I would say yoga brought me to a hidden peace in times of turmoil. After months of a personal darkness and dealing with severe anxiety, depression and fear, I didn’t think I could ever feel safe or comfortable in my skin again. I woke up every morning with a knot of fear and anxiety in my stomach. Most mornings I would cry when I first rose due to the terrible nightmares I experienced. I knew I couldn’t carry on that way but I saw no escape route.
My best friend encouraged me to start practicing yoga with her. Both of us brand new to yoga, we would watch YouTube videos at my apartment and mimic the poses. I started dedicating more and more time to my practice, even when she wasn’t around. At first I think it was a distraction from the horrors of reality but then it blossomed into long hours of meditation and yoga and I started to feel… better. Not only better but good. I could stand to be inside my own head. I even found a sense of peace and security there.
Yoga opened my mind in ways I wasn’t expecting. I looked into my center and analyzed myself, my beliefs, and my reality. I started to understand who I am and face my inner demons. I found happiness, laughter and gratitude again. Life wasn’t as terrifying, I found that I was one with the world, that I was suppose to be here, I have a purpose and I am powerful. I am not my mistakes and I am not defined by the things that have happened to me. Yoga brought enlightenment I didn’t even know existed, I found that when I am in this space of golden silence and euphoria and you are there too, we are one.
Had it not been for my friend encouraging me, I might not have found myself. I became a certified instructor to share this incredible healing practice with others who needed to save themselves, as I had. I want to be a voice offering a solution, a hand, but It’s up to you to make an effort and the change.
“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.”
-Francis Bacon