Welcome to Dallas Yoga Magazine
Best Selling Author, “Loved Back to Life”.
Since I started working on the launch of Dallas Yoga Magazine, I’m often asked, “Why did you decide to publish a yoga magazine?” The answer is simple, yet expansive, yoga and meditation saved my life. I know it sounds a bit mellow dramatic, but it’s the truth.To explain, I need to give you a little background information about myself. First, I’ve been in recovery over 28 years. I was in my early 20’s in the 1980s and I was heavily involved in the partying scene. Eventually my life style landed me in rehab and a 12 step program. An overwhelming sense of gratitude fills my heart when I think about how the fellowship of this program loved me when I was not capable of loving myself. I like to say my new family, “Loved me back to life.”
If you are not familiar with 12 step programs, they are spiritually centered and believe in meditation as an approach to becoming closer to your personal higher power. This was the first time I was taught to be open minded about God, the Universe and to believe in miracles…anything is possible.
Of course, learning how to allow and accept a new spirituality into my life was not an overnight sensation. It was quite the opposite, it was a long process for me to find my journey into yoga and to turn my exhausting mind off and eventually learn to meditate.
I have practiced a variety of yoga styles over the years. Everything from hot yoga to the difficult poses and enjoy it all but often my inner self was disconnected, sad and sometimes depressed. I allowed external circumstances to affect me easily and I did not have the discipline to practice regularly. I will never understand why we do things to make ourselves feel great and instead of continuing these practices and
routines we veer off and eventually stop. Then we end up right back where we were when we started feeling sad, disjointed and unmotivated.
Finally, when I was going through an extremely difficult turning point in my life and was unbalanced and depressed, I was given a new reprieve, Suzanne Schultz. She is a therapist and often deals with children
(anyone who knows me finds the humor in this) and she is a yoga instructor. Suzanne became my personal therapist, holistic guide, yoga teacher, meditation director and eventually my friend.
Suzanne started using guided meditation during our time together and she taught me how to journey inward and connect with the light and energy of the universe. One of my favorite meditation techniques she taught me was to internally focus on the negative feelings, welcome them, embrace them and then release. Suzanne kept stressing, “You created the energy, you can release it.” I remember the first time she guided me through
this particular meditation, I started to feel lighter on the inside, more open and free. I was awestruck when I opened my eyes and everything appeared so vibrant. It was like a glowing bright light was shining on the world…like a thick layer of fog had been lifted. To this day, I use this mediation technique and when I do I can hear Suzanne’s voice walking me through the fog into the brightness.
After working with S
uzanne for a while, she invited me to join her private yoga classes and introduced me to a small group of incredible women. Her gentle, restorative style of yoga awakened my physical body and combined with meditation I felt more connected, happier and freer than I had ever felt in my life.
So, when I say, “Yoga and meditation saved my life,” I am not exaggerating. I was trapped in a miserable cycle of depression and today I could not be further from that point. So, I will continue to strive to improve my yoga and meditation practices, learn new methods, be of service, keep an open mind, be kind to myself and be grateful. I love living in the positive universal energy and being happy, joyous and free.
