may we experience peace and joy in the ordinary

In the realization that age and time is a real thing, I began to ask myself what I want in this lifetime. What kind of person do I want to be? What sorts of people do I want in my life? Where do I want to go or do or see? These questions have birthed the Ordinary Pioneer within myself.

I work full time, as in I start my work day from the moment I wake up until the moment I exhaustingly drift off to sleep…and then some. I have a husband, a toddler, a full-time job as an AV Designer and Project manager and I am the owner of a Yoga, Meditation and Reiki business. As a child, I found myself yearning for the freedom of adulthood. Now I find myself wishing time would slow down. This is my daily practice.

I’ve always been drawn to emotions. As a child, I was aware of the energetic feelings carried within others around me. I could practically feel them myself and I wondered how those emotions came to be. Wondering why people allow themselves to be so sad or angry. This became overwhelming as I approached my teens and emotions became heavy in my own family through the event of my parent’s divorce. The weight of everyone’s emotions, particularly my own, consumed me and I shut it out. I stopped crying. I got angry. I got anxiety. I got depression. I kept the lid on so tight but what I didn’t realize was that emotional energy was infecting me from the inside out and expressing itself in ways that was deteriorating my health and happiness.

I came to a realization as I approached adulthood that perhaps it wasn’t serving me to block my emotions from surfacing. I began seeing the people God was bringing into my life to show me truth. My truth, and the truth about others which, I found, was strangely similar. I began connecting with others on a deeper level, sharing my insecurities, struggles and fears. People began approaching me and sharing their own struggles, mostly complete strangers. I soon developed a passion for supporting others in their healing.

As time went on, I began to learn more about my emotions and the “why” behind them. I began to see similar emotions in others and the cause and effect of those emotions like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. The desire to explore this further was getting stronger but I was stuck in a feeling of, “who am I to help others or lead them down a path of healing?” I was in my own way, however, in asking this question, I received an answer. I don’t need to be anyone “special” in order to have a voice and a purpose and a beautiful gift to share with others. I can be simply and ordinarily me! Thus, birthed the term, “Ordinary Pioneer.”

We are all born with a perfect purpose, with beautiful gifts beyond our imagination and with the ability to influence and bring forth positive change in ourselves, others and the entire world. Perhaps “ordinary” doesn’t need to be mundane, bland, get up/go to work/shopping/cooking/bed…Perhaps, “ordinary” can mean creating a brand-new adventure every single day!

In 2019, I began searching for my new ordinary and all those things I’ve been saying “should” to turned into “let’s do this!” I said “yes” to Me and my passions. That fall I got out of my way and finally signed up for yoga teacher training. I became a Reiki practitioner. I dug deep into the art of healing. It was beautiful and painful and exhausting and uplifting and encouraging and connecting.

I graduated from the RYT-200 program at Toledo Yoga in February of 2020 and that following Wednesday I taught my first yoga class as the owner of Ordinary Pioneer Yoga and Healing. That is when I first saw the power of hard work, passion, and manifesting dreams.

My vision is to create an environment that is supportive to others in their healing and growth physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically and spiritually. We all have the power within us to heal ourselves. As a Yoga and Meditation Instructor and Reiki Practitioner, I walk hand in hand with those in search of healing as I am also in seeking the paths back to my own authentic and raw being. I offer them tools in which to heal but they are the ones learning how to interpret those tools in order to develop their own power to heal and grow. I believe that life is an adventure and that it is up to us to seek the possibilities of creating a life that is ordinarily extraordinary.