#graceandgloryyoga

[briansoucierpodcast]

#4israel #childhoodcancerawareness #graceandgloryyoga #letsgo (at Grace & Glory Yoga Northfield) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqciAfel0Q3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=t2ktiq3gyjjb

[danadee716]

because it's week two of teacher training and I love these people so so much! #mytribe #leadersintraining #chosenfamily #graceandgloryyoga #butterflies (at Grace & Glory Yoga)

[danadee716]

spent the afternoon creating love, light and joy with @bfarella at the most awesome birthday party south jersey's ever seen! 🎈 #futureyogis #cocreating #magic #graceandgloryyoga #yogaandcupcakes (at Grace & Glory Yoga)

[danadee716]

haha absolutely love this. 40 days to a revolution begins tonight and I get to share this experience with my bff! #makingmagic #yogaeverydamnday #graceandgloryyoga

[danadee716]

just your typical day of magic-making, thank you @allie_graceandglory for always pushing me to my edge 💗 #ilovemytribe #graceandgloryyoga #soulsistas

[graceandgloryyoga-blog]

The Greatest Gift

A blog post from the heart by our new Editor Travis Farrell. Teacher, husband, dad, yogi, human. 

In the story "The Greatest Gift" by Philip Van Doren Stern, a man, George, gets to see what the people in his life would have been like had he never been born (spoiler alert: they're super trashy without him around). Since he was a boy he's lived his life in service to others. It's his nature. But, in the beginning of the story, he falls despondent and contemplates jumping off a bridge. The story was made famous by the Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life starting Jimmy Stewart. It's a great film, and a great lesson in perspective. I was reminded of the movie in a master class at the Grace and Glory Yoga teacher training last weekend, where Nicole, one of the owners and leaders, invited us to focus on the blessings that we have in life and the blessing that we are for people in our lives.

I've been coming to Grace and Glory for a year and the work I've done has transformed my life. I am a better person. I have more patience as a father, more compassion as a husband, and deeper presence of mind in each moment. The inquiry work - introspective meditations and writing and conversations - have led me to see the world through a wider lens. It's like switching the camera angle from mouse vision to eagle vision. When I'm playing small, I am George on that bridge, out in the cold, staring down into the icy waters and missing all that is worth living for. The gift of yoga has given me tools to rise up, to shift my own point of view and see the bigger picture, the blessings. The possibilities from this shift are exponentially bigger and the blessings keep coming. 

Yes. Grace and Glory is a place where I find the space I need to work things out. Like my relationship with my father. And my gripes about my job. And everything else that comes down to this: my relationship with myself. It's a place where I find support to do the work I need to do each day. In classes and workshops I am given clear and simple directions each step of the way, tools to use when my thinking gets small. I'm challenged to step out of the comfort zone, to lay down the mask and to be honest with myself. But the big joke is that comfort zone isn't all that comfortable, and when I step outside of it, the shift happens.

There's more.

George is guided through his realizations by a good natured angel named Clarence Odbody. My yoga practice is my Clarence, always there for me to tune in, to breathe, to help me lighten up on when my head gets heavy. Just like George realizes his role in his community - that's he's a decent and dependable guy - Grace and Glory Yoga offers space to be of service. 

There's always a chance to step up. When a young colleague of mine passed away suddenly a year ago we organized a community practice as a fund raiser for her loving husband and their toddler. Through the month of November our studio raised money for a family coping with cancer, and on Thanksgiving we packed the studio and practiced in gratitude for her presence and commitment (she practices every day!). And tomorrow, on Christmas Day, my family and a dozen others members of the studio will be at a local church, serving a Christmas dinner that's organized by a fellow yogi and teacher. We're up to big work, being of service, and keeping the heart-fires stoked.

In the end of the story George sees the blessings he is in people's lives and Clarence's leaves him a note: "Remember, George, no man is a failure who has friends." Yeah, it's like that. The gift of yoga at Grace and Glory is the leader in the room who shares from the heart and leaves me knowing that we're all in this together. Sometimes this is a simple anecdote taken from the teacher's day or week, but it leads to is a core value, a human connection, a root feeling we all have in the pit of our belly. A real connection happens when I realize that, under the skin and muscle and bone, we're all the same. I know that, both on and off my mat, I have a place where I belong.

[danadee716]

after a beautiful, music-filled, candlelit practice in honor of a beautiful woman with breast cancer; these humans inspire me each and every day!!  #practiceforacause #chosenfamily #homeawayfromhome #createyourjoy #graceandgloryyoga (at Grace & Glory Yoga)

[danadee716]

I could go on for hours.. #gratitude #graceandgloryyoga #12daysofgrace