Water for the Soul

As I was walking home from a yoga class this afternoon, I was saw the most beautiful flower bush in full bloom. I stopped moving, closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. As the fresh scent floated through my body and straight to my soul, I suddenly felt as though I was back in Thailand. I was completely overcome with peace and serenity. Tears came to my eyes. I blinked them open and looked around at this incredible world we live in with complete wonder.

It occurred to me as I stood there, not far from busy Lawrence Avenue in Chicago, that my flashback didn't really take me back to a place. My heart and soul felt so completely rich during my time in Thailand not because of the place, but because of the space it allowed me to discover.

Don't get me wrong--I'd give just about anything to be back on the sands of Haad Yuan Bay overlooking the ocean, listening to the geckos, feeling the gentle breeze, sipping on a fresh coconut and chowing down on a pumpkin curry--those experiences were completely unique to Thailand. There's no doubt in my mind that Thailand carries a magic completely its own.

But the cathartic release, open heart and content soul I found on the island came from the moment, not the place. The complete contentedness I associate with my experience in Thailand was about the space I was able to create in my body and mind during my journey. While I cannot easily get myself back to Thailand, with remarkably little effort (sleep, a yoga asana practice, fresh air and some natural beauty), I can get myself back to that space.

This does not diminish the significance places hold in our hearts. I will forever associate so many positive emotions, lessons and moments with Thailand, and that makes Thailand forever a treasure of mine. But I find it quite comforting, inspiring even, that I can recreate that space right here at home--or anywhere else for that matter.

Sometimes, we just need to allow a moment to be exactly as it is, to realize, it's exactly what we need. Every thirst is satiable if we give ourselves the space to drink it in.

A Full Life.

It's been a long time since I've posted, a fact that makes my heart sign. Life is full. I've been waiting for it to settle down, and have realized that unless I let go of certain parts of my life that bring me and others joy, love and peace, things will not settle down. Not much anyway. So this requires a mindset shift.

Ready? Go!

Being full is a blessing. So many wonderful people and places to share this beautiful life with. Fullness requires responsibility too. Responsibility to continually seek inner space, to be sure the filling of my heart and soul matches that of my calendar. This is hard. Harder than before, when I hadn't realized how much my heart and soul truly thrive off of quiet, reflective time spent journaling, sleeping, meditating and practicing yoga asana. It's hard for the people who love you as well. Not only do you have to know exactly what you need, but they have to support you in finding the time and space you  need to be at peace. And you, of course, must do the same for them.

I think the greatest cause of peace and contentment in my life are mountains. I don't live near them, I hope I will again one day, but they're not one of the many wonders of Chicago. So I seek them out.

Rocky Mountain National Park

For Spring break my best buddy, Kelsey, and I drove all the way to Colorado in her wonderful Prius. We spent everyday in the mountains: skilling, hiking, running, driving...They are everywhere!

Having only ever skied once for a couple of hours on a "mountain" in Wisconsin, I was flat out terrified to be in Vail. But the mountains are empowering. Just as tadasana, mountain pose, channels your inner mountain and empowers you in any moment, being on a mountain gives you strength, courage and power.

Breathing in the mountains comforts me. Staring into the faraway peaks and then climbing up them fills me with a feeling of invincibility. I am strong. I can do anything. Through difficult seasons and storms, the mountains stay strong. Their exterior may show signs of weathering, but their interior never waivers. How magical to consider people embodying this same sentiment.

What is your mountain?

2014 = Magic.

When I think of 2014, I think of magic. I think of exciting adventures, amazing people and oodles of self-growth. I think of about watching the sunrise from my balcony on Haad Yuan Bay. I think about my beautiful niece giggling. I think about bike riding through the forest preserve on my commute to school. I think about yoga in the park, smiling students, home-cooked meals, fresh vegetables, delicious teas and incredible company. I think about new relationships. I think about love.

I can hardly believe a year has passed since my reflections on 2013, when I encouraged any and all practice yoga, and I looked-back on what that practice means to me. As 2014 progressed, I started to see yoga in every feeling, person, situation; everything. How humbling it is to share part of this journey with others.

When I hit a couple of bumps in the road, I tried to use Yoga as an escape, only to realize that Yoga is not an escape, but a tool to work through life's problems, an approach to living that removes the need to "escape" and provides the strength to work through difficult times. A little piece of light, a sprinkle of magic that leads the way.

Life's bumps will never cease. 

Nothing, including a Yogic lifestyle, can prevent challenge and pain. But Yoga holds my hand as I work through it. Yoga shows me the light and opens the space to find love and peace in both the easy, and more challenging times. 

So many beautiful things happened in 2014. The lessons I learned are probably best presented in my post-Thailand post, Top 5 Lessons from a Foreign Land. My heart is so full of gratitude and love for the places I went, people I met and experiences I had. But I am most grateful for the love I have cultivated deep within my own soul. This inner love has allowed me to share my love more fully with others and to really fall in love. The cultivation and expression of pure, unconditional love is also a never-ending journey full of a mixture of ease and challenge. And while it may not always seem to be true, Love is always full of beauty. It can make you feel as though the world has been sprinkled with glitter, a magical sea of light. You may have to dig a bit to find it, but press on, it's always there.

I am in awe of the magic I experienced in 2014--both abroad and here at home. That magic surrounds us-- whether we choose to see it or not, is entirely up to us. 

So, in 2015, I implore you to find the magic all around you.

     Look for the sparkle. 

               Seek out the light. 

                         Find the space.                                                                                                                  And love.