Hiiiii! It’s been ages since I’ve posted here. More and more, I’ve been feeling moved to express myself through writing and also through cooking the foods I love. Today’s post might feel relevant to you no matter your political beliefs, because, let’s face it, we all experience times in life where things do not go as we’d wished.
Do we see these times as obstacles to overcome? Or as opportunities for growth? These are things I ponder a lot as a woman who teaches yoga. And as an American citizen in 2016.
And now…
“This is the yoga,” one of my teacher friends, Kiley, said in class on Wednesday…that gray post-election morning.
For real, sister.
This IS the yoga.
When things don’t go our way? How we show up and how we choose to perceive things is SO the yoga. Acknowledging the truth of how we feel. Yoga. Owning the ickiness and the feeling of being in the muck. How we choose to move forward. That’s the yoga.
Do we choose to turn bitter? Or better?
Do we get mired down in the swamp? Or, like the lotus flower, do we use the swampy muck as fuel to help us grow and blossom and liberate into our potential?
In other words, when life hands us shit, do we complain and give up? Or maybe we do complain, but eventually we use that shit to feed and grow a beautiful garden?
Will we harden and turn cold and bitter inside? Or will we let our pain and heartbreak warm us, soften us, and strengthen us simultaneously? Will we let our hurt break us open, or shut us down?
Are we choosing to see ourselves as victims? Or for who we really are…powerful creators?
This is what I call the Yoga of Real Life, ya’ll.
It’s a choice. It really is.
I’m not saying I always choose perfectly, guys. Far from it. Yet together, we can support one another in making better choices.
We must feel in order to heal, my loves.
Let’s choose love over fear. Conscious, aware, loving activism.
Going forward, our yoga practices will help us re-center, cleanse, and clarify.
For me, the yoga has also involved doing a few extra random acts of kindness as I make my way around NYC this week. I invite you all to do the same. It feels good. No matter where we stand on the political spectrum, we all could use a little extra dose of kindness. Write to me, if you wish, and let me know how it goes for you.
Sending massive love and light to all.
West of Persia 
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