Satya: Truth, integrity, seeing things as they really are
I started seriously practicing yoga for my head. Now, I do it for my whole life.
Middle age walloped me. All at once and with a vengeance. In the space of five years, I ended a difficult marriage, navigated the thorny demons of loss, addiction, and PTSD, met the love of my life and remarried, and blended a family of five children.
I wish I could say I handled the changes well. I did not. I drank too much and got a DUI. I suffered through the consequences of that and really lost myself. Up until this point in my life, I had never failed at anything. I was a bestselling author with a PhD, a competitive rower, a mother, a dutiful daughter, an open water swimmer. But that was all on the outside, the boxes I could tick. On the inside, I was a seething ball of anger, anxiety, competition, and "shoulds." I was afraid all the time of falling short. Worst of all, I had the feeling I was watching a stranger live my life.
Here is what I learned: When the universe wants you to change, it will drop hints and nudge you. If you don't listen, it will shove you. In my case, the universe had to donkey-kick me ass over teakettle into good sense and eventual grace, but I got there and I did it with yoga.
I stepped on a yoga mat because I couldn't sleep through the night without nightmares or leave the house without having a panic attack. I stepped on my mat because my joints hurt and some days I could barely get up, and because I didn't even know who I was anymore. I stepped back on my mat to meet myself again, quite literally. The postures of yoga connected me with my own body again--forward folding over my rickety legs, staring back at my knees in down dog, twining my stiff arms and legs together for eagle. I saw and felt my body in a range of different perspectives, some of them comfortable, more of them not, and I found that this practice gave me a whole new view of my soul. I wasn't just the darkness I'd been through, I was also the light. Yoga allowed me to knit myself back together, but looser at the seams this time so all that light could shine out.
I went through teacher training and discovered that I am almost annoyingly passionate about sharing yoga. I started Silverwave Yoga because I noticed that so many people want to practice, but don't always feel comfortable in more traditional or fitness-oriented spaces. I often joke that I teach "yoga for the rest of us." Maybe you've had knee-replacement surgery and can't put pressure on your joints anymore. Maybe you have back issues. Maybe you're dealing with the emotional upheavals everybody seems to go through as we start to age, and you just want a space to figure it all out. To quote one of my favorite teachers, "It's okay."
Silverwave's got you covered. I offer come-as-you are yoga that's meant to be a celebration of what you can do and who you really are. So come meet me on your mat. Better yet, come meet yourself. I promise, the second act is the best one.
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