Remembering the Light
The lessons that stay with us long after the class has ended 🪶
Some of the most important lessons in my life didn't teach me something new. They reminded me of something I'd forgotten.
One of my very first yoga teachers, Anna Kyshynska, who later became my mentor and taught me how to teach, used to end every class the same way. No matter what we had practiced, or what kind of day we had walked in carrying, she would leave us with these words:
"Lightness, happiness, freedom. It is all we know. It is who we are."
She has since completed her earthly journey, yet I still feel her spirit guiding me. Her words continue to find me at exactly the moments I need them most. At the time, I thought they were simply a beautiful way to end a yoga class. I had no idea they would become one of the greatest gifts she'd leave me. I'd smile, roll up my mat, and carry on with my day, never realizing she was planting seeds I wouldn't fully understand until years later.
Those words never left me. They still find their way into my mind at unexpected moments, almost as if she's gently reminding me of something I know but have forgotten.
Now, I understand them differently. I don't think she was inviting us to become lighter, happier, or freer. She was reminding us of what exists beneath everything we've picked up along the way. Beneath the expectations, our fears, the pressure to keep proving ourselves, and the countless stories we've collected about who we need to be, there is something within us that has always been whole.
Putting Down the Weight
Mini Mission for Returning to Lightness
💛 Notice What You're Carrying
(10 energy points)
Pause for a moment and ask yourself:
What have I been carrying that was never mine to hold?
An expectation, a fear, a belief about who you need to be. Simply notice it with compassion.
🌿 Remember Who You Are
(20 energy points)
Take one slow breath. Imagine setting that weight down, even if only for a moment.
Remind yourself:
Lightness, happiness, freedom. It is all I know. It is who I am.
🌞 Look for the Light
(30 energy points)
Throughout your day, notice one moment where light unexpectedly finds you. A conversation, a laugh, sunlight through the trees, a deep breath, a feeling of peace.
Rather than searching for it, simply allow yourself to receive it.
🤲 Pass It On
(40 energy points)
Offer one small act of lightness to someone else today. Share a smile, an encouraging word, a genuine compliment.
You never know which simple act might become something another person carries with them for years.
I'm deeply grateful for the teachers who have shaped me, often in ways they may never have realized. Their words have become woven into the way I move through the world, long after the class has ended. The older I get, the more I believe the deepest teachings don't give us something we've been missing. They simply help us remember what has always been true.
Through that remembering, I've found I don't have to search so hard for the light. Instead, it finds me.
XO, Liv
