“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others.

Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”

~ Pema Chodron

I honor where you are.

Those are the sweet words I heard as I felt the panic rising and rinsing from my eyes. I was being heard and seen in a fragile space of fear and hurt. I was being honored—not judged or ridiculed.

Vulnerability is as delicate as it is strong.

My body stretched earlier into a parallelogram; a sacred geometry connecting my heart to my soul. I found a crack into a space of shame and outpoured physical, emotional and convoluted pain.

And then it happened: I relaxed and let go.

The pieces fell where they needed to. I surrendered into a moment of safeness. The floor and the walls didn’t cave in. The ceiling remained above and I didn’t taste the drywall.

I stayed present.

I heard something else whispered.

You are beautiful.

It’s been a long time since I heard those words. It was a shared space, where one heart reached out to another in an equal union of trust. Fear was met and quieted with cooling Sitali Pranayama and a release of Ujjayi. Each cycle of breath was a calming cocoon anchoring peace within my heart. I added a new tool to my ever expanding toolbox.

A lot of words means nothing to me. A few words, with love and kindness, speaks volumes.

This is the gift of Yoga.

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Ed: Bryonie Wise