"My story with yoga has no jarring moments. My past has had its ups and downs, but it’s not a single, traumatic experience that led me to my mat. For me, my life was on a trajectory of either worry or anticipation and I struggled daily with life’s purpose and fulfillment
I was careless with my body and my mind. I went from one phase of my life to the next, believing a thing I owned, a person I loved, or a job I possessed would bring this feeling I was yearning for
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I found yoga through a work obligation that introduced me to an incredible instructor, and now, a life long friend. It was the first time I was asked to look inward- truly and deeply
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To be frank, I wasn’t pleased or displeased with what I saw, there just wasn’t much there. I realized I was doing a lot of living for others, I was focusing on the parts of life that allow us to exist. Yoga helped bring me to life, to the present
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The asanas were like medicine for my body, but completing my yoga teacher training in 2014 was medicine for the soul. How many of us are exhausted by doing too much existing and too little living? It was then that I began the work of undoing what the world fooled me into believing I needed to be
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I often find myself envious of people who seem to find this passion for life entirely on their own, and without rituals, like yoga. But then I remember that I could be living that life that I used to, and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude
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If I’d never gone to that work obligation, I may have never found yoga. Would I be utterly depressed, unhealthy, and unhappy? Probably not. But I’d most likely be indifferent, merely existing. And that’s a hell of a lot scarier 🙏 Jennifer"
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