As the sun begins to set, my heart is confused. On one hand I am elated to be sharing Conscious Classroom’s yoga-in-schools curriculum with you all, to serve our teens and teachers during these intense times. And on the other hand my heart is heavy with the loss of three beautiful teens that left Bainbridge Island too soon.
The practice of yoga is all about letting go and not clinging to things, circumstances or people. How do we not cling to a life that we birthed, a being that we nurtured and loved? We witness our children’s personalities come to life as they grow. We instill values and morals with our children that we strongly believe in. As a parent we have all shared tears of sadness in tough times and tears of joy in others. We all do our best to support our kids just enough so when it’s time for them to spread their wings, they soar.
My heart aches for these parents and their families whose children are now soaring high above them. And so it’s called a practice, and how do we prepare for such a practice as this? We all have our own gifts to give back to the world, sharing our talents as we grow and learn. We don’t have to be the best at anything but giving our full attention to anything we choose matters. What I believe is that we just have to keep showing up, for ourselves, for the people we love and the causes we support.
Yoga is an inside job and all too often, in times of pain and suffering we seek outside of ourselves for answers. Answers that help us know there is always good even in the bad. To notice the light in the darkest of times, to be able to show up on the daily even when we don’t think we can bear the pain. To the parents I pray you find peace, to the students I pray you find solace, to the teachers I pray you find strength, and to our amazing community, I already know you are all LOVE.
I feel like Hannah Wachsman, Marina Miller, and Hazel Kleiner have landed in a part of my being and I will continue to bring forward their light into this program. How can I go forward with my offering and not remember the day we set to soft launch Conscious Classroom was the same day of this tragedy? These young ladies are now a part of this program. They will forever be my inspiration. Their souls will help me support other souls who are embodied, maybe even their friends. And isn’t that what we want for our friends? To know there is relief from pain and suffering and that life will move forward hopefully with our co-participation as a community of heart, or Kula in Sanskrit. I firmly believe that my practice has taught me that pain is real and that suffering, well that is up to us. Those angels do not wish for us to suffer because of their loss. I bet they would wish for us to thrive just like they set out to do. If you are in pain, find somebody close to you and work through this and If you are suffering do the same but add movement, journaling and your own power of self reflection. Time is your companion, and life will move forward and your job is to keep moving forward with a life you design and love in your heart.
