Hello Sweet Friends!
If you have taken any of my classes, you may know that I often say that yoga is way more than a work out or a stretch. Your practice dives far deeper than any pair of LuLu's (no matter how cute or confidence boosting) could take you. In order to assist my classes, I love adding quotes or basing certain classes off a specific playlist of music I make to help flow your body and open your mind. But maybe what you really need to know, is that yoga is a practice. It will never, ever, ever be perfect.
While I have yogis who compliment my teaching style, my music, and my "yoga voice", you all must know something about me...it's top secret... I am only a human. I have days where waking up does not sound pleasing, where opening the studio in 93 degrees to teach hot yoga sounds less inviting than jumping in a pool, and where my past creeps into my mind way more than it needs to be there. There are days where all I want to do is be sarcastic, and other days where I am holding back tears. Pretty hypocritical of me to be telling my students to open up and to stay present, when sometimes all I can think of is how I could have done something better.
But guess what is always there for me?
Yoga.
My mat, your mat, will NEVER, ask you to come into this sacred space as anyone else but whoever you are that day. Maybe you're happy, tired, or ready for a great workout!
I often find myself sending this text to Dani (the YB owner), "Hey Dani, can I come open early?" To which she almost immediately replies, "Of course! Go!!". I lock myself in the studio, unroll my mat or a measure out a hammock, and 95% of the time I plop down crying for a good 20 minutes.
Friends, we are beautifully imperfect beings. Life was not meant to be simple and neither is every single yoga posture you'll face on your mat. Nonetheless, I urge you to come to your mat willing to move your body, trusting that yoga will always accept you, and knowing that whatever emotion may happen (laughing, tears) will only be accepted in the studio.
We are given our trials and unique journeys in this life to show others how we moved through them and to help others through theirs. Your mat can be a powerful tool. My mat is a place of peace, safety, and home.
What does your mat mean for you?
See you soon,
Kelsey Stevens