There has been a theme in my classes lately. Cultivation. Cultivating observation, reciprocity, gratitude, trust, acceptance, and vision. Life is a constant germination and cultivation, always creating, tending, weaving, and dreaming. It is the cultivation of the dream that creates vision. That dream that resonates within the core of who you are. That dream that you passionately state aloud in utter knowing that it will happen one day. You connect with it, feel the truth of it in every cell of your being, and then you let it go, because your role of dreaming your vision into reality is complete and it is time to trust and accept the role of the Universe to meet your dream and manifest.
My wise mother consistently says, “Turn it over.”
When we create the vision of who we were meant to be, align our passions with our heart and our capacity to create the vision, it is only manifest through the surrender.
We must release the dream to sources more powerful than ourselves and KNOW it is real.
Evolve Yoga and Wellness was born out of that deep knowing. After my first yoga class I knew I would teach. Fresh off the heels of baby 5 and trying to maneuver life as a cancer survivor, I never pondered all of the obstacles, I only knew I wanted to teach. Two months later I had just completed teacher training at Lotus House of Yoga in Omaha. I held onto the knowing and my only thought was, “Well, then I need a space to teach.”
The dream will come back to you when you step beyond fear. After being rejected in numerous venues to teach yoga throughout the city, I had one last call to make. So I embraced discomfort and I reached out to a friend to see if I could rent her vacant home a couple of days a week. She suggested her husband’s physical therapy clinic. Rather than finding the very real excuse of not being able to afford rent, I simply said yes. He took a chance on a gestating idea of a business and an emerging new teacher. COLOR BLOCK: The universe will place people in your path that will have a profound effect on the trajectory of your life. It was surrendering my vision, the letting go, that introduced these people to me. It was vision and gratitude aligning the heart with the sources that bring the energy back to you.
Early on, it was a constant venture into the unknown, and into fear. Thinking about making ends meet, finding customers and paying overhead filled me with equal amounts of fear and excitement. I had to consciously let go of my finite plans for the outcome and have faith in my vision and the gratitude I had about it and then step out of my own way to make room for the infinite vision and possibilities that were available. Like a farmer turns the earth in order to compost the stalks of the old crop to plant and cultivate a new crop, I let go of old fears in order to plant and nurture a new vision.
It was a very simple concept, to bring this gift of fulfillment to others, and to provide a healing center where complementary types of natural therapies are provided under one roof. No pills, no scalpels, no anesthesia. Just good common sense. If you suffer from low energy, let’s see what foods give you more energy. If you suffer from joint pain, let’s see if some stretching, yoga and supplements improve mobility and comfort. If you suffer from unhappiness or loneliness, like so many, let’s get you among people who are determined to feel better, physically and emotionally. There are trusted remedies that have fallen out of vogue in our modern tendency for instant gratification and instant results.
The path of Evolve’s growth began as simply the desire to bring this practice to everyone, knowing that I could make that happen and trusting the people who showed up to play a role in that journey.
I didn’t know what the practice was and how it would transform me, all I knew was how I felt.
This practice has offered me the opportunity to transform on deep levels mentally, physically, emotionally, and has connected me to my spirituality immensely. I’ve tried to conceptualize the idea of vision, but my understanding comes from a much deeper place. A place of true knowing that is rooted so securely within me that it is a part of my physical body. I knew I wanted to be a yoga teacher, even after rejection I knew that I would teach. I knew I had to say yes when the opportunity to rent a space presented itself. I knew I had to say yes to opening a second location, and then to say yes to purchasing our property downtown. Even though sometimes saying yes has also brought devastating loss, pain, and setbacks, I still showed up and accepted those parts of my journey and continued to say yes. Yes to the beautiful and difficult parts equally.
Amazing things happen when you fully step into fear. Transformation happens. By confronting all my fears of unworthiness, lack of knowledge about a business, lack of experience teaching and with practice of yoga itself, I allowed doors to open that I didn’t know existed. I stepped off the trajectory of my life and stepped into the realm of possibilities. This surrender to vision introduced so many amazing people to me. People came forward that saw my passion and were moved by my mission. Opportunities presented themselves time and time again, from when we opened the first studio to our most recent expansion offering holistic healing, massage, and energy body work. After eight years, the dream has finally become a reality. There is a saying that when Spirit calls you, you answer; and when you call, Spirit answers. The call is never to stay small or be intimidated by details like money, lack, the limitations of ego, being seen, being good enough. Rather accept what you can do in the moment and know Spirit is calling us to answer to our greatest ability and capacity.
Vision is a constant cultivation of reciprocity. The dance of letting go and receiving, returning us to balance so we can dream well. Dr. Wayne Dyer reminds us that “What you think about with the greatest focus and intention is what expands in your reality. If your thoughts are centered on what is missing, then what is missing by definition will have to expand in your life.” So instead of playing small, I weave a story of the cultivation of gratitude and vision and how the energy of these unites to draw to me the people, spaces, and resources to create my dreams.
As I look toward 2020, I’m being called to dream bigger, and honestly dreaming bigger throws me back into the depths of fear. So my mantra has shifted toward the cultivation of vision, “I receive the abundance of the universe and trust the appropriate resources will be available, as always.” I will continue to build on this foundation that I have successfully and consistently co-created with Spirit and remind myself that what feels like fear when I stay small behind a closed door, is really passionate excitement for what is waiting on the other side. When we Evolve, our expansion is limitless.
Erin Kuehl is the founder and visionary force behind Evolve Yoga and Wellness Center, a place of wellness , healing and growth located in downtown Sioux City, Iowa
