Some people think it will be too easy.  Some people think it will be too hard.  If you've never done it, you probably don't really know what yoga is at all.  At first glance, yoga appears to be a type of exercise.  Dig deeper, and you'll find a model for mind and body wellness, and even deeper still, you'll discover all the nuances of what makes yoga so much more than what's on the surface.

When I left my class last night I felt so much gratitude.  The participants who come to my classes bring so much joy to me in my life.  Sometimes waking up at 5AM to teach a class seems daunting.  I have been struggling recently with the perception of my ability to keep people engaged.  These are some of the negative feelings I have been having as I navigate my schedule and the longevity of my attention to continue to teach yoga.  The beauty I felt after leaving class last night reminded me that it is not my purpose to engage my class...yoga does that itself in so many wonderful ways.  I just have to love it, and the rest will come across perfectly.

Yoga Is Quiet.  As my daughter once asked after her first real class with me, "why do you get to be the only one who gets who gets to chatty chatty chat chat and the rest of us just stay quiet?".  Even with the voice of an instructor throughout class, the room is quiet.  We listen to the sound of our breath, our movements, each other. 

Yoga Is Present.  We come to yoga for one reason, to be in the moment.  To notice how we feel, to put aside the needs of others and reflect inward.  We greet the evening, afternoon, or morning with a sense oneness to what surrounds us.

Yoga Is Kind.  This is not a place you push yourself until you feel like you're going to vomit or pass out.  This is the place and the time you connect with what you need, doing what feels right and honoring where you are.

Yoga Is Community.  We grow together, in practice and in friendship.  We acknowledge we come together with the same values, the same intentions, and the same kind hearts. 

Yoga Is Supportive.  Everyone is welcome, no one does it wrong.  It doesn't matter if it's your first class, how old or young you are, what abilities you possess. 

Yoga Is the Absence of Purpose.  We live as though "our purpose" defines us, and for much of our existence this purpose, either real or self-implied,  encompasses much of our time and thought.   We worry about it, fear it, and enjoy it.  In quiet moments we are able to put it aside, we embrace what it is to move, to breathe, to be.

Yoga has filled my heart with so much gratitude over the years.  It has become such a part of my schedule sometimes I forget it's not my "purpose" at all.  It's just something I want to share.

Over the weekend I had several people to the pop-up shop stop in, only to have been hoping for "more".   A few walked in, checked out the empty part of the shop, and asked if this was it?  Some stayed and chatted, some left, some left with stuff.   In some of these moments I felt a tad bit disheartened, like we weren't enough.  Why wasn't the space I had created with my own ideas and own hands enough?  But I knew that wasn't true, and, I realized, it's not everyday that someone walks into the very place where a maker studies, experiments, hones their skills, builds their brand.  Sometimes I forget that every brand ever created started as a single person, making something.  That brand travels through it's life not as a logo on a shirt, but as the idea and creation of an individual.  As others come into that brand; the creatives, the testers, the users, the brand morphs, it changes to draw together a set of values, as the maker you have no idea that you are creating a collection with so much heart it eventually comes alive.

Often times when I lived in Vegas I never felt like anything was enough.  Never enough money.  Never enough time.  Never enough space, never enough stars.  I always felt like I was struggling to know my true self.  When we arrived at the farm, on the land in the spacious countryside, looking out the window at a sea of golden corn was enough.

I like that we have created enough brand to have an address.  I like joining the makers serving in our community.  I like watching the community gather around it's makers.  I value every person that loves to make something having an audience to share their love of craftsmanship.  

In moments of brief self-loathing I have to remind myself it is a wonderful thing when a maker opens a store.  So unique that people may not know what to expect when they walk in the door.