Resolutions really are not my thing, however, I love the time of the year between Christmas and New Years. It is an ideal time to spend with family, reflect on the past year, and look forward to what the new calendar year might offer.

The year of 2014 has been bittersweet for me. It has been the most challenging year, but I will remember it as a year of transformation instead of a year of despair. I have much gratitude for the experiences I have had, and the people I have met, and the chaos it has brought. Because in this chaos, it becomes glaringly clear where my priorities truly are, and helps me arrange the rest of my life to support these priorities instead of compete with them. I want to take the next few posts to explore the transformation and priority shifts of 2014.

Yoga Teacher Training

In late 2013, through a series of coincidences, I found out that Yoga Center of Minneapolis was hosting teacher training in my city.  I have been practicing yoga for 15 years and had made the decision to enroll in a different training.  It seemed too good to be true that YCM would be offering a training so close to home.  This was difficult to fathom at first, every other weekend devoted solely to yoga for a year!  With my schedule, I was skeptical.  But when the Universe is calling you to do something, you just have to have faith that it will work out.

Despite the craziness of my life, during this training, I began to experience incredible moments of clarity and immense gratitude for all that God and the Universe had presented me with (which I now know as samadhi). During the first weeks of training, in addition to Kate who told me about the training, I met Julia, whose husband is a cancer survivor. I met Mary, whose husband died of head and neck cancer 7 years ago. I also met Kim, who is a Physician Assistant at Mayo Clinic for my Dad’s oncologist. These individuals have become very important to me throughout the course of this past year. These incredible beings have provided support and strength, in ways I didn’t know I needed.

“We can rest, secure in the knowledge that we are all eternal threads in the grand design.” ~Judith Lassiter

Opening Up

Yoga has this amazing way of connecting people.  You may not know their name or what they do or where they are from, but here you are sharing, supporting, and opening up to one another.  All of my life, I have found opening up to new people very challenging, especially off of the mat.  Often the way others (strangers or not) treat us is a direct reflection of how we treat ourselves.  We all start as brilliantly shining lights and slowly build our armor to protect ourselves from pain and negativity (as Max Strom’s analogy from A Life Worth Breathing).  I know my armor was oversized and developed early.   If we want our light to shine and contribute to the goodness in the world, we must also learn when to be open. There will always be evil, there will always be people who love to dim your light, there will always be a struggle, there will always be people who are not happy with you.

Self-study is an integral part of yoga practice.  Taking time to reflect, understand, and bringing awareness to the internal self can completely transform a yoga practice.  Making this a priority has not been easy for me, however, the more centered and aware I can be, the simpler the rest of life seems to be.  Personally, I am learning to adjust my deep-rooted samskaras (impressions) and balance vulnerability with strength. If this new light challenges the ego of others, is not our battle to fight.  It is time to remove the armor and return to our true self.

“Love yourself. Forgive yourself. Be true to yourself. How you treat yourself sets the standard for how others treat you.”  ~Steve Mariboli