For the last 10 years practicing yoga has been such a great addition to my life. It has only been within the last 3 years that it has helped me through some major pivotal points in my life. Learning about letting go and enjoying the journey on and off the matt has helped me to grow in yoga, and the growth has opened my practice up to more than just asana, it has helped me to connect and look at each situation that arises in my life as a fresh start.

The last four months has been quite a challenge for me. Recently finding out I was pregnant and in the same time trying to grow my massage business, get married and trying to find a good time to start teaching yoga after my teacher training. Slowly, my energy diminished and I was barely practicing. Maybe, once a week and that was exhausting. They say that the first trimester is always the worst. Along with exhaustion, my doctor told me to take it easy because there were some reasons to be cautious. So…taking it easy, turned into slowly becoming lazy and eating whatever my body was craving. Mentally, I was struggling with the change of pace that has all of a sudden taken over me. I’ve have always been on the go, having an active lifestyle, eating a healthy diet. Suddenly, I was a completely different person. I didn’t even feel motivated to take a yoga class. It is truly amazing what being pregnant can do to a person in the first 3-4 months. But, in my heart, and my beliefs, I kept a positive outlook that this will change and I needed to be patient. Patience…something yoga has really helped me to learn, and learn well. You can’t force anything, you have to let time take it’s course and it did.

Right around the beginning of December, it was like I got my life back in gear. Energy was lifted, cravings were gone and there was the urge to be back on the mat as quickly as I could! The first step I took into Sankalpah filled me with overwhelming joy and calmness. I felt like I was home. I missed it! Everything about it. The studio, faces, music, most of all, my beautiful teachers. My sense of belonging suddenly filled me up inside, this indescribable energy. The belonging was more from within, but being around the people at sankalpah, and the energy that everyone carries, helped bring me to awareness. Yoga has taught me to find myself, not from the outside in, but from the inside out. Walking into the studio that day, felt like I stepped inside myself for the first time, all over again! Those moments, when you are so present, that you have discovered yourself so deep within, it helps you to grow to that next level of awareness. Those moments can be easily lost when you close yourself off to growth and experiences by accidentally letting your emotions get the best of you. That day made me realize my life is changing drastically and there is always going to be something new arising. But if I can remember to come back to myself, the self within, and breath deeply, I will find a fresh start with everything that comes my way.

Happy New Year Yogis! Hope to teach you in a class in 2010!

–Robin