t ask myself those questions at first.

In fact, I waited way too long to do it…

I accepted a job in a big company without much thought.

It was “well-paid,” “prestigious.”

I had a gut feeling early on, I remember:

"It’s not the dream job, but it’s just for six months."

But those six months turned into a year…

And after returning from Latin America, those six months became a permanent contract handed to me on a silver platter.

And by putting off my values over and over again…

they eventually caught up with me.

That job drained me.

Not because it was a “bad” job, but because it went completely against my deeper needs:

too many screens, too many numbers, too much solitude…

… and far too little of what truly sustains me:

movement, human connection, embodied meaning, freedom.

All of which came knocking, a bit too late: in the form of a full-blown bore-out.

Coming back to myself — finally

It was only after quitting that job — and going through a longgg phase of uncertainty, as described in previous articles — that I finally started to rebuild my foundations.

I gave myself time. I slowed down. I let the real questions surface.

And I did one thing that changed everything:

I picked up a pen, a notebook, and I wrote down my core values.

That’s when everything started to make sense again.

I understood why some projects drained me — and why others made me come alive.

Most importantly, I realized that no path would ever work for me

if I had to sacrifice one part of myself to develop another.

Yoga didn’t reveal my values — it gave them space to breathe.

More than that, it gave them a fertile ground where they could coexist, feed each other, and be expressed.

I already had this deep need for balance, self-expression,

connection to nature, tangible impact, creativity, and inner coherence.

But no professional path seemed able to hold all of it.

Until one day, a new idea emerged — with clarity:

What if I became a yoga teacher…?Without giving up my love for drawing, teaching, or nature?What if yoga became the embodiment of this harmony — and not a new cage?

At first glance, it looked like just another wild idea I’d toss at my loved ones…

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

I love movement. I love sharing.

And I genuinely love yoga — for all the Whys we’ve explored in this series.

Then another truth hit me:

I love exploring, changing, weaving things together...

I’m not just an artist. Or a scientist. Or a teacher.

I’m all of that — and I need fluid, porous projects

that let me explore and create at my own pace.

PS: 👉 If you relate to the “multi-passionate” profile, I highly recommend the book by Emilie Wapnick: How to Be Everything — a transformative guide for anyone who feels like they’re “too many things at once” in a world that still idolizes specialists.

This book helped me understand how I function — and discover career models that actually fit multipotentialites.

Yoga, in this patchwork, plays many roles:

• It grounds me, regulates me, gives me physical balance;

• It lets me teach, create, and share what I learn;

• It offers me financial stability — without taking over my entire life;

• It gives me time to draw, write, explore — without guilt.

It’s not “the big dream project.” It’s the foundation that makes everything else possible.

And that’s how Hortari was born: a space, a living ecosystem,

where I can bring all my facets together — and help other multipotentialites do the same.

✍️ And you… do you know your values?

I believe this topic deserves a full article on its own (and it’s coming!) — but I wanted to offer you a simple reflection here.

Before choosing what to do with your life, take a moment to explore what truly matters to you.

Grab a pen, a notebook, a quiet space.And write down what you truly care about.Not what your parents, mentors, or LinkedIn would admire —but what you respect, cherish, and refuse.

What moves you. What grounds you. What ignites something inside you.

Once that’s clear, you’ll start to see paths that truly align with it.

And if you need a little help, here’s a free tool I recommend:

👉 Valued Living Questionnaire — Kelly Wilson

(Personally, I suggest writing in full sentences instead of ticking boxes — you might be surprised by what comes out.)

💡 Take your time. It’s precious.

Because this is the foundation for everything else — your energy, your clarity, your direction.

When your choices come from a place of inner alignment,

they’re no longer reactions.

They become a reflection of what truly matters.

🙏 Thank you for reading this far.

I hope this piece resonated with you, brought some peace or clarity — even just a little.

If it left you wanting to reflect on your values or realign your path, then I’ve achieved my goal. ✨

See you in the next chapter 🌱

Emma