Tell me your story…

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone-we find it with another.”

-Thomas Merton

I truly love community.

I cherish being a part of a collective.

I especially love creating ways we can come together.

Why is this so important to me?

Because I know what it’s like to feel alone.

I’ve experienced it. Not the good kind of alone. Not the chosen quiet, the personal time for reflection and introspection-kind of alone. The desperate kind. When you actually need others and you don’t believe there is anyone there for you. When ALL others feel inaccessible. The dark and scary-kind of alone.

I’ve felt it many times in my life.

Like when we moved to a new city, which we did often as I grew up.

New schools.

Unfamiliar faces and places, even smells.

Existing ways of doing things that were different from my own.

It should have become a familiar experience but it never really did.

Each move was pretty terrifying for this shy little girl. Not being a part of things. Being and outsider. Being new. Being different. Being noticed. Even stared at. Yikes. To me, these were all very bad!

One of our moves in particular truly stands out. At about nine years old, we relocated to Montreal, Canada. My older brother Jeff, and I were enrolled in an all-French speaking school. I remember being on the playground (which, mind you, was a solid sheet of ice the kids were playing hockey on- quite a sight for this California girl to witness) and with this particular move, not only was I the new kid, I was from a-whole-nother country and I didn’t speak the language. A giant group of scary lookin’ kids approached me on the playground (in hindsight, they were probably coming to say hello) but they were simply terrifying to me and when I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, I just burst into tears right there on the ice. I felt crazy-alone.

And, they just thought I was crazy!

I’ve experienced that sense of being alone in other ways, too.

It was the early 2000’s, I lived in San Francisco and had worked in the corporate world since the early 90’s. From the depths of my soul, I could sense something shifting greatly. Things that used to matter, meant nothing…money, my “stuff”, my title, my Blackberry. I was beginning to wake up and realize I’d been living someone else’s life, climbing a corporate ladder I could give a shit about, and I’d been going through the motions to create a life that was killing me emotionally, physically, spiritually. Acknowledging that I’d spent a significant portion of my life building my home on quicksand was a frightening process. The community I’d felt a part of for sooo long no loner felt like my own. I was depressed. I had no sense of purpose. And, I felt very alone.

Why am I sharing these stories?

Because they are a part of what makes me-me. They are where I move from, live from, teach from, love from. And, we all have stories. The ones that feel big, the ones that feel smaller but all that form us. We are the sum of our parts. All of the parts are powerful. When we share them, we give others permission to do the same and we truly connect with one another.

I would not choose to change a single thing about my path, my family, my up-brining, the various places I’ve lived, all of the people I’ve encountered along the way. I wouldn’t alter my career, my choices, the dark times, the bright times, as they’ve all landed me right here. Now. And, the collective of my life’s experiences give me all of my perspective and purpose.

I’ve been talking about it a lot in my classes lately. We are either falling into the flow, the universal current, or we are swimming feverishly against it. The times that we swim feverishly upstream, our challenging times, provide us with profound lessons.

Specifically, they’ve prepared me for how to serve more honestly, powerfully, empathetically and purposefully.

I know I can’t give other feelings…and I can’t make you feel anything in particular.

What I can do is hold space and intention around my deep desires to cultivate profound connections with others through community, my offerings, my classes, events, retreats and especially when it come to other yoga teachers through Elevate Yoga Trainings™.

I can hold space and intention for this…

I want you to feel accepted.

I want you to feel supported.

I want you to feel loved.

I want you to feel understood. Seen. Heard.

I want you to feel safe.

I want you to have a home built on a solid foundation.

I want you to know that you are a part of something bigger.

I want you to connect deeply with your purpose, your passions and to soften the fears and self-doubt that get in the way.

I want us to serve, to heal, to be fully alive and to be present with the darkness and the light.

I want all of these things. I want this for each of us.

It’s from this place that I believe we can move mountains. When we feel safe, when we believe in ourselves, and we know others believe in us, all things are possible.

This is what Elevate Yoga Trainings™ was born from. And, I can’t wait to get started again in March. We have only five spots left for this transformative program. Come and discover your truest voice, learn to tell your story honestly, teach from your soul, find your purpose and connect deeply with your students. Be a part of something big.

I truly love community.

I cherish being a part of a collective. I especially love creating ways we can come together.

Why is this so important to me?

Because I want you to know you are not alone.

#buildcommunity #yogaunites #elevateyogatrainings