January LOVE Letter

Hey You,

As I look back on 2025 I am in awe…Of this community and our teachers and everyone who helps make it all happen. The saying, “It takes a village” couldn't be more true- and I feel like we have a solid village. What an amazing blessing- the greatest one that there could be.

Before we look ahead to 2026 and all the resolutions, goals, and intentions we have…I want to begin with a story.

When I first found the Bhakti yoga path, Lakshmi was the first goddess to truly enter my awareness. She felt accessible and familiar, representing wholeness and abundance, beauty, health, and generosity. She governs relationships, family life, pleasure, higher consciousness, and connecting to our inner divinity. I really resonated with the fact that she is eternally content, stands up for herself (as all the goddesses do), and graces the world with beauty, kind of like an omniscient mother earth energy.

In one of many stories about her, Lakshmi once gifted a divine garland of flowers to a poor and humble sage, deep in his spiritual practice as a reward for his devotion. The sage wandered down the road into a festival parade and as an offering of kindness, he gave this precious garland to the arrogant King Indra as he rode down the street atop his exquisitely decorated elephant. Indra was uncaring, unmoved, and unimpressed by this scruffy looking sage, and so he dismissed the simple gift, tossing it to the ground where it was trampled. 

What Indra didn’t know was that Lakshmi herself lived within the garland, as she is in all things from the earth.

By disregarding the gift and the simple majesty of a flower garland, he dishonored life itself. Offended, Lakshmi withdrew from the world, descending into the depths of the ocean of consciousness. With her departure, vitality, health, wellbeing, and abundance vanished. People became ill, both physically and mentally, groups became divided and hated one another, hearts grew completely numb and apathetic, no one saw the beauty in life any longer. Famine, war, hatred, and fear took over.

Does this story sound familiar?

In many ways, we do this to ourselves. When we judge or ignore our own and others’ gifts, when we devalue the earth, when we default to hatred, fear, and anger, when we disregard the wisdom of our bodies, when we don’t speak up for what we need, we are no different than King Indra—tossing the garland to the ground without realizing what lives within it.

This story also asks us to remember that gifts come in many forms and phenomena. We might miss the beauty and gift of something in our rushing around, our endless pursuits, our goal-making, or our trance of seeking happiness outside of ourselves. We might miss it in our endless judgments, opinions, resentments, and lack of awareness.

Back to the story…. 

To bring Lakshmi back, the gods and goddesses were instructed to churn the ocean of consciousness. All forces participated—the devas and the asuras, 

the light and the dark. As the waters churned, the most horrendous poisons rose first. The more they churned, the most difficult, disgusting, and frightening things arose. But they churned on and waited patiently. Finally there came beauty, health, and magic, followed at last, by Lakshmi—emerging radiantly, full of light, upon a pink lotus. Abundance, love, health, relationships, and vitality were restored.

Yoga is our great churning. And it brings up all kinds of nasty things if we’re practicing it correctly! My teacher Nat always says, “Yoga will ruin your life.” Ha! This, I believe, is what he is talking about. And yet, this is how we get to the good stuff too. To our inner Lakshmi- health, abundance, and awareness of truth.

Lakshmi rising from the ocean is the gift of the inner Self awakening within us. Lakshmi teaches us that the greatest health and wealth comes from welcoming and receiving all of who we are, and from acknowledging and appreciating all the moments of our lives and the gifts of the earth.

And that brings me to this moment—and to you. Each of us is our own garland and a garland to this community.

THANK YOU. Truly. Thank you for supporting our studio and teachers in 2025 and for beginning again with us in 2026. Without you, we’re just a nice space with heaters and good music. It’s all of you that bring our studios to life.

As we step into a new year, I’ve been reflecting on this community and on what I hope for all of us in the months ahead. When I first fell in love with yoga, it was because my mind was blown. The poses and the sweat were one thing—but when I sat in circles with people, learned the myths like the one 

above, opened my voice and heart, and allowed myself to be vulnerable, that was when I experienced the true JOY of yoga.

So as we begin this year, my invitation is for you to curiously wander one layer deeper, whatever that may look like for you. To churn the depths of yourself if you will. See what’s in that mighty ocean that is you. Explore what lives underneath the magic of you, and of yoga. Maybe it's the philosophy, the mythology, the saying hi to as many strangers as you can, the sharing of your voice and heart. Maybe it’s taking the classes you don't usually take, reading a new book about yoga or meditation, getting honest for the first time in your life, or bringing home-baked goods to share with everyone at the studios wink wink.

Together, let’s churn our depths and meet ourselves with fresh eyes. Discover new depths of ourselves, of yoga, and of the meaning of our time here. Tap back into a beginner’s mind, and into the knowing that the more we learn, the less we know, and that’s the great mystery of it all. And then...may we offer it all (the gifts, the jewels, the goodies we find) back to those around us.

Let’s remember the garland.Take some time to lean into your garland and tend to it all with respect, passion, and care. I can’t wait to lean in with you.

Happiest and Healthiest New Year to You,

Holly 

♥ 

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