ex·tend
VERB
- cause to cover a larger area; make longer or wider:
synonyms: expand · enlarge · increase · make larger · make bigger · - hold (something) out toward someone:
synonyms: hold out · reach out · hold forth · offer · give · outstretch · - exert or exercise oneself to the utmost:
Welcome to Extend to Yoga & Meditation. The word “extend” described nicely how my yoga practice made my body and mind feel, as if I was always extending. Whether that be extending into or within a pose, extending my comfort zones, extending my views about life and the world and extending my compassion for myself and others, a little more each time.
I began my yoga practice due to a serious knee injury back in 2010. It was extremely painful and scary. I was very uncertain if I was going to have the full range of my capacity back. The sad part was I didn’t incur this injury with a heroic act like rescuing a baby out of a burning building. I obtained this injury while I was at a nightclub, dancing with over served people and slipped on an ice-cube with heels on. Today I can look back and see it was a gift.
When I crawled to the mat looking for an ounce of relief I did not expect to find a whole new life waiting for me. A life filled with more peace and growth. I did not imagine that in addition to a successful career in real estate that I would go 9 months into an extensive yoga teacher training program and graduate, travel the world internationally each year for yoga retreats, meet people and have experiences that seemed like a dream and I did not expect that I would be helping others find their best version of themselves through sharing and teaching yoga.
Yoga has brought me to Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Ischia, Sorrento, Santorini, Athens, Madrid, Belgium, Paris & Corsica -thus far. I’ve done Vrksasana (tree pose) while witnessing the most amazing sunset in the hills of Tuscany. I have dined in luxury on yachts sailing on the Tyrrhenian Sea and hiked Mt. Epomeo and stood in my own Tadasana (mountain pose). I’ve stood under the Eiffel tower at night. I’ve cried with people, now my friends, that were surrendering their old self, dusting off their true self and putting it back on like a shiny new pair of boots.
I did not know that I would have so much peace and comfort in my heart. Nor that I would sleep better, anger less, cry less and more at the same time, that my skin and hair would look better than ever and that every time I practiced any form of yoga that I was just solidifying my foundation of well being in every sense of the word.
Oh, and wearing a pair of heels is a non-issue to say the least.
I did not know that it would help my real estate career by giving me more patience in listening and explaining. To give me better tools to reduce stress in a process that many times can seem like a train wreck or carnival on any given day.
I did not know that I would become a better friend, sister and daughter. I have let go “most” of the yucky parts of my ego that encouraged me to be impatient, judgmental and disappointed. And when an emotion creeps up that feels out of line with who I really am I greet it and say, “Hi, Can I help you?”
The truth is, yes, I can help myself because I have a box of resources that have stemmed from taking the first steps into yoga. Yoga ~ the practice, the lifestyle, the philosophy.
I did not know all these things then but I know NOW which is why I can’t contain myself when anyone asks me, “So you do yoga”?
Yes, yes I do. And so can you!
Come find yoga. Come just as you are.
Come for the physical endurance; stay for the mental clarity.
Watch as your body and mind become more flexible.
Extend outwards, inwards and upwards as you rediscover and redefine yourself.
Extend to the best version of you! Let me help!