When I was 15 I told my mother I was going to major in ceramics.  I didn’t really know what this entailed, to be honest, but I knew it meant doing something with my hands, and my body, rather than just my brain.

At the time I could never have pieced this together, but when I lost my father at age 14, the way that I chose to process this, and life’s challenges down the road, was to use movement, and later yoga and massage, because they were a way inwards.

I was a pretty serious ballet dancer in my teens. From that I learnt discipline, strength, and endurance – so many useful qualities at a young age.  But what I really learned was that I want to BE in my body, to understand it, to know myself, in the fullest sense of the word. When yoga appeared in my life at 19 something strange happened.  It was like therapy to me.  I wanted to do it more, and I had no words to explain why.

I followed the impulse that led me to mentor and do my first teacher training. I had come home.  I discovered that no matter what else, yoga provided a safe place to remember and be myself. It was not about words, definitions, or even demands or expectations of others.  It was my time, to be with me, to be ME.

Sometimes I call myself the irreverent yogi. I’m not trying to be catchy or cute (well maybe I am, but it’s to get a point across). I like to cut through the fluff and get to the heart of what we are really doing here on our mats. The yoga world has been stereotyped in many ways and I recognize and fall into some of these.  I want to rebel entirely and say that chanting is for the birds or the monks, but bhakti is real for me.  Kirtan, cheesy as it sounds, lifts my spirit up.  So does amazing cello playing, watching the sky, and breathing deep by the ocean. I live a practical life.  I raise my kids, I feed my family, grocery shop, and shout at bad drivers from inside my car. 

The truth, down and dirty, is that I am a yoga teacher and have been for 20 years. I am a massage therapist and have been for 15 years. I am a mom, a wife, a friend, a traveler, a Baha’i, and so many more labels. All of this is my dharma, my path, my work. To make sense of the every day, I use the tools I have learnt from my practice of yoga, meditation, and prayer.  They are my practical guides in my life.  Not something I do here and there to step out of my life.

This is the path I want to invite you on. This wild and crazy ride of self-study, of discovery, fascination and the thrill of what we might find out about ourselves; our purpose, our passion, hopes, dreams. We don’t need to put on someone else’s version of this work. We need to find our unique route. What’s your path? Where will you start this inquiry into yourself?

I would love to hear from you! Send me a message at: info@nuramadjzoub.com

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