My Story
I don't quite know if it was me who found my mat..or if my mat that found me. In retrospect - I'm not sure it matters. Our meeting happened in the midst of personally turbulent and chaotic times. It was the year 2000 - the dawn of a new century. Altho I wasn't consciously aware - now looking back - I can see that I was unconsciously seeking out a new way of being.
I was quiet, timid. shy, afraid of my very own shadow. I was unaware that I even had any sort of voice - let alone a creative one - that was just waiting to be set free.
It was love at first sight. Feeling the solidity of the ground beneath, the expansiveness of the sky above, and my own heart beating. Connecting with my breath...my body...my being. I knew from our very first meeting - that this practice of yoga would be one that sustains. Very quickly - it became a daily one.
Shortly thereafter - I picked up the camera anew...adding one more part and piece to my daily practice. I'd been walking the same path - always in a big hurry to get to wherever it is I thought I was going...as if there was some all-important destination and place I needed to be. By slowing down..by breathing...by exercising what I practiced on my mat every day - I discovered that I had been missing out on the all-important journey. This visual practice quickly became a daily meditation in cultivating presence and awareness..and in finding the extraordinary in the everyday ordinary. Letting go of the never-ending quest for perfection, I began to see and record the world for the simplicity and beauty it is.
I began doodle journalling....pouring my heart and soul out into words that filled the page. In 2006 - I wrote:
'No more straight lines. No goals. No destinations. Practice. Practice. Practice. Only endless circles.'
I had understood it - at the time - to be about my training and work as an Architect, and my wanting and needing to break free of those constraints. But now - I'm reading it as my true beginning. From when and where this journey - from there to here and ever-after - began.
In 2007 - I began my Daily Practice photoblog, posting a photo every day. In 2010 - I started writing, adding words to accompany my images. Simple reflections...stories..observations..meditations. Within the daily discipline of these three practices - yoga + photography + writing - I was not only discovering my voice..but finding the courage to express it.
It is thru the filter of our feeling bodies that we connect with and interpret our world. By bending and twisting and turning and shaping and re-shaping - we squeeze out the old..and make space for the new. We open up channels of energy that were previously dormant. We challenge ourselves and our self-limiting beliefs. With daily discipline and practice - we grow stronger. We become more aware of ourselves in this present moment. We trust. We believe. We breathe.
After over a decade of daily practice, I completed my 200-hr teacher certification in Vinyasa Krama yoga at Inner Strength Studios. Having had the privilege of studying in many styles and disciplines, I am forever grateful to the teachers who have come before me and guided my way.
