Surrender to Bloom: Strength in Becoming

“Spring marries the darkness with rays of light that illuminate the very landscape of the soul.”
— Lisette Cheresson & Andrea Rice

Hello dear seekers, 

Early spring blessings to each of you. 🌼

It is a season for nourishing and cleansing — a time to blossom and advocate for our own renewal- individual & collective, with resilience and a gentle, focused, steady pace.

Let’s begin again today, knowing that this beginning reflects all that has shaped us. We carry our past within us — our ancestors, our memories, our stories — living and breathing through us. From this embodied place, we move forward.

In my morning practice today, I was reminded — and offer this to you: You do not have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.

Socio-political unrest, fear, personal uncertainty — all can feel overwhelming. Maybe you’re moving from one thing to the next, maybe you’ve found small pockets of peace. Maybe both.

Living, especially now, requires courage. As Rainier Wylde writes:

“Living requires courage. The kind of bravery that doesn’t look like being a hero, but like showing up — barefoot, restless, uncertain — again and again.”

This is the invitation of spring: to listen for what is stirring within, to lean into life’s unfolding.

From recent reconnection with my teachers, I am returned to the orientation that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Awakening is not about becoming something different; it is about remembering what has always been within us.

An Invitation to Surrender: Ishvara Pranidhana

Ishvara Pranidhana is about surrender to the divine — in you and around you. It speaks to expansiveness, to equanimity or upesksha. Here is not a space to take a deep dive into the philosophy, but an offering to consider the relationship to surrender and options for exploration in your daily life.

Off the Mat Practices — Inspired by Bhava Ram:

Home as Sacred Space

• Create an altar — small and simple or spacious and elaborate.
• Include stones, crystals, candles, water — reminders of the elements.
• Keep the space clean and visit often.
• Light a candle to honor the light that dwells in your heart.

Nature & the Seasons

• Spend more time with the natural world.
• Notice the plants, the sky, the earth, the waters.
• Connect to the sacred in all life forms.
• Practice profound gratitude for the water you drink, the earth you walk, the food you eat, the air you breathe.

Presence & Sound

• Notice the present moment — beyond thoughts of past and future.
• Rest in the divine presence of all that is- personal to you. 
• Work with vibration and sound:
  • Chant "OM" — the vibration of all life.
  • Practice "So Hum" — I am all that is.
• Music suggestion: "Om So Hum" by Meditative Mind (Listen here).

For me, living into this season of hope means leaning into the practices that nourish and steady, opening toward what inspires and renews, and allowing the strength of softening. 

"Consider how the sun washes the earth with its heat and then clouds dissipate, and grasses grow, and stones crumble when no one is looking to reveal a smoother, deeper face. It is the same with us. In a moment of realness, the clouds in our mind clear and our passion is restored, and our walls crumble when no one is looking. It all continues and refreshes, if we let it. It all renews so subtly." — Mark Nepo

I am here with you — to practice & listen, to pace & learn, to renew & deepen. Whether in studio, online group practices, or through personalized yoga therapy, may we keep drawing from the nourishing resources around and within us, bringing enough prana to meet our days, our commitments, and our joys.

To the continued awakening, blossoming, and renewal that this season invites in you. To living our truthfulness and authenticity with courage and compassion.

A seed mantra to carry into the days ahead: So Hum — I am that. I am all that is.

So Hum — I am that which breathes and blossoms. Breathe in your belonging. Breathe out your becoming.

May Sat Nam — your true essence — rise like the first light of spring within you. May you know you are already whole.

Yoga this Week

In-Studio @ YoYoYogi
Monday @ 6 PM - Mellow Monday: A 75-minute integrated yin practice. Learn More

Be on the lookout for more studio subbing in the coming weeks!

Online via Zoom
Tuesday & Thursday @ 8 AM PST / 11 AM EST - Morning Yoga: Rise, Move, Pause. A 35-minute accessible, pay-what-you-can class. $8 recommended, $12+ includes replays. Register Here

Yoga Therapy
Virtual & In-Person – Complimentary discovery & intake session. Sliding-scale pricing. Learn More

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Here with you in practice. In Love & Light.

— Maya 🌱 4/7/25