Support network & Self-belief

In my previous article, I wrote about how difficult it was for me to “feel ready” to start teaching Yoga and building my studio. Maybe in that article I didn’t manage to express just how important the encouragement and impulse given by friends were — people who saw in me a potential that I couldn’t see in myself.

1st photoshoot with Renata, 2020

One of them — my namesake Renata — had just started working with photography. She offered to take pictures of me and help me set up an Instagram account to promote my classes. “This is not going to work,” I thought... “I’m not photogenic, I feel awkward posing for pictures.”

But my shyness and insecurity weren’t a problem: Renata's sensitivity and creativity knew how to work around that initial difficulty. She took pictures of me from behind, from the side, with my eyes closed… anything but looking directly at the camera.

Slowly, I started to feel more comfortable and eventually managed to look straight into the camera. Today, I still don’t feel photogenic, but look at how far I’ve come, hehe:

Most recent photoshoot, 2025

But this article isn’t about photo tips, lol… It’s about support networks and building self-confidence.

Like many other women, I moved abroad following my partner’s career plans. And my own career and academic background? They were left behind… It was time to reinvent myself.

But how difficult it is to reinvent yourself when you’re alone in a foreign country, with a different language and completely different customs!

By “luck,” I had with me a Yoga teacher certification completed one year before moving. But I had never actually worked in studios, teaching adults.

By even more “luck,” I had the privilege and blessing of meeting other incredible women, also immigrants, also in the process of reinventing themselves… Women who were willing to support each other on this journey. Those were difficult years, yes, but I don’t know how they would have been without them.

Looking into a camera and smiling may seem like something trivial, but the difficulty isn’t about the picture itself. It’s about the feeling involved, especially when the photo is meant to promote your work (different from a holiday picture). When you don’t yet believe in yourself, in your potential and capability, when you don’t feel safe to share your work, how could you possibly look at a camera with confidence and ease?

Looking back, I see how much this support network of other women was essential in my process of building self-esteem and self-confidence throughout this journey of professional reinvention abroad.

Five years later, we’re more settled, and we don’t get to meet as often as before — to make plans, practice yoga outdoors, take pictures, or simply complain about life and laugh together.

Still, even without the same frequency, we remain connected by the experiences that have strengthened us along the way. Almost from afar, there is still an invisible thread of support and friendship that sustains us and gives us the courage to keep moving forward.

And you? Have you found a support network that lifts you up in moments of reinvention? Who are the women (or men) walking by your side and helping you believe in yourself, even across distance or time? How do you care for yourself, and support others, along your journey? I'd love to hear youyour story too, feel free to share it in the comments.

May we all nurture bonds that help us believe more in ourselves and in each other. May we continue to inspire and support one another, wherever we may be.

Shall we keep walking together?

Namaste 🌱✨