Sit quietly.
Refuse the rush, the hectic pace that distracts your heart’s desire.
The desire to come home.
Breathe into THIS, this space that is your True Self.
Light illuminating from the heart. Shine bright the star, the moral compass of love.
Present in this.
Alive with vibrant joy in the midst of sadness. Grateful clarity guides me inward and gives me the courage to slip into the space that awaits my sound. The voice is yours.
The essence of touch supports me forward. Leap into the new beginnings and just say, “YES”.

I found this in one of my many journals. If someone asks me what twenty-five years of living looks like for me, this is it. It’s a constant reminder of daily practice to connect to the source. I am forever humbled by living a path of yoga teachings. I cannot claim to get it perfect, only that I followed a deeper calling, my dharma.

The Buddha is asked what life is before enlightenment, and the reply is, “Chop wood, carry water.” He is asked what life is after enlightenment, and the reply is, “Chop wood, carry water.” It means the day in and day out of simply living the routine tasks of life. The everyday moments that lead us forward. The daily making of the bed, cleaning the dishes, watering the plants. Each day brushing our teeth.

Within the daily task, the awareness of my attitude is the commitment to finding joy in the ordinary. How I walk up those stairs of the yoga center, how I use the many hours of carting the toilet paper from Costco with an attitude of gratitude, and how schlepping yoga mats from one place to another and teaching all these years is just my blessing. Life becomes a constant ritual of motion that one day marks a crazy number of years.

Maintaining a yoga center is not something my ego would have leaped into without the greater desire to host a community and share the depth of the yoga teachings. The love and support of our teachers and our students forever humbles me. Thank you. This is our beginning as we move into the next phase of our existence.

The event held last week was a tribute to so many. We introduced our nonprofit, Sanga Space, and all the funds raised from the auction will go to offering programs for those in need and creating scholarships for future teacher training programs. The need for mental health is greater than ever. We are committed to serving a population in need and hope to ease the financial obstacles.

As we move into this beginning, yoga therapy tools are needed more than ever to help with the merging acceptance that science is finally catching up to the spiritual. We need healing of the entire system. We are offering new classes this month with some amazing teachers willing to drive from distant areas to be a part of our community. We encourage you to leap into your passion to thrive and continue going deeper into the practice by exploring one or more of these.

We are collectively healing the greater world of humanity. It is a daily acceptance that in order to see the world shift, we must be able to shift our perspectives. Pain is real and yet it is a gateway to asking for help. Let us at Yoga Among Friends be a safe place to heal.

Learn more about our new classes and sign up here.

Love and light,

Laura Jane