Axiom One

You are exactly where you are meant to be:

After the sudden death of my Mother, I struggled to see the value in where I was, how is THIS where I’m supposed to be?! My son was not yet three, my daughter only six months and I hadn’t yet turned thirty. Nothing was right.

My then husband and I were moving, our home was packed up, our whole life was loaded onto a moving truck destined for Columbus, Ohio, life in NY was already history and I was numb. Years later I still haven’t neatly packaged how this event was “supposed” to happen, but I have found that the course of my life has been powerful, if I try to reflect on “what if it hadn’t happened” I get lost in the “why” and “what if” that is nowhere to build a life. This axiom, this truth has given me the freedom to put down the idea that I am a victim of circumstance, it has emboldened me to live my life with forward momentum, rooted in now, ready for tomorrow.

As I have expressed, in our worst moments this concept feels offensive. Struggle, tragedy, trauma these things aren’t “supposed” to happen to anyone. It’s easy to look back at our lives with regret or longing. Our history is the wave that we have ridden into now. Now is a place so fleeting it barely seems real. The irony is, it’s the ONLY thing that is real. Our history is part of the fabric that binds us to ourselves, our beliefs and our concept of self but it is not meant to define us, only propel us.

This is a golden opportunity because it means that we are always at the start of something, we are constantly at the beginning of an opportunity, it’s up to us what we decide to do with it.

It is the very circumstances of NOW that launch us into what comes next.

This is the power of the yoga practice, it teaches us to be present. These lessons come through intentional breathing, skillful movement and cultivated awareness. You learn the art of response over reaction, you learn to put down your assumptions and open to possibility. Yoga is the direct connection to now.

You really are exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Take a few moments now and sit. Close your eyes, place your hands gently over them, palms resting on your cheeks, fingers lightly covering your closed eyes and connect to the energy in your hands, let it settle and slow down. Take three breaths like this and then place your hands palms up on top of your knees. Feel the temperature of your face, it’s cooler now, your hands slightly warm and receptive. This witnessing brings you into the moment. Repeat this process.

You are exactly where you are supposed to be, this is now.