Everyone says “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But of course lemonade is much too sugary. I suppose when I got laid off I juiced my lemons with an apple and some kale and that’s how everything started to get amazing.

True story.

I’d been planning on leaving my soul-sucking job in advertising for awhile. Day in and out I stressed over how to best sell cruises, energy drinks, cars and chicken nuggets. Gross. Contributing to a culture of consumerism was at direct odds with my yoga practice, which taught me I already had everything I need.

I considered quitting, and the universe heard my intention loud and clear. I got laid off.

Talk about scary. Even though I knew I wanted to pursue my part-time yoga teaching and holistic health counseling practice, part of me felt scripted to go seek out another job as an art director. I mean, that’s what you do. You work for a living. You get a paycheck. You have benefits. Right?

Well, what ended up happening was I started to live my life. Imagine that. I started to love living my life! I said no to freelance art direction and said yes to teaching two new yoga classes. My business showed promise and I knew I could move forward in a direction that aligned with my values. It was a whole new way of living…of being. In other words, it felt freaking awesome.

Along came a little movie project called Lemonade. They asked, “Were you laid off and went on to do something amazing?” I raised my hand. Why not? For the first time ever I felt amazing.

We filmed last summer, and as with any yoga shoot I was sore for days afterwards. I mean, come on guys, I can only hold this arm balance for another couple of seconds!

It’s not every day you get to reinvent yourself. Or, is it? This whole experience has stretched my mind in a million ways. Everything I thought was impossible turned out to be entirely within reach. It’s like that day when you finally feel your feet lift the ground in crow pose. Whoa.

Screenings of Lemonade are being held in select cities, with wider distribution being figured out. This whole project was completed on a zero dollar budget. How’s that for following a dream? To learn more about the film and its creator, go to LemonadeMovie.com.