Yoga with Ashley
My sankalpa (san, meaning "a connection with the highest truth," and kalpa, meaning "vow.") is to insist that I and others embrace radical honesty in our practice of yoga and in our practice of life.
I know what it means to try and find yourself and have everything around you fall to pieces.
I spent my 20s building a life that checked all the career and relationship boxes.
I was meeting everyone’s expectations but my own.
And it felt like nothing I did was ever enough (it never is when you’re living your life according to someone else’s agenda).
This story does not have a single, come-to-Jesus moment that radically changed everything. But I was faced with a choice, I could resign myself to a life that felt claustrophobic and controlling and end up bitter and resentful. Or I could walk away from a toxic relationship and a career that wasn’t fulfilling and dare to believe that a better life existed. It seems obvious but, it wasn’t easy to let go of what I had when I couldn’t see what this new life looked like yet.
I decided to follow the breadcrumbs of my curiosity.
I began taking baby steps outside the life I’d created…
Opening myself up to new friendships
Going back to school
Traveling abroad
Signing up for a yoga class
I started practicing yoga in 2014 as a way to escape my life (hint: this is how you know things need to change). I had zero idea it would lead to my 200hr teaching certification or becoming NESTA certified to teach Sport Yoga or finding my life’s purpose in teaching.
But that’s kinda the point. You never really know where your curiosity will lead you when you start.
You have to trust yourself.
Every time I stepped away from my “expected” life I found a little more freedom and a little more courage. Each time I followed the thread of my curiosity, it shifted my perspective ever so slightly, like the click on a kaleidoscope.
Yoga quickly became a space where I could explore who I was and who I wanted to become.
You see, you can bring everything you’ve been through to the mat. You can stretch and question, bend and explore how you landed here in this moment. OR you can leave it all at the door, step outside your life and let yourself imagine new possibilities.
As my old life began to unravel, everything felt like it was falling to pieces.
But it turns out falling apart is just another way of letting go.
Letting go of who everyone expects you to be.
Letting go of toxic relationships.
Letting go of jobs that aren’t fulfilling.
Letting go of the need to take yourself so seriously.
Letting go is like exhaling. With every exhale you make space to breathe in a life that feels beautiful, true and one that’s filled with the people that matter most and the things that bring you joy.
For me, that looks like…
Teaching yoga and helping others find that space of surrender.
Walking straight into failure, fear and uncertainty with a smile.
Saying “yes” to experiences that feed my curiosity.
Demystifying the wellness journey
Spending time with my dogs, my friends and family.
For you, it might look completely different. All that matters is that you find it.
It doesn’t matter whether you show up to the mat for sweaty catharsis or a moment of peace in your hectic schedule. It doesn’t matter whether you’re ready for change or love what you’ve got. Yoga is an opportunity to step outside your life, just for an hour, and remember who you are.
JOIN ME
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”