a return.
Earlier this week Michelle (Manager of Bliss) and I took a field trip back to the original location of IBY at 18624 Detroit Road in Lakewood.
That location also had steps leading up to the practice space. As I climbed the steps to see the space where it all began 20 years ago, I was overcome with memories.
I remember going up and down those stairs (3 months pregnant) a gazillion times moving in - the mats, the blankets, the blocks, the straps, the boombox, the incense, little alter and a few meaningful pieces. It was really simple and I loved it all. I shared the space with another fella who ran some sort of computer business but it worked out great. We only had about 8 classes on the schedule to begin.
Side note, 20 years ago yoga was not popular - in fact it was still on the fringe - at least in the mid-west. But my experience with yoga was profoundly healing. I had been searching for some way to make peace with my body for over 15 years and I had tried it all - aerobics, weight training, spinning, triathlon (2 half ironman races), swimming in open water (2 mile swims in lake Erie), marathons, mountain bike racing, gymnastics, and the list goes on. While in and of themselves these are all valuable endeavors, for me at that time, I needed to turn in towards my body to listen. I needed to tune in to my bodily sensations instead of pushing through them. I needed to feel more and return to my body as the home of my heart. I needed to breathe and move with awareness. I needed to make friends with my body and begin to trust it. I found yoga and yoga found me and I feel in love with the practice, the history, the teachings, the philosophy, the books, the poses, the eight limbs… all of it. And as I loved yoga, it loved me back and I began to heal.
I knew yoga was special. I knew if it had helped me to finally return to my body with love and appreciation, to heal the wounds that lived deep within my tissues, my bones and my being, it would help others too. And that belief lead me to look for a space, a place where I could belong and others could belong as we breathed and moved together. As the divine would have it, within one day, I found that space!
Returning to where it all began 20 years ago was such a powerful reminder of the initial belief, the profound love that came from within and the singular dedication to breath and movement, to being more in this body, that has lead to these 20 years of Inner Bliss.
Thank you all for being part of those 20 years 💛
XO,
T