December | 2016 | Mary Breath Yoga

With the winter solstice on the rise, my soul is tuned into the return of the light. I think many of us have lived through plenty of hours of darkness this year and I’m pretty positive the majority of us are ready to ring in the New Year. I can’t prepare for the New Year without reflecting on the past year.

Now freshly 41, I started the year off a fresh 40 year old.

I felt myself opening up to a new decade and a new phase in life.

However, I did enter 2016 full of grief and I am ending the year with grief. Grief over the loss of a few friends who died too young and grief over the loss of my Mimi who lived a full & vibrant life. Grief over a World that I grew up in that now seems to be dying so drastically before my eyes.

I’m pretty sure that we all witnessed a lot of destruction and corruption this year. World politics proved to be corrupt and has left a lot of us feeling uncertain.

I know that deep inside of me nothing in the World will change until I change.

2016 stripped away the layers that no longer serve me.

I’m sure 2017 will strip away layers. That’s life. After all, I know deep in my soul that I was born to transform & transcend.

As I laid in savasana today, I heard a powerful voice. A voice of wisdom coming from the dark. Savasana is ‘corpse pose’ in yoga. It’s the last pose of the practice because like life we have to show up, do the work, transform, transcend and then die to then only be reborn again.

Since it’s the winter solstice, it’s no surprise that it was a dark moment.

I laid there.

In corpse pose.

I heard the words ‘you are going to be alive for a very long time. And when you die, it won’t be the same World that you are living in today. Don’t worry. Just do your part and make the World a better place.’
But it’s not all dark.
Where’s there’s dark there is light.

When I awoke from savasana, I felt the light. I saw light beams shine through the windows.

I’m focusing on my year and the powerful things that shifted for me personally.

One click of an email changed my living situation for the better. I went from renting a place for 10 years to purchasing my first home.

I made it clear to myself that I wasn’t putting roots down. I was just ready to step into new & unknown territory.

Moving also meant tossing away what no longer serves me both materially & spiritually.

Then, months later, one text message enhanced my career.

After years of striving to be where I am, I officially opened up my kids yoga program.

Then another text message came through and I once again stepped into new & unknown territory in my career.

I started teaching yogastrology(r) classes and a whole new path opened. Another path that I had been paving for years.

One text message after another coming through and before you know it I am teaching at my first yoga festival. An opportunity beyond my wildest dreams.

But 2016 wasn’t easy.

2015 prepared me for it’s heaviness.

So many losses in 2015, but one big loss in 2016. The death of my grandmother. A strong women who helped me stepped into the territory that I am currently living in.

She witnessed a changing World.

She lived in the old World & the new World.

In the process of shedding, transforming and transcending, I learned who truly supports me. I also learned who doesn’t have my best interest. I learned I have secret enemies, but I learned that I also have an army of angels surrounding me.

The light is returning and I am ready for 2017.

I will continue to dig deep. I will continue to grow. I will remain present with transcendence & transformation.

I strive to change. When I change, the World changes.