With the 1st of December here, the New Year is fast approaching and a new cycle of our life is beginning as we close the chapter upon another year of our lives. Perhaps you will find comfort in these words from the Circle of Life, written by Elton John, from the movie, The Lion King.

"It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life"

If you're familiar with the Sun Salutation Series in Yoga, then you've probably learned these movements were originally practiced by Yogi's in the direction of the sun as a reminder of the Great Light that is within each of us. Often in class, I will remind students to flow through these postures, saluting the sun that is both rising and setting in our life in each moment. This reminds me of a famous quote from Hellen Keller...

"When one door of happiness closes, another one opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us."

(Click the link below to listen to the Circle of Life by Elton John:)

Disney%20-%20Lion%20King%20-%20Circle%20of%20Life%28Elton%20John%29.mp3

I often struggle with the circle we call life. Feeling like I've grown so much and am moving down a path, only to find the path was bringing me back to the beginning all along, and the uncomfortable awareness of having so much yet to learn. This morning I was talking to a friend who is going through the difficulty of calling off her engagement with her fiance and having to move out and back out into her own place...again. She said to me, "It's not new, I've done this before when I got divorced."

It can be painful to come to terms with this awareness...feeling like we've journeyed so far only to find ourselves in an all to familiar place once again. However, it can also be a tremendous opportunity to see how much we have grown. I believe the Circle/Flow of Life has been ingeniously created to serve us in becoming conscious and aware, and awakening to our highest good. Though my friend, as I mentioned, feels she is in a familiar place, she had the awareness this time to not move forward with a relationship she knew was not meant to be. That is a success...not a failure.

When I reflect on my own life, it is no coincidence I am now living and teaching Yoga in Frisco, TX. Never in a million years would I have ever conceived I would possibly be living here, again. I actually began True Yoga in Frisco over three years ago in a clubhouse in my parent's neighborhood. Though I am no longer teaching at the clubhouse (that might be a little too much), I am teaching at a studio at the Shops at Legacy called Natural Trends. Some of the students who belong there are people who first began practicing Yoga with me over 3 years ago. Initially the idea of moving "back here" was uncomfortable because it seemed like it was not a progression, but a regression in my life moving "forward". The gift I have now is the awareness of how much I have grown in the past 3 years. I am reminded continuously of the person I was when I left and the person I am now. The circle of life is our mirror, our reflecting pool. Without it we would have no sense of ourselves. With it, we see our transformation and awakenings as well as the sometimes painful realization of how much we have yet to grow and learn.

I often say, there is no hurry to get where you are going. So many of us have it "made up in our heads" that we're getting/moving somewhere, and that we better hurry up and get there. The only place there is to get to, ultimately, is right here, right now, in this very moment, and ultimately, this very breath. The journey is to learn, to grow, to become aware and to heal the cycles of our life which are not serving us, so we can become and awaken to all we can be, illuminating the Great Light that is withinin each of us.


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