Happy New Year to you all!

We are very excited to share a yearlong journey with this community, and we hope that as you engage with it and with each other, it helps you to feel joyful, purposeful and powerful in your sense of self!

#IAMOULA

Inevitably when folks talk about Oula, how Oula has changed their lives, they say “I am more of this now” or “I have discovered this about myself since doing Oula.” And eventually, the conversation turns to “I am this, orthis is me.”  When we hear you say these words, it feels like you are claiming something really important, like it is a puzzle piece to your fullness or an important step on your journey to self-realization.  So, we wanted to capture these conversations, these life-changing quotes, with the #iamoula campaign. We want to celebrate 2021 with twelve “I AM” statements to cultivate in ourselves, or discover what was there all along. This year, let us explore, enjoy and share in ourselves and in each other our strengths, resiliency, adventure and joy!

So… to start this new year, our first affirmation is #IAMHERE.  As the month goes on, we will invite you to join us in dancing, storytelling, journaling, and a variety of other ways in which we can connect with ourselves and our community by speaking these words and exploring their meaning to us.  Affirmations are most potent when spoken in the personal, present tense.  So rather than “I want to be here” or “Someday I will be here” or “I think I’m here” we are going to practice saying “I am here.”  During a pandemic, when many of us may be feeling isolated, displaced or forgotten, saying these words to ourselves may even evoke a powerful reaction!  Or maybe saying these words to someone else in need may create a beautiful connection between the two of you.  There are so many ways in which we can experience this affirmation, and we are so excited to do this with you!

Please feel free to share this message with you communities, in person or online, and please remember to use the hashtags #iamoula and #iamhere when sharing so that we can all stay more easily connected.

Thank you for being here.  Let’s all speak a collective “I am here!” into existence with a deep belief that we belong.  That we are needed.  That we are loved.  Let’s come out of hiding and light up this new year!