Honoring The Physical Practice That Enhances Our Inner World

Somehow, I didn’t know Friday was International Yoga Day until I was on my mat in Child’s Pose beginning my noon class.

In honor of this holiday and the practice that has quite literally changed my life, I wanted to take a few minutes to honor my yoga journey.

The first time I ever did yoga was in college at the University of Minnesota Duluth. It was part of a Psychology of Personal Development class I was taking. Every other Friday a Kundalini teacher came in to teach us.

With Kundalini, there was a lot of breath work, meditation, and an extra-long Savasana (final resting pose), which, at that point in my life, ended up being a hangover nap I got credit for. While I was mostly going through the motions of the practice then, a seed was planted within me…

A seed that began to sprout while living and volunteering in Brazil after college. One of my roommates and fellow volunteers, a yoga teacher from Boston, taught us in the basement of our un-airconditioned house in the center of Graça. Something felt so good taking those classes in the hot Salvador afternoons before dinner.

Later, living in the Hudson Valley in New York, after tweaking my knee during a skiing fall, I did Kathy Smith’s yoga DVDs in my living room for months, nursing my leg back to health and staying fit all the while.

From there I was officially hooked. I practiced at the gyms in New York City because I couldn’t afford to join a yoga studio. (I prioritized dinners and cocktails out over higher quality yoga at the time!)

Then, when I moved to Naples, Florida, I found Bala Vinyasa Yoga, which quickly became my second home. I was part of their very first 200-Hour Teacher Training Program and became certified in 2010.

That’s all just a history of my early yoga experience. But what I should really be telling you is how yoga expanded my life.

Through the physical practice of asana, I was introduced to the workings of my mind and inner being. I started noticing my belief systems (some that served me, some that did not), my ego, the way I picked myself up and cut myself down, my own strength, my love (and sometimes dislike) of my body, peace (true peace that only comes from surrendering to what is), and connection to others that only comes from ripping off our masks and being authentic.

Through the practice of yoga, I began to notice how it was me who got in my own way of my dreams or what I wanted for my life. I also realized that when I committed to moving past my comfort zone, every pose – every part of my life – was so much more exciting, empowering, and delicious. Yoga helped me change my relationship with fear and failure, to instead embrace them as necessary parts of the practice, life, and growth.

Yoga trainings have brought me to the mountains of New York, the beaches of Tulum, the ranches outside of Austin, the hotel ballrooms of Ft. Lauderdale and Boston and Miami. But most of all, my yoga practice has brought me inward

It’s taught me to connect with and embrace who I am. And as I connect with who I tuly am, I can connect with every other human being on this planet. And that’s a beautiful thing our world needs a lot more of.

“They” say yoga is a 100-year practice. You never fully “arrive” and become a yoga master. There’s always a way to grow, learn, and evolve. I’m eager to stay on this journey, 100 years and more!

What has yoga taught you?

How has it changed your life?

I’d love to hear!

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