How I Found My Way to the Mat and Myself
In the beginning, I did what I thought yoga was supposed to be. The 5 am power flows. The Vinyasa classes that felt more like a competition than a practice. The “it’s-so-hot-you-might-vomit” kind of hot yoga spoiler alert: I did. I bought the mat, the leggings, the mindset that if I could just push harder, hold longer, flow faster… maybe I’d finally feel better.
But nothing stuck.
Because deep down, I didn’t fit the mold of what “Western yoga” said I should be. I wasn’t bendy enough, zen enough, or filtered enough. And I was too damn tired from holding it all together to pretend anymore.
Then, everything changed.
My daughter was introduced to yoga while she was in inpatient care. It wasn’t the performative kind. It was gentle. Intentional. Real. Watching her find even a sliver of peace in the middle of her pain cracked something open in me. If this practice could help her breathe again, maybe it could do the same for me.
So I came back to the mat, but not in the way I had before. This time, I wasn’t chasing strength or flexibility. I was chasing stillness. Relief. Something to hold me when I couldn’t hold myself. And I broke. In the best way.
There were days I didn’t move at all. I’d roll out my mat and cry. Just… cry. So many unhealed wounds came to the surface. Grief, I never gave myself time to feel. Trauma I had packed away in the corners of my body. Guilt. Anger. Exhaustion. And somehow, yoga made space for it all.
No judgment. No performance. Just breath. Just presence. Just me, exactly as I was.
That’s why we created Mindful Motion.
Because I know I’m not the only one who’s felt left out of the wellness world. Who’s tried the hustle? Who’s hit the wall? Who’s carried the weight of it all and still showed up with a smile?
Mindful Motion is for the rest of us.
The ones who don’t want curated, perfect, or performative. The ones who just want somewhere safe to land. To breathe. To heal. You don’t need to be flexible. You don’t need to have it all together. You just need to show up.
I’ll meet you there.