Limitless… this one's for you, Mr. Alling
Dear Soul Dive,
If yoga has taught me one thing, it’s this: We are limitless beings. We have endless possibilities and countless opportunities to step into new experiences and foreign spaces each and every day, but we don’t do it because we are living quite limited lives. We might dip a toe in here or there, but my observation is we often play it safe, stay ‘in bounds’ or within whatever means we’ve set for ourselves through some self-limiting belief. The way we tend to live is a fear-based response to a lack mentality. We set ourselves up to only have a little because deep down we feel like we don't deserve to have a lot.
Some of us are playing it so safe, living so risk-averse that the reward doesn’t have a clear pathway to find us. How we got here doesn’t matter, that’s the past. What we do about it is the now. If you take away only one thing from this note, take this: You are worthy because you are. You were divinely placed here and there is nothing wrong with you.
Yoga has taught me that we are limitless in so many different ways, and I’m not alone. You all know Chris Alling. If you don’t know him from Yoga, then you do know him from school as he’s been the principal of Xavier High School since, well… forever. Chris scoots in, shares a few pleasantries, gets on his mat, and scoots out in record time after class. I’ve gotten to know Chris exceptionally well over the last 8 months. Chris has the warmest heart, beautiful vulnerability and the best darn sense of humor I’ve yet to encounter. What you might not know is that Chris is moving to Sacramento at the end of the month. After 30 years in the desert, he answered the bell to start over. You know what we say here, starting over is a soulful act of bravery. When I asked Chris what ultimately sealed the deal for him to leave, he said (among other things), “It’s your fault, Alex.” I was a little stunned… but he elaborated to share that by getting on his mat, releasing fears as well as the past, and moving all the stuck energy he heard the calling and answered the bell. After building an entire life here, he was ready to go. I am equal parts devastated and overjoyed by Chris’s departure. I haven’t yet brought myself to read the card Chris gave me along with the painting of the tree that now lives happily over the honor bar. But I will share a bit from one of his recent emails…
“Grateful for your pauses and your lighthearted silence that lets me squirm. Grateful for the prompting to "sort out" my feet. If you knew how that took my legs out so many many times. "Sort out" your feet. Take a minute. Will always be grateful for the invitation to leave something on the mat. Your Roomba has picked up a lot of what I left on that mat. Good yoga studios like yours need soul Roombas... deep cleaners... Grateful for the times my smiling shoulders and chest helped my lips to smile. Grateful for all the times my heart shined up after it went down and in... Child's pose. Thank you thank you thank you.”
Chris is a living, breathing example of how yoga works. I know for a fact he didn’t think he’d move when he first stepped into the studio because he bought the annual unlimited membership (and he’s admittedly a cost-per-use kinda guy). But Chris knew something was brewing and it was time for it to come up. So he got on the mat and did the work. Chris, while I fully accept fault and honor you blaming Soul Dive for your voyage into the next chapter, it was you who made that all happen.
I hear it all the time, “I don’t do yoga.” Or my favorite, “There just isn’t enough time.” Do you know what this is? It’s limited. I watch people live limited lives all the time. Unwilling to step outside of the chains they have wrapped so tightly around themselves because they don’t think they deserve the freedom. Happiness is an inside job, friends. Staying within the confines of self-limiting beliefs is like stepping into the hamster wheel of complacency. You’ll only have just a little in there, but man you’ll be peddling your feet like crazy to keep the wheel spinning.
Chris, I love you, brother. You have brought so much joy to Soul Dive and my heart the last 8 months and your presence will be deeply missed. You have shown me, and our community, what it means to be limitless. I’ll never forget one of the first conversations we had where I told you I would be stoked for my kids to go to Xavier and have you as their principal. And you looked at me very confidently and said, “Alex, I won’t be here when that happens.” Linger a little longer this week and to take a line from your final commencement speech, be painfully slow letting go. You will always have a home at Soul Dive and we know we’ll always be in your heart as you conquer new educational territory up north.
We are limitless beings. Our hearts have a great capacity to love and our souls an even deeper capacity to expand. How you choose to step outside of your self-inflicted box is up to you. Just know that we have a beautiful space ready to set fire to the past and be with you in the present. Your heart’s desires await…
From my limitless heart to yours,
Alex
PS, if you share Chris’s money mentality of ‘cost per use’ check out our annual membership. Pay upfront. $1,111 by Venmo/Zelle. $1,234 by credit. This price increases after July.