I’m super excited to be featured with the Oddbods on Kidoodle.TV and YouTube.

This is a project that meant a lot to me just because of what the Oddbods stands for. They are a group of creatures, living in their neighbourhood, each with different personalities, eccentricities and needs. To me, they represent diversity and inclusion at its finest.

When I was asked to try out this pilot project, I was so excited, but totally nervous at the same time. I have done some musical theatre production in my childhood and teens, but as a woman in her 40s, not so much. What was crazy, was the amount of fear and insecurities that bubbled up in my mind, and took me for surprise as well. I hadn’t acted silly in a long long time. I hadn’t put myself on stage for a long time.

There were a few things I had to unpack in myself, which I finally have the nerve to share with you. What I have learned in the process is that it’s absolutely fine to do your best, put yourself out there, be vulnerable, stay authentic, and be okay with the possibility that it might not be good enough for the world. Here are my lessons and I hope that if you resonate with what I am saying, you’ll also have the courage to put yourself out there in life and have a lot of fun.

My Body Image

I would have loved this opportunity when I was in my 20s, but this came to me when I was in my 40s. When faced with the fact that I was going to be filmed on a green screen, I panicked. Faced with being on TV with my body the way it was, the negative self-talk of not being good enough swam to the surface.

Then I thought about it deeply… I was not prepared to crash diet and do all sorts of unhealthy and dangerous activities to look skinny for a kids show. Actually, this was an opportunity to put myself out there and bravely embrace my body as it looked. The kids won’t care, and neither will the parents. The Oddbods look like round little capsules. What an opportunity to showcase diverse body shapes in wellbeing spaces, and have fun in the process. With that, I made the promise to myself that I would celebrate my body as it was and enjoy moving it around.

My Fear of Failure

As much as I was inspired to do a great job, I was also terrified of putting myself out there on social media. Oddbods is a three time Emmy nominated show, and has won numerous awards in the Children’s Animation category. They are legends in the entertainment industry. They have millions of subscribers on YouTube. The idea that the whole world would see me acting silly and practicing yoga, coupled with the possibility that people were going to hate me put me in a state of anxiety. One night, I was tossing and turning in bed so much, my husband Shaman woke up and said the busy and loud nature of my thoughts actually woke him from his sleep! I’m so glad he woke up because we talked this whole thing out and he reminded me why I wanted to work on this project in the first place.

My intention in joining One Animation on this meaningful experiment was to help the kids in lockdown have a few minutes of movement and silliness in their lives. Some people like it and some don’t. Thankfully, the videos have more likes than dislikes, but the growth and the work comes with learning to be comfortable with the fact that I’m not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.

Staying Authentic

Another part of my journey which required attention, was looking at how to entertain the children without appropriating yoga. Being a traditional yoga student and teacher, I wanted to share tools for wellbeing without disrespecting the deep cultural tradition that yoga came from.

What I learned is that it’s quite tricky to marry the world of children’s animated entertainment (where things move really really fast) and yoga (where things are slower and more methodical). What is great in a class room is not great on TV and vice versa. I decided to let go of the seriousness of yoga and be silly and have fun with the characters I was playing alongside. The Oddbods don’t take themselves too seriously… well, maybe Jeff… but that’s how I needed to be as well.

The end result? Well, I’ll let you decide for yourself. Not all movement and mindfulness activities are created equal. Some things work for young kids to participate and some work for pure entertainment. Just like the Oddbods, not all activities would work for each personality. Some need quiet, some need noise, some like to be still and some like to jump and roll around and more.

The Oddbods themselves are a perfect representation of all the beautiful children around the world. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share my time with them and if I could plant a seed of wisdom (ahem ahem), it would be to find what regulates you, makes you feel good in body and mind, and not to take yourself so seriously.