Nicole Tesar

Like many others, I admit, I did not begin yoga to clear my mind, transcend into some more powerful place in the world, attempt to reach enlightenment etc.  I started yoga in search of physical results.  My first exposure to yoga was when I was in the 6th grade.  We sat on towels (there were no mats back then) and at the opening of the class they began with chanting.  The room smelled of incense and all of the folks seemed very “hippie” like my mom.  I don’t remember what they were chanting, but I remember feeling a vibration, like echoing.  I liked it, it settled me down.  While I was sitting in that room surrounded by those yogis I felt peace for the first time in a very long time. Fast forward 15 years, and I am revisiting yoga (to get the “yoga body”) and I feel that same calm that first class as we lie on our backs in savasana. One class and I was hooked.

Through yoga, I have learned patience.  For much of my life (especially the last 10 years as an executive level pharmaceutical/biotech professional) I have been “go, go, go”.  Faster, Harder, More… striving, reaching.  In yoga, we have to learn to SLOW DOWN, practice patience with ourselves and patience in the poses.  It has taught me to not think so much about where I am headed, but where I am right now.  Enjoying the journey to get there.  I have found compassion.  I think I always had compassion for others, but I struggled with expressing it to myself.  It is still a work very much in progress, but I am finding that I can be kinder to myself and my body.  I know now that more than “Looking Strong”, I “Feel Strong”. There is such a sense of power when you master an arm balance you could never do before.  A strength that first comes as arm balances actually manifests in wisdom and insight.  My desire is to be a teacher that shows my students the way, but doesn’t tell them what to see.