She was probably half my age, young, beautiful, confident. Slightly out of the scripted monologue of the instructor, every now and then I would hear her gentle, soft voice: "you are stronger than you think you are".

"What that she knows", new to the practice, my mind wandered, frequently glancing at the huge mirror showing with little mercy our messed up, aching older bodies. Over the (many) years of hot yoga practice I have come to realize how right she was.

I never saw her again, but yet that little mantra stuck with me during challenging times inside and outside of the studio. And yes, yoga has made me stronger physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Hot yoga pushes you like no other exercise or practice to, for at least for 90 minutes, to be completely absorbed in the most basic humanness there is. While (trying) to breathe to be present with your body, paradoxically, freeing yourself from it. Such liberating experience does not come easily but it is what keeps us coming back.

We carry bodies that show a history; miracle marks, worries, trauma, heartbreaks, sickness, injuries, muscle pain, and yet there we are, we show up half naked, to be loved, observed and eventually freed by the most important one in the room; yourself.

With love and respect,

Marcela