THE TRUTH:  Yoga saved me. Yoga taught me to save myself. 

 

Yoga entered my life after I had taken a break from Rugby. I loved the sport. I really really loved the sport. There is no other sport in the world where you annihilate your opponent and then drink, hug and party the way ruggers do. There is definitely a life lesson held within the sport which is to truly leave it on the pitch (the field). There is also a deep sense of belonging that happens in the world of Rugby. Rugby destroyed my flexible body and as a former gymnast, I had been curious about yoga but way too intimidated to go alone. The family I nannied for in college had taken it up and invited me along. 

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My first yoga class dropped me into a cellular memory and a deep knowing, that I exactly where I was meant to be. In the midst of what should have been a foreign experience,  I felt deeply at home, from that moment on I not only knew that yoga would be an intrinsic part of my life, I also knew I would one day instruct the practice.

 

Yoga quickly became my sanctuary as my relationship with organized religion had ended. It was the first place I could live in my body and my spirituality with some sense of peace. It was the first thing that offered me reprieve after a lifetime of anxiety & depression. Yoga brought me back to myself, my power, my nature. It was not instantaneous, but over time, slowly I stepped back into myself more bravely than I had in quite some time. 

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On the outside,  it's unlikely you would have seen my pain. You didn't know the number of times I came to the studio but didn't enter because I was feeling "too fat to participate".  You would not understand the depth of my self-loathing, the weight of my shame or the disempowerment that came with my debilitating body image issues. 

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Yoga eventually gave me a voice that brought me back to my truth. Teaching yoga offered me a platform to speak life into others while I spoke it back into myself. Yoga was therapy for me both inside the personal practice on my mat and sharing it with the students. 

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Yoga helped me reclaim my power, and learn to have faith in my worthiness. The practice offered me a safe and gradual progression of learning to be with my Self, sit with my discomfort, and trust that I was capable of managing the messiness of being alive.  Yoga continues to allow me to peel back the layers of protection I have built around my innate sensitivity, my intuition my insight. Yoga was the invitation back into my gifts, my shadows, and my light, my truth, my purpose. 

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It is this medicine I have discovered along the path of my own becoming that continues to inspire me to offer the practice back to the world. We all must walk the path of growth and self-discovery, but we need not walk it alone. I have yet to meet a human who does not have a story to tell, pain to endure, or obstacles to overcome. My intent is to offer people the space to be raw,  vulnerable and seen. I hope that as I continue to journey forward, I can persuade others to participate in their own expansion, to show up bravely, authentically, and unapologetically in the direction of love. I hope that together we can be inspired and liberated. 

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