giving and receiving

I need the sea because it teaches me. - Pablo Neruda


I'm a yoga teacher. I help students on the mat. I show how we can all create our own habits of strength and how we can open in all the tight places. I teach students how to align the body. Most of all, I show students ways to align the actions with the heart's intentions.

I'm a teacher therefore people look to me for help, support, advice and inspiration on and off the mat. I share what I've learned, how I've healed and how I continue to bring myself to a better place. I give. Because that's a teacher's calling. I serve and I give. I have been taught beautifully that a true teacher must have the intention to help each & everyone in the room. I give my energy to every class that I teach, to every student, friend, family who come to me way after the class has ended. I open my heart and I give.

But I'm also a student. I too am learning to align myself in ways that can only be good for me. It's a constant practice to continue aligning my actions with my heart's truth. I'm a student working on balancing strength & openness, effort & surrender. I'm a student and I too need to receive.

My ability to give suffers when I forget to keep the flow of energy going. I can't be a teacher if I forget that I'm also a student. Which is why even givers need to take a step back sometimes, if only to breathe. I've gone through enough to know what's good for me & what's not. I can no longer allow doubt, fear, uncertainty bring me down even if it means taking a step back from people that I love. Because I know I can give better and love more when I surround myself with positive life-affirming energy. The kind of energy that uplifts.

And so today, this is my practice. Today I'm taking a step back to find my breath. To find the balance between giving and receiving. To swim in a sea of unconditional love that I may continue to keep the flow of abundance present in my life. The heart knows no doubt, no limitations, no fear. Once again I'm reminded of my path, to love it and trust it completely with all my heart.

LOVE is big.

where do i begin.

these past few days & weeks have been filled with so much.... love, friendship, support, endings, new beginnings, the promise of adventures, good vibes, deep connections & most of all freedom. sweet exhilarating freedom. i look back at my own past & i see how things do happen for a reason. i see how things are falling into place because i'm finally trusting life.

for a long time i've held on to so many things out of fear of losing control. i've silenced my own voice & crushed my own heart. now i realize how life unfolds perfectly when we surrender to its flow. all the baby steps i've taken to approach my edge, all the times i've cowered & ran back to my safe zone, all those were not in vain. i learned my own way. with all the pain, heartaches & tears it took, the process of becoming is beautiful. i see that now.

we can heal ourselves and we can change our life. we can stop feeling sad the moment we choose to be happy. we have to trust our heart & take risks. when we do things out of love, how can we go wrong? love is amazingly big. bigger than our imaginations combined. and we cannot control it, we can only learn & enjoy it.

i don't know what tomorrow brings and that's the magic of it. my heart is the boss of me now... i will let it lead me every step of the way. with my mind, arms & heart open, i'm stepping into the flow of grace with trust that life is unraveling beautifully.

Your heart & my heart, are very, very old friends. ♥ (Hafiz)

image from weheartit

The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.

Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere,
they’re in each other all along.

(Rumi)

wanderlust wednesdays: India

contrary to popular belief, they are generous with their smiles in India.
this one right here brings me back to this amazing country each time.

the joy of a kula

one of the things i love most in my yoga practice is the kula - a community of open-hearted and creative individuals who embrace Anusara's life-affirming philosophy of intrinsic goodness. Anusara describes the kula as a tightly-knit community of yoga practitioners that enjoys the closeness of a family and the fluidity of a merry band of bohemian artists: highly trained, joyful & serious about fun. it is inclusive, where everyone is welcomed & honored for their uniqueness.

no matter where i am in the world this connection with my kula is deeply felt. there are no Anusara teachers or yogis in the country where i live, save for a few students who have started to embrace the practice. yet from all over the world, i receive a daily dose of love from such amazing beings. the support is mind blowing. constant. sending me messages of love & light in the most joyful or helpless moments. reminding me that i am never alone even when i find myself in a dark place. the kula is a ceaseless source of encouragement, affirmation and inspiration. most of all it's a living source of celebration and joy. and i'm so grateful to be part of it.

looking at the bigger picture, i can see the message that Anusara imparts through its practice. we are all connected, through our sameness, our differences, one way or another. that we are really of one essence, that of goodness. may all of us discover this light within. may we learn to feed it with the fire of our practice. and may all of us continue to shine this light out, to connect with our true selves the way we connect with others. and may we remember to celebrate the beauty of who we are.

and when we forget, then there is yoga. :)

wanderlust wednesdays: i dream of japan

i started wanderlust wednesdays last year as a way of revisiting the places where my wanderlust has taken me. this year i had the idea of posting photographs of places where my wanderlust wants to take me. while i have been to japan in the sakura-filled spring of 2009, i long to go back and visit this lovely country once again. these are photographs of a quaint little japanese restaurant tucked in a quiet corner of my island. where i, as i was dreaming of japan, enjoyed a nice tasty bowl of tempura donburi.