it was 2008 and i was 15 years old when i took my first yoga class with my older sister — but that’s not where it started. memories of being 5 or 6, laying on the hardwood floor with my legs extended behind my head, toes meeting the ground in halasana (plow) whilst my mother cooked breakfast and spice world was playing on the tv in the background are strong. it is said that children who naturally practice asanas on their own are not merely experimenting, but are remembering lifetimes of practice.

throughout my college years i would periodically drop into a free class offered by my university — never knowing what was going on, constantly looking at the bodies moving into effortless shapes around me — and yet, i felt the solace after the final savasana despite being a novice to the sequences

as a global backpacker and solo traveler, i turned to yoga studios around the world to find a bit of grounding when hopping from place to place. the depth of awareness was not yet there, but the benefits were too clear to ignore. whenever i felt scattered, lost, or lonely — it was a yoga class that reminded me who I was.

my practice became consistent but it wasn’t until 2017 that i felt like i was really experiencing yoga. at the end of every class, tears would stream down my cheeks. without thought, no presence of anxiety, the body would just do its thing. release. release. release.

during that time in my life i was moving through a lot of trauma. i was arriving to the pain i had experienced, relating it to other periods in my childhood or late teens where i had fallen victim to similar violence. i remember feeling overwhelmed by all the repair that laid ahead of me. with yoga, i found that i didn’t have to do much talking or analyzing of my emotions; i just had to breathe, and move. giving myself this space to feel, transcend, and expel felt liberating. i was free.

i suddenly became obsessed with somatic practices and the understanding that emotions are stored in the body, not just processed through the mind. while talk therapy supported me for many years and i am forever grateful for its presence along my journey (and still use it from time to time!) i know that without discovering the power of a disciplined yoga practice, i wouldn’t be where i am today.

this is a very condensed version of the tale to being committed to the path. it is my way of meeting you, dear reader, with an open heart, letting you know that i’ve been where you are and yes, it gets better.