What started me on the path was a poster of Mick Jagger posted on the wall of our garage. He was in a shoulder stand before a show. It was first-grade gym class when I dropped into my first yoga posture, the shoulder stand. I got into yoga because it looked fun, and it relieved social anxiety. I felt less pressure to be someone else. It was my first time meeting the other students at my new school, and I was nervous because I had moved from the city to a small town surrounded by cornfields.

Yoga to me is home. The place I go to work out the anecdote. I started on the path at age 6.

Fast forward to young adulthood, the teachings revisited me through the YouTube platform. I was trying to figure out a new way to live and found myself battling depression stemming from body dysmorphia, and I was running out of options. I decided to let go of 90% of my worldly possessions and moved to Colorado in 2016. Kindness Yoga studio was around back then, and I was dropping into on average 2-3 yoga classes per day. The teachers were phenomenal. Yoga awakened something in me, and I was called to travel, especially to the country of Nepal. I decided to take the leap and travel abroad to better understand. Over time, and with dedication, I learned to appreciate the body I was given. After nearly dying in Germany, the process became less about shrinking in size, and more about embodying love. The first step was recognizing what made my heart sing, and beauty in small things, such as the smell of a flower.

It’s the small things in life that paint the whole picture. The details matter. Yoga is more than postures, it’s a whole lifestyle choice. Everything is connected, reflected, and coming from you.