It's More Than Just Yoga

The day is ending and i’m reflecting upon my day as I sit in my new tree house. There's a gentle breeze in the air, caressing my cheeks as I ponder. My heart runneth over with gratitude, joy, love, and vulnerability.

Life has gifted me with a beautiful home, a lovely roommate, and everything I could possibly need. Truly. I’ve been brought to tears recently with overwhelm of trustworthy peace.

Tonight was another one of those blessings.

I love teaching yoga. I love cultivating a space for people to let go of the outside world for just a moment and really get to connect with their selves. Its not only beautiful to facilitate, it’s beautiful to witness. Watching tension and stress melt off of everyone like a cinema as we all practice together is a gift. I’ll never forget my first time experiencing that moment. How I felt at the end of class was irreplaceable. It was like my nerves were quiet for the first time and it didn’t feel like my cells were vibrating 100 miles an hour. My brain felt calm and peaceful.

Since then, I have come to the mat having a great day and left having a better day. I’ve falling to my knees in pure exhaustion and weeped until I couldn't weep any more and returned from the mat feeling anew. My mat held me like a soft blanket as I grieved the loss of my sweet dogs, and supported me like a coach as I practiced building strength for the very first time again after recovering from muscle atrophy caused from abusing my body with substances and lack of nourishment years ago.

I remember once complaining to myself “Why am I doing this?” when I was practicing a challenging sequence and my mind screamed back at me, “Because it’s going to save your life!”… and boy, it sure has.

It’s more than that, though. It’s more than practicing an asana, or quieting my mind for an hour or longer. It’s about the overall sense of groundedness, connectedness, and wholeness I feel afterwards.

In yoga teacher training I would say at the end of our 6 hour classes, “This, to me, is what I feel church should feel like.” I felt nourished. Restored. Refilled. Replenished. I felt connected to a Divinity. To Life. To a God again. I felt alive again. So far. Nothing has replaced that feeling other than when I'm surrounded by good people, losing track of our phones, forgetting about time, and just enjoying the moment. And also, when i’m deep in the belly of mother nature, walking amongst her trees and land.

I had a student come to my class recently and tell me they really needed to be there. They were challenged by life and needed support. I was honored they chose to come to my class. When someone trusts me with their vulnerability and honesty, I deeply respect it, and I value being a person to be felt safe enough to share with.

At the end of my class, they shared with me the relief they felt after finishing the practice. My heart swelled as I could see in their face that they truly meant it.

It’s so much more than a yoga practice. I’ll be forever grateful to be both a student and a teacher of yoga.

I’ll forever be humbled by this gift of teaching and always inspired by the gift of being a student. I walk blissfully forward to where this road takes me. I’m truly so thankful.

Thanks for reading.

❤️ Namaste.