(Part 3 of 3) I finally found what I was looking for… + a gift for you!

I know it’s down here, somewhere. 


It was early 2020 and I was in my parents’ basement, rifling through large Rubbermaid totes filled with memories, scrapbooks and notebooks. I was on the hunt for something I’d seen only a handful of times in my life.


My holy grail.


I remembered it as a small, black binder filled with my dad’s old sermons. When I was growing up, he volunteered to preach at church when the pastor was out of town. I remember walking into his office a few times, and he’d have the little binder open, making notes. I also remember friends at church gave him a hard time because he was long-winded at the pulpit!


These days? I’d take a long-winded sermon a million times over if my dad was the one giving it.


Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2015, and although it was a slow progression at first, 1 year turned into 5+, and things were changing fast. He was close to needing round-the-clock care, and it was only a matter of time before… well, you get the idea. 


I just wanted to hear his words clearly again. Or at least read them.


I don’t even remember where I found it, but I did. Just like I remembered it — a black binder filled with his most treasured thoughts on the meaning of life. 


I cracked open the first sermon, and by page 2, my jaw dropped. Dad wrote: 

We as human beings cannot, and will not, have that for which we ask — nor can we have anything we want. This is because our very request is a statement of lack. Therefore, our prayers should not be for our wants, but rather to be thankful in advance for that which we choose to experience… we are, in effect, acknowledging it’s already here.

My mind was blown. I couldn’t have said it better myself… because I had. In similar words, that’s what I teach about abundance and living yoga.


And another sermon: 


… and there’s the rub. For it’s what we do when we imagine ourselves to be ‘better than,’ which sets the stage for great human tragedy. […] Paul said, “All of you are Christ’s body.” Let’s try taking that literally. Let’s assume that God is the only body, and every time we do something as a part of that body, it affects the whole being. The only condition that God puts on our experience in the flesh is that we can’t remember where we came from or where we are going. (Many of us get accused of that quite frequently anyway!) We are just here to enjoy and experience the experience. And doesn’t this really make great sense? If we knew all things both before and after life, what good would the life experience be? There would be no surprises and what fun would that be? We must believe there is no separation, no disunity. We are simply different parts of the One Body, called Humanity. No path through life is any better than another. Simply, different. 


Minus the cast of characters, the concepts were the same as I teach when discussing yogic philosophy. His sermon was essentially the same answer I’d found through yoga to my question: What’s the point of all this?  


Page after page proved that I’d been studying and teaching precisely what my dad was studying and preaching years ago. He may not have called it yoga, and I may not call it religion, but we each had a spiritual connection all the same. In his words: Same body. Same unity. Different paths to get there, as it should be. 


Finally, I found a passage where I felt him speaking directly to me:


Life is an opportunity for us to know experientially what we already know conceptually… this is so because our soul knows all — it just can’t remember. Therefore, your job on Earth is not to learn (because you already know), but to remember Who You Are, and remember who everyone else is. That’s why a big part of your job is to remind others: So they can remember, also.


Tears pooled in my eyes. 


Now, I knew with certainty I’d come full circle. No more mountains to climb — just a big, poetic circle to enjoy lap, after lap. 


There isn’t just one way “to the top of the mountain.” Dad’s words confirmed what I’d come to know: Yoga isn’t some weird, new-agey outlook that goes against other spiritual paths or religions. The yoga that taught me to love my body, quiet my mind, and open my heart is — in fact — the same “yoga” my dad had in his own heart. Call it God. Call it church. Call it meditation. Call it spirit. Call it religion. Call it hiking-in-the-woods-because-it-makes-you-feel-connected.


To me, it’s all just… yoga. 


The Sanskrit word yoga means “union,” and thus, yoga in all its shapes and forms helps us systematically remember who we are, deep down. There in the heart, we find unity of all paths and all beings.

Furthermore, as a yoga teacher, simply by being in that space and sharing how we arrived there… that is enough to remind others that they can get there, too — choosing whatever path meets their needs. We all arrive at the same place eventually. 


My friend Angie puts this concept so sweetly: We’re all just walking each other home. 


And that, my friends is the end! Or rather, our beginning. 


Inspired by my dad and our story, I created a 5-week, self-paced course for spiritually-curious women that is not — by any accounts — yoga for fitness.  It’s part philosophy, and part breathwork/movement, and I’m calling it Yoga for the Spirit because, well… that’s the point! 

For five weeks, dive into the five layers, or “energy bodies” within me — eventually arriving at the spirit at our center. This is the systematic way I first dove into my heart through yoga, and I’d be honored to walk you through it, too. 


Whatever spiritual background you come from, and however much (or little!) yoga experience you have, please know: You’re welcome here. You can be whoever you are, and believe whatever you believe, and still practice yoga. The goal is to deepen your connection to life — which is a unique experience to y-o-u. 


You’ll spend a minimum of 1 hour a week working through the material, and then you can come back to the short breathwork/movement practice daily, if you wish. And, although I identify as a woman and I teach through that lens, if that’s not the case for you and you feel called to this course, I would love to have enroll. New content drops every Sunday and you’ll get encouragement from me along the way. You’ll connect with a network of other folks doing the same on our Yoga Hive Connect Mighty Network.


Normally, this course costs $99 for lifetime access.


But because you're reading this, I’m offering this course at 100% discount. Totally free. 


If your curiosity is piqued in the slightest on how the ancient yogis systematically mapped out the path to the spirit, let’s do this. 

In honor of my dad, select “apply promo code” at checkout, and enter the code STEVE to get 100% off the $99 price. There will be a link in your confirmation email that takes you into our Yoga Hive Connect Mighty Network platform, and you’ll find our first week’s content waiting for you, along with an activity feed where you can post an intro to the group!

Best of all, because this is self-paced, you will get lifetime access to the videos and content. So if it doesn’t work in your schedule now, you can do just as my dad encouraged me so many years ago, “You’ll find your spiritual connection when you need it!”

Questions? Reply to this email and you’ll go directly to my inbox — I will personally respond to every inquiry. 

Otherwise, I’ll see you there!

Yoga for the Spirit / Sign me up!

In light,
Mollie