Movement is my medicine.

 

And a yoga mat is my magic carpet. It’s where I feel safe not to know. On a yoga mat I get to be curious - without judgement - about all the shapes I can make with my body: sometimes standing on one foot and a forearm; sometimes on two hands; or just the top of my head. No matter my foundation, I get to romance my spine doing one of five things to it: side-stretching, rotating, forward-bending, backbending, or elongating it to take out all its curves… And as I mindfully move my spine in these five ways, I create a more spacious neutral inside my body. And when my body has more space, I find more space between my thoughts, my words, and my actions. And then I get to move through my days with more ease.

 

My relationship with each posture is as mighty as my relationships with people. They expose my abilities and limitations, and help me grow my equanimity. I’d even go so far as to say my twenty year relationship with Triangle Pose helped me garner the strength to leave my marriage.

 

I'm a Michigan girl. My father was the kind of man who’d make a "quick run" to the local hardware store for toggle bolts and - much to our family's chagrin - return ninety minutes later after striking up conversation with a fellow patron and discovering they had multiple friends in common or some other connecting threads. These exchanges with strangers made my father glow. As a child and young adult, I couldn't comprehend its appeal. But I do now. It's kind of everything. Attention is our greatest quality, to give and to receive. Quality attention reinforces our intrinsic value, reminding us that we all belong to one another.

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My teacher Dharma Mittra says, "For the sake of others, we must stand supreme." That is my aim: to be the best mirror possible. I am human.  And I will fall short.  Nevertheless, that is my aim.