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“Help Each Other” | Letter from the Director | December 2019 Editorial

Recently I shared in one of my class introductions how much I need to teach—not necessarily to teach something to someone, but to seize the privilege of stepping into the practice room, looking each of you in your eyes, and providing a service you came for—delivering a service that is somehow felt deeply, and that ideally leaves you feeling better, in some way, than how you felt upon your arrival.

I mentioned the exchange that occurs beyond the financial exchange that makes a yoga studio a business. I referred to the deeper exchange of how students receive sincere and authentic care in my service, and in return, I am granted this wonderful outlet with which to directly apply my care to each of you. It is providing this help that keeps me grounded and reminds me of how blessed I am to help and share in some part of your life.

At its core, yoga is relationship.  Our existence as conscious beings means that our true yoga is acknowledging, embracing, and flowing with the reality that we are in relationship with everything. It is from this everything that I find endless inspiration to bring into the practice room in terms of serving others, by referencing awareness in order to optimally navigate, and welcome this everything. 

These days, that everything is bringing with it a lot of intensity, and this is where my need to serve (primarily through the action of teaching yoga) nourishes my soul and fuels me to continue. This is not solely about teaching yoga, but my life in general. In other words, I need you. I really need you—especially with the growing intensity these days and how I’m feeling it. And if you choose to allot any of your precious time to attend my class, it seems to me that you are, consciously or unconsciously, accepting that in some way you also need me.

Considering the scope of our influence as human beings on the planet at this time, there is absolutely no place you can go where you won’t be affected by the actions and energy of other humans, past or present. Yet in becoming aware of this vastness of our influence here on Earth, we also have the opportunity to come together to harness it in a positive way– to steer our world to a place of greater harmony and collective support. Perhaps to a degree unlike ever before, we all need each other. We truly need each other.

The kind of heartfelt exchange I experience through teaching yoga is available to everyone, regardless of the type of profession you find yourself in. Because the majority of us choose to participate in the work-for-income model, we all have that opportunity to serve through our hearts for our fellow human beings. We’re all in relationship with one another and everything around us. To live on this planet at this time is to feel its growing intensity, which also means that opportunities to connect and serve one another are expanding as well. This is why it’s the most exciting time to be alive! Consider it a beautiful test—one the human race will pass. We’re all here in front of one another, often unsure of what to do, yet the solution is so simple: Help each other.

Thank you for being here for me.

See you in the practice room,

Don