our energy affects everyone around you. Let your line shine brightly. Some days you will inspire the person next to you and help lift them up. Some days they will inspire you and help to lift you up. Push yourself to work a little harder and challenge yourself to go a little deeper. Go into the fire and stand your ground. You’re surrounded by friends. You’re surrounded by family. You’re not alone on this journey.

I’m off to the Yonion Festival! Excited to be teaching at this festival in Xiamen for the first time. This is one of China’s largest yoga festivals. I’m honored to be presenting with some of the world’s leading international teachers, including my friends @tymihoward @diceyoga and @yogawithbriohny I’m in Brussels now. Waiting on my flight to Beijing. Where is your journey taking you next? If you show up with an open mind and an open heart the possibilities are endless. Enjoy the ride and breathe into every moment. The thought of all the travel I’m doing this year and being away from home for so long - several months on this current trip - made me very nervous at first and definitely took me out of my comfort zone. I’m loving being challenged like this, though and being forced to give up control. It’s such a beautiful practice. Let it go. What are you holding on to? Let it go. Trust. Have faith. The Universe has a plan for you. Just keep taking steps forward. Breathe. It’s not supposed to feel comfortable. Are you really nervous? Or are you excited and you’ve forgotten how amazing it feels to be excited, vulnerable and alive! Namaste, my friends. Thank you to all of you who I’ve met so far on this path who have inspired me to get out of my comfort zone. We are walking this path together.

Woke up early today to go to the port. Headed back to Athens for a weekend of teaching at Siddhi Yoga Shala and Pano Skylos. One of the great things about getting up so early to catch the ferry this morning was seeing the incredible sky before the morning sunrise. Wow! There’s been so many breathtaking moments this week. I am sad to leave Amorgos. But I am excited about the next adventure. The journey continues. Where is your journey taking you next?

Friends on a similar journey. The power of community. We talked over and over during the past month in my Shiva Yoga 200hr Teacher Training program about holding space for each other, supporting each other, being respectful and kind, and creating a sacred space where we all could feel vulnerable and work outside of our comfort zone. This group did such a great job holding space for each other. It was incredible! And we got to go very deep and get a lot accomplished. How quickly can you move past your fear and resistance and go towards the discomfort? I learned a lot from everyone and together we created a space where everyone felt comfortable enough to take a look at the yoga mirror and all the things that were being brought to the surface. It’s not an easy journey. It’s hard to look at the things that you are doing that are holding you back and all the ways you are avoiding things. Proud of these yogis for taking the journey. Digging in and taking a closer look at themselves.

Focus on the positive. What did you do really well? What could you improve upon? Analyze your experience. When you start teaching regularly you won’t get feedback from your students like you do in a Teacher Training program. The students who don’t have a positive experience just won’t come back to your class.

Yoga is a contradiction. It is two opposites coming together. It is movement and stillness. It is concentration and surrender, at the same time. Yoga is a journey from darkness to light. The journey leads you back to right here and right now. Yoga is stillness and movement, coming together. Yoga is the journey to the center of your Self, over and over again. Yoga says make an effort, to surrender and let go. It is the space between the breath, between this and that, where there is no inhale or exhale, no up or down, no left or right. Yoga is the journey towards the light, and the realization that you are the light. It is the realization that you are the wave in the ocean, and you are the ocean. Yoga is a contradiction.

The Peacock is a symbol in yoga of Sattva, which means light, clarity, illumination. The reason the Peacock is a symbol for Sattva is because of its feathers. When the peacock opens its feathers it looks like a thousand eyes are looking at you. These eyes symbolize the light moving through you from within and your awakening. The Peacock pose is a great example of how hard it is to achieve this state of Sattva too. It requires a tremendous amount of strength and flexibility, and a tremendous amount of balance.

This past week I've been talking a lot in class about taking the journey to the center of your Self. This is really the journey we are taking in our yoga practice.

Do you know those wheels on the playground, or in a park? The ones for kids to play on, or that you used to play on when you were a kid? You get on the wheel and someone spins it and you are flying around on the wheel with the other kids. It's fun! It's exciting. There's lots of drama. Sometimes it's scary. You're out of your comfort zone.