We at Yoga Among Friends are entering a new journey of an endless practice to expand. This auspicious time has presented us with an opportunity to deepen our commitment to living our yoga tools. We have spent the past two weeks accepting our situation that our sweet door is physically closed but our center is fully open with the grace of technology and the willingness of our teachers to venture into awkward and foreign territories of cyberspace.
This past week Yoga Among Friends is celebrated our 22nd anniversary. Yes, opening a yoga center in 1997 in the western suburbs of Illinois was not the chosen business for success at that time! The April fool’s joke is we are still here. And even though we can’t greet you all with a physical touch of hello, we can still connect to our community and share our many tools for living in health and wellness through the heart.
When I hear the words, “Stay HOME!”, I am listening to a higher wisdom that is offering me the gateway to going inward. I feel we are all being instructed with a deeper message to journey into our inner home, our soul. To start slowing down, create the opportunity now to delink from our busy lives of outer living which have constantly been there so we could avoid the inner call to go inward.
NOW is the opportunity to return to our inner home and cultivate new habits in our lifestyle that allows for these ancient yoga tools to assist us. Yes, we are struggling with the necessary changes in our daily living but we do not have to suffer. We can shift the mind’s habit of running into the constant chatter of fear and worry, that’s causing our nervous systems to react with anxious sleepless nights.
This is the time the world is saying “Go Inward”. Make time and space for your practice, to listen to your soul’s cry for attention. We are globally answering the wake-up call to rebalance the ecosystems and to create healthier habits in our attention to the inner life of our heart.
This new road map is not one I would have willingly chosen, yet it chose me. When I hear my deeper knowing speaking, I must listen to the call. I knew we had to close our doors before we were mandated, and I knew we had to start going online.
I also know that this is a grand transformation in our history and change is messy, uncomfortable, and often scary. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more humble than starting to teach through my computer. It can be exhausting learning how to navigate this new medium of sharing, but I am so grateful for the help I have received through my patient webmaster.
Now, we can still connect with our community and expand it. My renewed commitment is to keep sharing and serving. Together we will ride this wave of change with better tools for living a balanced state of being. To nourish our souls with acceptance or our mortality as human beings, forgiving and embracing what life is presenting during these challenge times.
I see this as an opportunity to expand our hearts. Be kind, be generous, and every day be grateful for your breath. Today and every day, breathe out into the world for those that are struggling to take that inhalation. Collectively send that heart intention into every human being that might be struggling today.
A huge shout out of gratitude for the brilliant teachers at Yoga Among Friends that are collectively sharing their gifts to serve you. Together we invite you to join our zoom classes and to keep up your practice.
Stay healthy and stay home.
Blessings,
Laura Jane
We will are kindly suggesting that those students who have class cards use them this month. Please. as a student, respectfully keep track of your classes, and let us know by email what classes you have participated in. This way, because we do not have a fully automated system, we can ensure all our teachers are compensated for their time and energy. We also have our Givebutter tip jar on our website. For those of you without class cards, kindly consider donating to help our center active and running. Thank you all for sharing this link with your friends.
