A Love Letter to My Younger Yogi Self-
Hey there, slightly broken bird. I see you, proud but nervous, confident but willing to try something new. Thank you for finding yoga. Thank you for finding this home. And for seeking out wise teachers, more knowledgeable than you. And for knowing, despite your brazenness, that you needed to find a soft place to heal. Know that your decision to walk through those doors on that very first day will set you on a lifetime path of learning and growing.
You did well landing into the rooms of some of the most incredible teachers - yogis who will lovingly guide you through a system of yoga that is so smart, so kind, so intentional.
You will be surprised to learn as you grow older how yoga will hold your hand through some of your most incredible life moments. So keep coming.
Stick with it. Stick with it when it feels clumsy or hard.
Stick with it when it feels heavenly and profound.
And show up for all the days in between.
Roll out your mat more days than not.
Practice yoga when you want to. And practice when you don’t. The days will add up and one day, far, far, far from now you will credit yoga for ushering you through some of your life’s greatest challenges.
You will be disappointed to discover that you can’t get an A here. Nor can you win. But you will learn to be astounded by the gifts of this practice.
Find teachers you trust and admire and make you feel seen. Teachers who push you but not too hard. Teachers who remind you to soften and be gentle with yourself. Teachers who mirror how strong and beautiful and capable you already are. Teachers who take the practice seriously, but not themselves. Teachers who will challenge what you think you know. Teachers who know what a profound honor it is to have you in their space. And who would never, ever take that for granted.
Never return to a class if you find a teacher who belittles you or anyone else. They are not worthy of your time. Move on.
You will learn to harness the skill of discernment in so many ways.
Practice the poses you love and the ones you don’t. Give yourself the grace to come to realize that these poses mirror our lives off the mat, and we must learn to show up and breathe through it all. The parts we love. The parts we don’t. The transitions. The big moments. The hard ones. The restful ones.
Never skip savasana.
Know that as you awkwardly or uncomfortably try to find ease in a long hold of a pose, that you are preparing yourself to breathe through life’s inevitable challenges.
May you learn to find grace in the midst of struggle. Humor when you falter. Humility when you succeed.
Have so much fun doing all the crazy, fancy poses if you choose. Feel elated when, after years of consistent practice and effort, a pose that at one time felt impossible, now feels almost effortless.
Also know that whether or not you do that pose has zero to do with enlightenment.
And that one day you may not even care about those postures anymore.
Make space for the possibility that one day your practice will become the most sacred space where what you truly crave is ultimately sitting in stillness. Know yourself well enough to realize that you may need to move a lot to eventually become still. When you finally get there, relish in deep relaxation, a quieter mind, and a feeling of contentment, regardless of life’s circumstances.
Remember always that you are not an advanced yogi simply because you take a hard class and make fancy shapes.
Remind yourself that kindness off your mat is a million times more profound than any posture.
Know that the physical strength and flexibility you gain on your mat will empower you through marathons, childbirth, ski trips, and massive hikes.
Use your practice as an opportunity to hone the most encouraging and loving internal voice. And an opportunity to notice when that voice is less than kind that you can choose to change it.
Would you believe me if I said your practice will become one of the most enduring relationships of your lifetime?
Or that you would seek out your mat to ease a grieving or broken heart?
Or that you will come to love this practice so much that you pivot your entire life’s trajectory so that you can become a teacher yourself? And then a teacher’s teacher?
Or that you will come to know and love so many students, peers, and friends through the years because you found each other through yoga?
Keep your heart open to the possibility that your practice will change and evolve so much through the years but that the breath will always, always be the most important part.
So keep practicing, young yogi.
Keep practicing no matter what.
With love always.