Come As You Are

We are not a yoga studio…

at least not JUST a yoga studio, RISEilience is a wellness sanctuary that offers many avenues of wellness, one of which is a set schedule where you can pursue your personal wellness journey on your mat.

I was recently at an afternoon event at For The Party Co. meeting some mom’s who’s children were starting elementary school in Amesbury, MA. I was giving out Free Yoga class cards and one of the mom’s said I should post something about, “coming as you are,” as a way to be less intimidating. I agreed, as I stood there in my tight tank and yoga pants, and moved forward with our conversation.

“Come as you are,” that phrase has followed me the last week. I never considered that people may feel intimidated to enter the space I created or to join their first yoga class. This phrase has provided me a great opportunity to dig deeper.

I remember the first yoga class I took, it was a small studio above a coffee shop in Portsmouth, NH. I could walk there from my apartment. I was looking for an exercise to supplement my marathon running. I was nervous because I didn’t know the poses or the people. What I got from that first day was much more than I expected.

Yes, I stretched my body, but I also stretched my mind. I went several times the first week using a new members deal. Although, the room was filled, somehow it became just me on my mat. If I close my eyes now, I can still go there. The dimly lit room filled my body with warmth and brough a sense of safety. I could begin to feel each fingertip meet the bumpy rubber of my new yoga mat. My breath was shallow at first. I had built my walls high and I had struggled to surrender to the practice. As I let go, my breath deepened, my shoulders relaxed, my jaw unclenched, I began to meet my body for the first time.

Yoga isn’t just accomplishing the poses the instructor directs. Yoga is the practice to bring your mind, body and spirit to harmony.

When I began, I was in an unsafe marriage where domestic violence lurked in the shadows. I felt unsafe in my body and I was trained not to trust my mind. The yoga studio became my sanctuary.

Throughout the last 10 years, I keep going back to my practice. I have taken short breaks and some have been years. Through postpartum depression, divorce, injuries, and most recently PTSD from a tragic work accident. I always find myself back on the mat. Like an old friend, my mat is always there for me. She doesn’t judge me, she listens to my breath, encouraging me to dig deeper. She catches me when I stumble out of a pose. She accepts me for who I am that day. She helps me open my heart and explore my mind. She reminds me of the peace and joy that is within me.

Please, come as you are.

At RISEilience you will feel accepted and included no matter how you show up today or tomorrow. We will help guide you to a path of harmonizing your mind, body & spirit, yet you will choose your journey and it will take a lifetime. Practice makes practice, it’s as simple as that. There are no awards to be given if you can do a headstand for 30 minutes (although, damn!), squeeze into the smallest yoga pants, or have been practicing the longest. Yoga is an endless journey to get to know and accept yourself. To stop and feel gratitude for all the gifts your beautiful life has to offer. To find the peace and joy that is already within you.

Yoga is to notice the summer breeze that blows through the trees making each leaf dance their own dance. To feel empathy for your neighbor that makes a short remark aimed to cause pain. It is brings perspective. It is a gift you give yourself and those around you.

Please, come as you are, you are exactly who you should be at this very moment, and you are welcome.