I have compiled these letters on yoga for the Yogini, the female practitioner of yoga specifically because She is who I know best. I worked with the yoga darshana of Patañjali to frame what I have come to learn of yoga, of myself and of my life through yoga. With the yogic teachings, I illuminate one of many footpaths to living your brightest Self. My hope is that these letters will motivate you to dig deep into your own valient efforts and inspire the manner in which you show up for yourself in practice. May you remain curious about and friendly towards the stuff that rises to the surface and extend this inquisitiveness and kindness to yourself in yoga, to your relationships off the mat, and then into the world at large. “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Mahatma Gandhi reminds me every morning as I savor my coffee from its inspired container.
I extend a dedication and a huge debt of gratitude to You, my student, yogin extraordinaire. You have shown up through thick and thin—job loss, divorce, parents to care for, lives to save, kids to feed, cases to plead… I am grateful you came to your practice with your joys and your sorrows as I came with mine. It is no easy task to be with the most vulnerable parts of ourselves on our yoga mat, and I honor that always. Greet your practice every day in some respect or another and be good to yourself. And be kind to new teachers–they are going way out on a limb. May we continue to walk this path together with humility, in connection, and in community.
Thank you to my teachers: Nancy Gilgoff in the Ashtanga vinyasa lineage of Sri K. Patthabi Jois, for validating and trusting me in my teaching, for giving me the tools of touch and an understanding of kinesthetic and energetic awareness; to Zoë Stewart in the lineage of B.K.S. Iyengar who taught me everything I know about feeling inside of myself—your gift of words to evoke physical sensitivity and inner discernment completely shifted my practice and understanding of yoga and allowed me to touch the grief around my father’s death and the demise of my marriage by feeling into qualities of the heart I had no idea how to access; to Reverend Gita Beth Bryant, Reiki Master Teacher extraordinaire, you are one of the most knowledgeable people I know in the teachings of yoga—I imbibe every single teaching you transmit, and thank you for the devotion you bring to these teachings; to Kenji, in whose presence I was and could be entirely me, for better and for worse; to my former husband, the father of my children, what can I say? You are my greatest teacher, for no one has shown me more clearly to myself than you.
To Angela Lauria and her fantastic team, thank you for kicking my butt into action; and to my editor, Todd Hunter, for bringing this manuscript into manifestation. I have learned so much from everyone, most importantly, that anything is possible. Thank you, All, for helping me cross “write a book” off my bucket list! And finally, a big thank you to David Hancock and the Morgan James Publishing team for helping me bring this book to print.
To my Mother: Thank you for being a constant in my life and for teaching me to believe in family even when it changes shape and for demonstrating what being a resilient woman looks like. You rock!
To my Father: I love you. I miss you every day still and thank you for your persistent and somewhat sardonic posthumous presence in my life—you do not for a moment let me forget to behave well in the world or make precious space for myself, even if it means parking a ladder in my path plus two black eyes later for me to catch your drift!
To my Soul Sisters and Devoted Yoginis: Christina, Wendy, Lara, Lena, Janet, Maureen, Marilyn, Carolyn, Cecile, Christine, Connie, Cynthia, Dorothy, Genevieve, Sue J, Yan, and so many more! I count myself lucky to have the kinds of friends with whom I can share confidences and cares, and be my most untoward self and still find myself on the receiving end of their benevolence and friendship and love.
Thank you, Mary Corlett—may you rest in peace, beloved friend and guide—for reminding me of my Mother Bear.
And finally, to Claudia and to Mark: Thank you for choosing me to be your mother and for teaching me to love large. From where I stand, I have struck gold. The sole conditions I have for myself with regards to you are to keep you safe, to listen to you, and to love you. My sole intention is to continue to emulate for you, as my father did for me, equal parts independence and how to be in the world—kind, generous, good, fearless, and forces to be reckoned with. Whether I can take any credit for any part of who you each are and the fearlessness with which you both engage your respective lives, know this: I stand in such admiration of you, Mark, and you, Claudia, and love you both to the moon and back.
With all my love and deepest gratitude for all the gifts of grace and blessings all of you have shared.
Love,
Nicole