Why do I love yoga? Because yoga saved my life. And I know I am not alone in that belief, as I have heard many yoga teachers and students proclaim the same sentiment.
I have come to a place in my life where I recognize that the most real things in life, and the only thing that I actually have some semblance of control over, is the space between things, otherwise known as relationships. At the time of my first yoga teacher training in 2014, my relationship with myself was so unhealthy and difficult to manage that I tended to do everything within my power to avoid it. I was in the grip of many addictions, all of which were coping mechanisms to manage the pain I felt in every moment and in what seemed like every cell of my being. This pain was overwhelming, confusing, and embarrassing, and so far I had not found a strategy or path that did anything more than momentarily relieve some pressure or distract me from what was always lingering and waiting for me.
When I stepped into yoga teacher training, with my now co-facilitator Nora Maskey, I did so with the intention of following a nudge that I had felt countless times in moments of bliss during beautifully guided yoga classes. I did not think I would become a yoga teacher, and instead was focused on what I thought would be a Life Coaching career - not realizing how intertwined and inseparable these two “paths” would become.
For me, yoga was the path back to my aliveness. It has led me into dozens of trainings and experiences that have guided me into the core of my suffering and unraveling of my pain and struggle. It has taught me how to love my body, how to move in diverse ways, how to be with myself when I am in need of being seen, heard and loved, and how to express from the union of my whole body and see through the lens of my heart. Yoga, true to its name, has re-united my internal system and with the omnipresent essence and energy that permeates everything.
This is why we created The Path of the Yogin. A path to bring us back to ourselves, to uncover what is real and what is illusion, and to re-stabilize in our internal unchanging nature where healing is our birthright.
One of my favorite components of The Path of the Yogin program is our weaving of the yamas and niyamas into each module to expand the content in a way that supports the embodiment of these vital principles and practices.
Described by Donna Farhi in the book Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit, the Yamas and Niyamas are…“the empathetic descriptions of what we are when we are connected to source.” Or in other words, they are the keys to optimizing our relationship with source, with ourselves, and with others.
I remember the first time I learned about the yamas and niyamas in my first yoga teacher training. I immediately had the sense of how important these principles and practices were, and an excitement for the clear path laid out in front of me. This was soon followed by intense frustration that I couldn’t remember or hold on to all 10 notions in my psyche right away. A familiar desire for instant knowing and a deep lack of contentment with what is now shone light on where my loving attention and studentship was required on this path. It became a practice of choosing one at a time, week by week, revisiting, reading, and practicing, until all ten yamas and niyamas were committed to memory and weaved into my daily life. A surprising gift that kept on giving, as new layers, insights and inquiries would reveal themselves as I stayed the course with curiosity and a willingness to keep learning.
I am excited to share this journey with you. Are you ready to step onto the Path of the Yogin?