Scholarship application entries

• 1. 1) What is your purpose?
  If you had to describe your calling in life, what would you say?
  What are you here to do? What gift is yours to give to the world?

I feel called to help people rediscover their bodies and their vital breath, which can allow them to heal and be whole again.

What is your wish for this world?  

I wish we, as a world community, could let go of the fear that separates us and remember our deep, abiding connection to one another.

• 1. 3) Why is optimism intelligent?
  Why is it brilliant to be hopeful? What's the benefit of looking on the bright side?
  How has a positive outlook helped your life?

Hope is what keeps us vibrant and alive.  There is nothing but the bright side, though there may be darkness around and within us.  We can choose to dwell on the darkness, or we can decide to move in the direction of light.  I choose hope rather than fear, love above hate, and compassion over righteousness.  My life has benefited greatly from making that choice, though I will not pretend that it has always been easy. When I broke my leg last year and my arm two years before that, I chose to look at these times as opportunities: to be still, to listen and meditate, to read more, and also notice the ways in which it enriched my life, rather than the obvious physical limitations. These events actually led me in the direction of my decision to choose Physical and Yoga Therapy as my career and life path. So, I credit those times of trauma as the reasons I returned to school, and ultimately, to my finding the Gaia website! We hear so many stories of how times of darkness can lead us to even lighter moments than before, so the fun and interesting part is remembering this, as well as being present enough to stay connected to the bright side. If we can find some sense of joy and celebration, even in things that might look bleak on the surface, maybe we can appreciate all situations as greater lessons about our truest selves.

• 2. 4) What do you plan to do next to brighten the future of the planet?
  Will you become a teacher and inspire a love of learning?
  Go on a meditation retreat to learn to embody peace in the world?
  How will you be that which you dream of?

I will continue to teach the many lessons of yoga to those who seek that knowledge. I addition to teaching yoga, I will learn a more complete wisdom of the body and how it can heal and rehabilitate, through my Physical Therapist Assistant program, beginning this fall.  If the universe allows it, I eventually hope to offer Yoga Therapy to individuals in need of this amazing holistic practice.  Combining the benefits of Physical Therapy with the mindfulness of yogic breath, mantra and meditation, I aspire to offer a service to those healing from injury or suffering from disease.  Since I have witnessed friends and family suffer from stroke and brain cancer, I hope to turn my attention especially to those people in need of this type of rehabilitation.  Whatever is in store for me, I will continue to discover my truest nature through the practices of yoga and meditation, as a means to Seva, or service.  On the karma yoga path, the only true way to love and peace is to serve others and to offer that service to the Divine. I have been so amazed at witnessing the recovery of health and well-being of people with the unconditional support of their friends, family and communities. I truly wish to be a part of that network of support and give back to this world that has blessed me in so many ways.