Mantra – “”I build my future from a place of compassionatly understanding my past.”

Yoga Class Theme: The Layers We Carry – Healing the Past, Building the Future

Topic 1 – Honoring the Layers Within

Short Talk:
As I traveled through Florence, Messina, Greece, and the ancient city of Istanbul, I was struck by how civilizations were layered one atop another—Greek temples beneath Roman roads, Ottoman mosques resting on Byzantine churches. These places reminded me that we too are layered. We carry old stories, pain, love, and hope. Healing doesn’t come from paving over the past—but from uncovering it with care.

Metaphor:
Imagine walking through Istanbul or Rhodes, where beneath your feet lies a mosaic hidden for centuries. Each step reveals another piece of a forgotten story. Like these cities, our wholeness is not in hiding the past, but in carefully bringing it to light.

Supportive Quotes:

“Understand your own self first, then you will be ready to understand everything else.” – Buddha

“In every pose and every breath, remember that strength is born from challenge.”

“What you notice, give your attention to… is what you are inviting into your life.” – David Scott

Call to Action:
As you move through your practice today, pause when you notice a familiar pattern or feeling arise. Instead of turning away, gently ask, “What layer is this?” Meet it with curiosity, not judgment.

Topic 2 – The Sadness of Separation

Short Talk:
One of the most heartbreaking truths I learned abroad was how, in the 20th century, entire families were deported because of religion. In Turkey, Christians were sent to Greece. In Greece, Muslims were sent to Turkey. Even if they had lived there for generations, speaking the language and loving the land, they were forced to leave. Instead of focusing on common ground, they were pulled apart by their differences.

Metaphor:
Think of a tree growing above a border drawn on a map. Its roots stretch freely beneath the surface, weaving through both sides, unaware of the divisions above. But if we tried to split the tree to match those man-made lines, we’d sever something living, something sacred. The tree doesn’t honor boundaries—it honors connection.

Supportive Quotes:

“The human journey is about… finding the good in the bad, the light in the dark.” – David Scott

“When you lose all sense of self, the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish.” – Rumi

“To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.” – Buddha

Call to Action:
Today, reflect on a time when you judged yourself—or someone else—for being different. Can you soften that reaction? In your breath, find a place of shared humanity.

Topic 3 – Excavation, Not Erasure

Short Talk:
Your yoga practice today is not about performance. It’s about excavation. A gentle archaeology of the soul. When tension or emotion rises, don’t bury it. Stay. Breathe. Ask: What is this layer? What does it want me to see?

Metaphor:
Imagine standing in the ruins of Pompeii. The volcanic ash that once buried it in silence now protects its memory. As archaeologists slowly uncover homes, frescoes, and tools, they don’t rush. They brush gently, layer by layer, honoring what they find.

Our inner world is no different. We are not here to erase or rush. We are here to brush back the dust of time—gently, with care—and see what still lives in us. The goal isn’t to perfect, but to witness. Like Pompeii, much of what is beautiful within us is waiting just beneath the surface. We aren’t here to “fix” ourselves. We’re here to understand ourselves more deeply.

Supportive Quotes:

“Every breath uncovers something sacred.”

“I heal what was, and welcome what is.”

“Like the cities of old, we are made of many stories. The practice is to remember them with love, and then write the next one with grace.”

Call to Action:
When discomfort or emotion surfaces, resist the urge to fix or bury it. Instead, stay present. Let your breath act like a soft brush, revealing what is ready to be seen with compassion.

Topic 4 – Choosing What to Keep

Short Talk:
Not every layer needs to stay. Some beliefs, habits, and patterns were once protective, but no longer serve us. Yoga teaches us to feel what’s there, honor it, and decide if it still belongs.

Metaphor:
Imagine wandering through a restored historical site. Some walls are carefully preserved, others removed to let in more light and space. The restoration doesn’t erase history—it selects with intention. The builder honors the past while creating something that serves the present. In your life, too, you get to choose which parts of your story remain as foundations, and which can be released to let more light in.

Supportive Quotes:

“I build my future from a place of understanding.”

“What you seek is seeking you.” – Rumi

“To understand the dance, one must be still. And to understand stillness, one must dance.” – Rumi

Call to Action:
As you move through your poses, ask: Does this feel like mine, or something I’ve just carried? Let go of one belief—just one—that no longer fits your present self.

Topic 5 – Integration and Wholeness

Short Talk:
After all the uncovering, all the breath and presence, you’re not just a sum of the layers—you are a mosaic. Every piece, every scar, every joy—beautiful when seen together. You are whole, and you are still becoming.

Metaphor:
Like stepping back from a massive fresco, where individual brush strokes and cracks once seemed chaotic—now they blend into something whole. From up close, we see only the flaws and fragments. But with distance and presence, we begin to see the beauty of the entire composition. In that wholeness, art emerges.

Supportive Quotes:

“I honor my layers.”

“In my stillness, I remember who I am.”

“We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.” – Rumi

Call to Action:
In your closing postures, see if you can hold both joy and sorrow, past and present, as one mosaic. Whisper to yourself: “All of it belongs. I am still becoming.”

“Inflection points are pivotal moments in our life, when adversity meets and transforms into opportunities.” – David Scott

“It’s your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that will determine how your life’s story will unfold.” – David Scott

“Stay away from negative people, they have a problem for every solution”

“Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.” – Oprah Winfrey

“In every pose and every breath, remember that strength is born from challenge. Embrace the struggle, for it shapes the strength within you.”

“Who cares how many wrong turns you make on life’s journey. A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” – David Scott

“In order to understand the dance one must be still. And in order to truly understand stillness one must dance.” – Rumi

“There is no path to happiness, happiness is the path itself. You cannot travel on the path until you become the path itself.” – Buddha

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”

Life only demands from you the strength you already possess.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

Understand your own self first, then you will be ready to understand everything else. “To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.” – Buddha

“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” – Rumi

“Everything that has ever been created by mankind, began first in the mind with imagination.” – David Scott

“What you seek is seeking you,” – Rumi

What you notice, give your attention to, talk about, get all worked up over emotionally is what you are inviting into your life, whether you mean to or not. Every thought we think, every feeling we have, every word we speak goes out into the atmosphere to either heal or harm. Let us be healers. Let us be harmless

What have you been telling yourself..You act out who you think you are…our earliest messages were how we judged ourselves, how we knew if we were okay or loved or worthwhile. They came from outside in, and the more they were repeated, the more strongly we owned them. They became imprinted on our subconscious to be heard over and over again.

“Our thoughts are powerful and create anxiety by physically changing our bodies, such as our heart rate, respiration and blood pressure. Whatever we think, we feel What we think in our minds responds in our bodies. When we relive old experiences, our bodies do not know whether they are happening now or if only in our minds, so our bodies respond as if it were now. Our minds and bodies do not know the difference between real and imagined. Spend time thinking of what you want rather than what you don’t want in your life” – David Scott

“Never pull away suddenly from a negative thought or experience. Stay with it until you are indifferent to it or until it turns beautiful. Look at it, love it, then let it go” – Golas, Thaddeus

“An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming.”

“We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.” – Rumi

I don’t chase, I attract. When something belongs to me it will simply find me.

“The human journey is about, finding a way to get through obstacles, finding the good in the bad, finding the light in the dark. In the end, what you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”” – David Scott

“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?” – Rumi

“Inside any deep asking is the answering.” – Rumi

“When you seek love with all your heart you shall find its echo in the universe.” – Rumi

“When you lose all sense of self, the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish.” – Rumi

“I learned that every mortal will taste death. But only some will taste life.” – Rumi

Three Feet from Gold

Back in the gold rush days of the wild wild west there was a man (R.U. Darby’s uncle) who heard about the riches that were being ‘found’ and struck in mining for gold out on the western frontier. He left Maryland to journey to Colorado and stake a claim to the newfound gold! After some preliminary digging, he discovered that he had found a deposit of gold so vast that it boggled everyone’s mind! It was thought they had found the biggest goldmine in history. So he traveled back to Maryland to ‘raise’ the funds necessary to buy and install all the equipment they would need to mine the gold.

On the return trip to Colorado, both the uncle and Darby staked their claim. They went to work on the mine. They pulled the first car out filled with ore out and sent it to the smelters to determine the gold content. The results came back and they were able to prove that indeed this had been one of the richest finds of gold in history! Of course everyone was mesmerized with dollar signs/wealth in their eyes. They ‘knew’ that in just a short period of time of mining they would all have amassed more wealth than they had ever dreamt about!

So they fired up the drills and went after the gold with a vengeance; and that’s when they hit their wall! Something happened. The gold ‘vein’ had mysteriously disappeared! It was nowhere to be found – they kept digging, and digging, and digging further down, but it was to no avail … it just wasn’t there! They desperately tried and tried and tried some more! Their hopes, dreams, all their wishes were dashed! They had come crushing down – boom!

Down and out, depressed, and dragging their feet, with their shoulders stooped – they finally decided to quit. They had all those thoughts that no doubt – you’ve all had before. Thoughts like; “…boy, we were pretty stupid to think we would be the ones to find the biggest gold deposits in history weren’t we? What the heck were we thinking? Surely if there were any real gold here, the entire world would be digging here! We’re just a bunch of amateurs anyway, there are well financed & rich companies out there with all the experts in the world telling them scientifically where to dig, and we come down here on a hunch and a prayer hoping to make the gold appear? Boy was that dumb … we’re just a bunch of dreamers … geeesh! Well, neveragain! I’ll tell you what Darby, I will never waste my time chasing down another one of these wild goose chases!!! I mean, I’m an adult now … this is the stuff that kids like you – your age go after this kind of thing, I’m too old for this crap anymore! I’m going to settle in and just get a good paying job and do the smart thing! Will you just kick my teeth in the next time I start talking delirious again, if ever? Let’s just sell all the equipment to some other fool like us, if there are any others left, and get the hell out of here and go back home.”

Does Any of This Sound Familiar?

So they decided to walk away from it, and sell it for whatever they could sell their equipment for. They found a man who bought junk for pennies. The ‘junk’ man bought all their machinery and equipment for a few hundred dollars. The Darby’s took the next train back home to Maryland. Mr. Junk Man decided to bring in a mine engineer (a specialist) and look at the mine and do some analysis. Well it didn’t take long for this specialist to discover what the Darby’s had done wrong, where they had made their mistake. It turns out as he explained to the junk man; the Darby’s had overlooked or were unaware of “fault lines.” He further explained that according to his calculations, the huge gold vein would be found again just three feet away from where the Darby’s had stopped drilling!

Needless to say, they started drilling in the place the specialist had indicated and …

The Gold Vein was Found Exactly Three Feet Away!

Exactly where the fault line shift indicated.

The result: The junk man took in MILLIONS of dollars in gold ore out of the mine simply because he had the presence of mind to seek a specialist / expert before he gave up.

You shouldn’t feel bad for Mr. Darby. You see, what appears to have been a massive blunder (and it was), Darby learned from. Remember that he vowed to find a ‘good’ job? Well Darby went into the life insurance business. He used his prior experience of having lost a fortune because he had stopped just 3 feet away from the gold. He remembered the lesson, and he vowed in his new business to – never stop because someone said ‘no’ to him when he asked them to buy insurance. So Darby never again stopped.

Darby became one of just a handful of ‘producers’ who sold over a million dollars in life insurance annually. He had learned to stick with it because he had already experienced quitting in his past gold mining business. It might not seem like much today, but this happened in the early 1900’s at the turn of the past century!

Have you had your experience yet with your gold vein?