The last period bell shatters my eardrums as my sixth graders file out the door, and I begin to feel a heaviness settle in my chest. The “school day” was over, and I suddenly feel the silence. My prep hour begins to wash over me; my thoughts bursting forth: copies to make, stacks of quarter end grades to mark, PARCC meeting after school, two yoga classes to plan and teach, and Eowyn…my story…dances in my head, waiting to be written.

I close the door stepping over to my carpeted library corner, a makeshift yoga studio, allowing my dreams a moment to live.

Coming down to all fours I sink my hips to my heels, forehead to the floor, arms outstretched, finding my breath. The work before me beginning to dissipate while my Ujjayi breath centers my thoughts. Like a child, I let my worries go disappearing into my own world where I bring my story forth―my imagination powering up as I unwind.

In my fifth inhale, I root into my palms and, exhaling, lift my hips up and back, drawing my heels towards the floor in downward facing dog. I am no longer in a classroom worried about meetings and plans, but lost in the power of story, swept away in the characters I am creating. Walking my heels to the rhythm of my breath, I allow my heart to be vulnerable as scenes vividly play out on the backs of my eyelids, my characters coming to life.

After many breaths here, imagining now where my story is headed, I sink my knees back to the floor, letting go, and gently roll to one side as I work my way to Savasana pose, resting and breathing. The heaviness of the day―of my responsibilities―leaves me as I come to the place between dreaming and awake.

The place my story comes alive.

I allow my dreams to burst forth, beckoning me to chase them.

Caitlin Lore is a storyteller and adventurer. By day she is a junior high English teacher, and by night she is a Holy Yoga instructor. She is also a wife, entrepreneur, marriage retreat maker, and aspiring novelist. After a jaunt with endurance racing, she now specializes in yoga for athletes and restorative yoga seeking to bring soul-care and freedom to those feeling constrained by anxiety, depression, and stress through the avenue of Holy Yoga. http://caitlinlore.com/

Imagery from CAKE&WHISKEY Issue One by Andrea Hillebrand