First Yogaversary š§š¾āāļø
On August 12, 2018 I graduated from Willow Street Yoga Studio as a registered yoga teacher (RYT200) at the 200 hour level course. A WHOLE YEAR AGO?! My goodness how time flies when youāre flowing through life, literally. Over the course of this year iāve learned so much about myself, community, patience, authenticity and most importantly intentionality. Now you may be asking what any of that has to do with yoga, glad you asked- hereās a glimpse into my yogic journey.
I began practicing yoga 3 years ago during my first year of graduate school at University of Maryland School of Social Work. Yoga was a means of a desperate escape for me at the time. I was dealing with post graduation depression x2; immediately going to graduate school after undergraduate school at Morgan State University and the culture shock of being at a predominantly white institution (PwI). Letās just say, shit got real, real quick, fast and in a hurry.
One of my professors at my beloved Historically Black College and University (HBCU) referred me to try yoga and at the time all I knew of it was thin, white, blond, lululemon and having to be flexible. Have you seen me? well letās just say #NAH. But, I trusted her and I began to do some research to find a black yoga instructor and fell in love with my home practice through video instruction everyday. I started to realize that yoga is more than fancy pretzel poses on instagram and that it is for every(body) as long as you have the capacity to breathe and envision your mat as your perfectly imperfect home.
I learned that the flexibility we all tend to over associate with the poses(asana) in yoga is parallel to the continuous flexibility the average human has to practice EVERYDAY. Flexibility is a mind state: The quality of bending easily without breaking. Life in and of itself is just that, being flexible- bending, shifting and adjusting to the inevitable flow of life to remain grounded.
I began to see that iāve been gracefully trying to embody the yogic lifestyle through everything- I just never got on a yoga mat.
When I began practicing I vowed that I would NEVER step into a yoga studio because I was fearful of everything that had nothing at all to do with me. Itās pretty easy to fill your mind with negative unnecessary thoughts as you approach breakthrough healing. I convinced myself that my irrational thoughts were facts: iām too thick to do yoga, iām too black to do yoga, my mat costs $5 and my leggings arenāt $100+. Honestly, truly- none of that mattered. I was fearful of what it meant to live a better life, one that is harmonious, flexible and healthily intentional.
I began to be patient with myself, to truly begin observing my fears and thoughts around yoga and everything else I was trying to move past and what that would mean. Yoga has a way of doing that, calling you to simply be- observe your thoughts without judgement and be intentional about the way you want to practice simply connecting your breathe with movement.
The biggest eye opener for me with yoga is my conscious effort to constantly and consistently be authentic. To be ME, simply how I was designed by my higher power and the way I chose to design myself. I began to be authentic in sharing my truth, grounding myself in it and releasing it into the world once it served its purpose and focused on the lessons learned.
I express a high level of gratitude for those iāve flowed through life with- especially those that have taught and continue to teach me lessons, guided through yoga and God for allowing me to see myself the way he sees me.
These themes have been the few of many that iāve begun to embody and reflect on my mat, in my teaching, relationships and the way I lead in love- authentically, patiently, in my community, intentionally and most importantly in the way I flow through self love in action; Yoga.
Namaste Yogis š» š§š¾āāļø š§š¾āāļø