"Watching my mother’s mental illness progress meant seeing the mother I loved disappear"
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Meet Yelena @soulyyoga sharing her #yogasavedmylife story with us. These are her words 💚 . "My resilience became evident to me early in life when I first started wondering why my mom was so different from other moms. She was replaced by a stranger who spent most of her time in alternate realms. When she came back to ours, she was cruel, abusive. It was not her fault, but she lost her capacity to love us
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At 21, I lost her from my life completely, & consequently lost myself. I spent my early 20s desperately creating some semblance of normalcy & safety in my life. Graduated college, found a job, a partner. But, despite appearances, a high-pitched ringing anxiety consumed me
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I was a “highly functioning” But I was directionless. In constant pain. Fear ruled me. My intuition suppressed
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Eventually, this perfectly constructed, safe life started to erode. I found myself completely alone, in a new city, with no real relationships – not even with myself. I was on the precipice of a remarkable opportunity for either growth or destruction. I chose the former – to confront my essence & create a new life as the best and truest version of myself
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Yoga called to me as I dove into months of interpersonal work to discover my “authentic-self”. For the first time in many years, I was intentionally focused on nourishing my soul, mind & body
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One Saturday morning, last September, I nervously walked into a local hot yoga studio to answer my intuition’s call. I signed up for teacher training & began a positively life-altering adventure 🙏
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My practice has taught me to know, love & trust myself. I have learned countless lessons about the power of patience & persistence. I have found my center for when I start to spin away
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Most importantly, I am no longer a prisoner to that painful anxiety that riddled me for years. I have the strength to make decisions based on my dreams, not my fears
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Yoga was the vehicle in my journey out of a mundane, directionless existence & into a purposeful, powerful, mindful & joyful life of perpetual growth 💚
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📸 @das.licht.haus
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