Words from 9 am Vinyasa class, 1/25/26

I had trouble sleeping last night, as I imagine many others did. I had so many images and thoughts running through my head, my mind asking why, how, what do I do?  

We have all found ourselves in moments of feeling helpless and lost. And I found myself in that space in the past 24 hours.

The one thing I was assured of last night–I had to change my approach to this morning’s class because to live and teach from my true dharma in this moment, I have to continue the work that I’m destined to do. My karma yoga, my yoga of action.

What this is all about, what my purpose is as I stand here barefoot, with this microphone, in this hot room as I cue you to breathe and move mindfully–it’s not about the sweat or the perfect triangle pose or how loud our ujjayi breath can be–these are just vessels and funnels to a big why. A much bigger why.

It’s about opening our hearts and minds to reconnect with our true selves, capital S selves, so as to recognize, possibly for the first time, our simplest pillars of our humanness–our capacity to receive and give love and that our existence and our place on this earth matters and we KNOW that; our dharma is true. Because then, and only then, can we see that same capital S self in others and envelope the one thing that I most fervently believe will save us: empathy. When empathy roots itself into our hearts and our communities, it blossoms like the beautiful lotus flower despite the dark and murky past that we all work through to reach our higher path. One of my favorite quotes is from the great Meryl Streep, who I admire immensely: The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.
My Self, is your Self. Our SELVES, is their SELVES. For we are one and the same. Beings, created in pure bliss and part of this moment for a reason.

So every moment that we step into our practice and our dharmic power, every connection to ourselves through this work MATTERS, because with it, our eyes, our hearts, our minds, crack open a little bit more, with a little bit more light. And when light shines openly and brightly through empathic action, the world becomes a more harmonious place where all beings may be happy, peaceful, and free.