I take refuge in love.

This was a mantra I repeated to myself in the past few weeks, a period of spiking anxiety.

A mantra adopted aspirationally. As mantras sometimes are.

Because sometimes I do not. Take refuge in love, that is. Rather, when I feel the weight of the world or the voices of my fears amplify, I turn away from what I know to be true. I curl up into a little ball inside myself and forget that I am loved. That I am love. That there is nothing in this life that matters except that love.

When I act as though I am interconnected, I can start to feel it. I remember that I don’t exist in isolation, that I am held in an intricate web of relationships—with people, with the natural world, with something greater than ourselves. And when I feel that, I move through life differently. With more care. With more gratitude. With a sense of belonging and an increased sense of responsibility.

When I fully recognize my place in the web, I recognize the ways my presence, my choices, and my energy ripples outward.

Most impactful has been drilling deep into the “why.” Yoga was not developed over thousands of years as a tool to sculpt a nice butt (though that may be a nice side effect for some of us). Rather, it is a set of tools to help us refine our state of consciousness. Skillfully applied, these tools have the power to help us be whole, be held, be loved and be love.

Our bodies are our gateway to experiencing the world. Through yoga, we can transform our relationship with our bodies, turning them into allies on our journey. In the quiet of the practice, we learn to listen deeply, nurturing a compassionate connection with ourselves.

I started my yoga journey with the intention of integrating the poses into my psychotherapy work, helping clients connect with themselves and helping my couples reconnect with each other in a new way. Little did I know, that intention would shift inward and I would meet a new version of myself.

Yoga is an integral component of my life. It helps me to connect to unconditional contentment. I hope that I can share my love and knowledge of yoga.

‘Yoga’ is everywhere now, but independent studios have become more of a rarity, having been replaced by corporatized yoga business models. The major difference between a yoga company and a yoga studio is simple: one operates under a model of high volume and profit and the other operates under guiding principles of depth, connection, and self-exploration.