if you've been wondering where i've been this summer, here's the story.

in february, on friday the 13th — one week after i turned 25, got engaged to the love of my life, and two weeks before starting a whole new career adventure - everything shifted.

i had just spent the week moving my body with so much love, care, and excitement. i felt strong. inspired. grounded. i was upside down in sirsasana at my little downtown studio when i felt something in my neck tweak.

badly.

i slowly rolled out of the pose and immediately knew something wasn't right.

i called my husband in tears, and he came and picked me, my bike, and all my fears up from the studio.

i didn't know it then, but that little moment would change the next few months of my life.

i stopped teaching for a couple of weeks because i could barely sit, stand, move, drive, turn my head, or honestly exist without pain. eventually i started feeling better, so i came back to teaching.

then it would flare up again after class.

i'd rest.

i'd heal.

i'd teach.

i'd hurt.

it became this heartbreaking little loop that made me question everything.

after countless appointments, i finally got some answers. i had torn my levator scapulae — the muscle that connects your shoulder blade up into your neck and traps.

in march, i made the incredibly difficult decision to step away from teaching at quantum.

that same month, i started a new career that i knew was going to ask a lot of me. i was going to work with fairies 🧚 (ifykyk).

and i sloooooooowed down.

or... i was forced to.

i cried. i grieved. i was wildly dramatic at times. but honestly? all those feelings needed somewhere to go.

for so long, yoga has been such a huge part of my identity that not being able to show up the way i wanted felt like losing a piece of myself.

as an aquarius it has always felt so weird to devote any time or energy to the hand that feeds me (ie corporate, ie governement), but also - my south node is in capricorn - i have a business degree, as much as i am a revolutionary hippy raised driven yogi - there has always been this grounded, ambitious, structure-loving part of me - and she finally wanted to be heard and held.

this season gave her space.

and maybe she needed it.

more than anything though, my body was screaming one very clear message:

slow. the. fuck. down.

at my last job, i was regularly working 50+ hour weeks, practicing at a studio almost every day, and teaching three classes a week.

it was amazing but it was a lot, but my hate for the corporation made it much easier to devote my time and energy to my "side hustle".

this new chapter has been different.

the fairies 🧚 have been so lovely to me.

i’ve loved going to work, ive loved learning, ive loved this new season

i‘ve already been through all me and my husbands physio, accu, massage, osteo etc benefits - that have helped me slowly heal.

and i tried something i am not comfortable with at all..

external weight and strength training at a too bright - not safe for nervous system at all gym!

turns out, being hypermobile and bendy is really fun until your stabilizing muscles decide they've had enough.

mama needed to become sturdy.

strong.

supported.

not just flexible.

so instead of teaching multiple classes a week, forcing myself in a hot room to do a million chaturangas - i spent my time learning how to build strength, trust my body again, and maybe, for the first time in a long time, learn how to rest without feeling guilty.

which, honestly, is no small lesson during the most beautifully chaotic yang season of the year.

i've missed my quantum cuties more than i can explain.

i subbed there over the last couple of weeks, and the second i stepped into that room i felt it.

that innate knowing.

that feeling of dharma that only arrives when i'm holding space with other humans.

it reminded me that this isn't something i have to force.

it's something that lives inside me.

and it isn't going anywhere.

this summer has been full in all the best ways.

island hopping.

bass coast bopping.

friend kissing.

mother-daughter adventures.

camping.

river floating.

gym bro-ing (still can't believe i'm saying that).

little home practices on my patio.

a new career.

a new rhythm.

and somewhere in all of that, i found a softer version of myself.

one that doesn't need to do everything all at once.

one that knows rest isn't the opposite of purpose—it's often what brings us back to it.

so as we move toward autumn, i'm welcoming teaching back into my life.

not because i have something to prove.

not because i feel behind.

not because i think i need to hustle harder.

but because i genuinely missed it.

i'm coming back with more presence.

less expectation.

stronger shoulders !!!!!

a softer heart.

and so, so much gratitude for every single one of you who waited, checked in, came to my classes when i could teach, and reminded me that this community exists far beyond the walls of a yoga studio.

taking the summer off (and learning how to slow the fuck down)

Sitting Among My Teachers: On Honour, Humility, and Coming Home