Every week I send out a love note filled with resources, musings, and inspiration about walking the path of yoga and liberation. Click here to subscribe!
Today I turn 33.
On this day seven years ago, I woke before dawn in a tent on the beach. I was in Mexico, and it was the third day of my first yoga teacher training. For the following weeks, I had the same schedule each day: wake at 4:30am, walk down to the ocean, dig a hole in the sand to sit in, meditate for 45 minutes. Walk to the pavillion, practice for an hour and a half, eat breakfast. Do more yoga. Eat lunch. Practice teaching. More yoga. Meditate. Dinner. Singing and sharing. Sleep.
I came home a month later transformed. My skin was tan, my ass was kicked and my heart was split open. My days in Mexico had been filled with learning about yoga, teaching yoga, and practicing yoga. But truly, my days were filled with learning about and practicing being myself.
I’ve been teaching now for seven years, and showing up fully as my whole self is at the essence of my practice. Being present, being vulnerable, and being myself, in all its messiness and complexity: this is the gift I offer to the world. This is the gift each of us can give.
All this woo talk isn’t a replacement for on the ground WORK to undo harm and move towards justice. I believe that in the face of oppression and fear, showing up fully brings hope. In a world that teeters on the precipice of despair, being fully and divinely you can shift the balance. In a culture of shame, vulnerability is a revolution.
I deeply love and appreciate you. Thank you for being with me for these past seven years. You inspire me and prod me on towards deeper depths and greater heights. It is such an honor to strive to co-create a better world inside the four walls of the studio with you. May we continue together on this path!
Much love,
Bear
P.S. If you like what I write, sign up for weekly blog posts direct to your inbox by clicking here or filling in the form below!
Or connect with me on FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM.
You might also like to read about yoga and...EMPATHY, BEING AN ADULT and SOCIAL JUSTICE.