Dear Friend,
I took my first yoga class in 2000 at the University of the Arts. It was a required Movement class for Acting Majors that year. A few weeks in, I felt something start to shift that I could not articulate at the time. I knew it was powerful, and it was just the beginning.
Throughout my childhood, I struggled with perfectionist anxiety. I worked myself beyond exhaustion to exceed others’ expectations. I thrived on the external validation I so often received and found critical feedback unbearable. The performing arts path was both intoxicating and excruciating, and at the time I was introduced to yoga, the emotional toll was starting to stifle the creative current.
Yoga became a life raft.
The feeling of joy in movement, like dance but without the performative pressure, was a revelation. The emphasis on ritual combined with a physical challenge, mental focus, and integrated breath technique helped me break through the anxiety cycles I had been trapped within my whole life.
As we sat in resonant stillness at the end of class, I discovered a new world of silence within myself; I felt expansive, confident, not striving, and wildly creative. I was so curious about the feeling that I structured my whole life around it and became a yoga teacher… and I’m still at it as I pursue a certification in yoga therapy.
Yoga is just one of the vehicles heading towards that clear current beyond the stagnant waters, and at Prasada, we have a full schedule of offerings to help you break through your own creative muck towards the fullest, freest, most vital expression of yourself possible. What movement will you choose today to start clearing that muck?
So choose a raft and hop on. There’s always room for one more.
Be Well,
Kate Howell
Wholebeing Guide