In the summer of 2009, yoga saved me.
I was experiencing anxiety like I had never felt before. I wasn’t sleeping, cried at the drop of a hat, and felt constantly sick to my stomach. I had already committed to going back to work at summer camp, and was really worried I wasn’t going to be able to function. I made myself a wellness plan- swim before breakfast and yoga after dinner. I usually practiced alone, but soon friends starting joining me, asking me to teach them what I knew.
In those hours after dinner in the aptly named Harmony Hut, I discovered a passion not only for my own yoga practice but for sharing it with others. Asana already helped me feel calm, but no feeling compared to teaching. I starting daydreaming about a future in which I became a yoga teacher, but had no immediate plans to make those dreams happen.
Over the years, my Monday night yoga class continued to be a grounding force in my life, providing me with refuge from my own tormented mind when I couldn’t find it elsewhere. Some nights, I would fight back tears, anxiety ridden and panicked, but always, always, always left feeling calm. It became apparent that yoga could not just be a hobby for me- I wanted it to be my lifestyle. Even more, I wanted to share it with others, and help them find calm in the same way that I did.
I took time off from work last fall and did a 200 hour yoga teacher training in Nelson, BC. I was initially just looking for a yoga retreat, until I stumbled across a website that shifted my perspective- and I realized this was exactly the right time in my life to work towards my dream of sharing this passion with others in a professional capacity.
And now, here I am, having just taught my first public yoga class. Some were new to yoga- others with years of experience. I nearly cried looking around the room, watching all these beautiful women breathe deeply and move from one pose to the next.
I left feeling so high. Teaching yoga is a gift to myself even more than it is a service to others. This is a path I am so content to travel!
