On this eve of the New Year, I invite you to celebrate your own new beginnings, as we initiate ours. On January 5th, PLAY Studio will officially open its doors, welcoming you to our sacred space where you can dance, create art, practice yoga, and find your flow.
First, allow me to introduce myself. I am a mother of three beautiful daughters—19 (college student), 17 (with multiple disabilities) and 9 (going on 13). I recently celebrated my 20th anniversary with my soulmate whose job has taken us around the world, living in South Africa, the Caribbean and the United States. Miami has been our home for the past six years and also happens to be where the seed for PLAY Studio was planted.
About five years ago, my multiple disabilities daughter began a rough patch in her life, entering puberty with many emotional and physical struggles. I turned to yoga for direction and grounding. The practice of this moving meditation showed me how to be less reactive, allowed me to look at life with a new perspective, and gave me the courage to take things one day at a time. As I started listening to my daughter more and tried to fix her less, the art world entered her life and peace slowly came back into ours.
Watching her tap into her creativity and witnessing the miracles within her inspired me to take a closer look at my inner world. What I found was an exhausted Mama, borderline depressed who was suffering from an identity crisis. Somehow, in the journey of saving my daughter and trying to keep my family together and happy, I had put my own needs and desires on the side and had forgotten who I was as a woman. I had lost that connection with that little voice in me that lit me up and allowed me to shine from within.
My yoga teacher training was the catalyst of this inner journey. I have deepened my practice since, learning from friends, therapists and my many mentors like Heatherash Amara (The Warrior Goddess Training), Stefania Serafina (intuitive dancing), Karen Brody (Daring to Rest with Yoga Nidra) and Sara Avant Stover (The Way of the Happy Woman.) Their courses and daily lessons teach me the importance of resourcing myself, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Energy is not something I acquire but rather it is something that I AM. I know now that to constantly give out without taking back in depletes me. I understand now that taking time for myself is NOT wasted time. It is vital to my survival as a woman and it is the only way to get to know myself and learn to love ALL of me!
I am also cultivating more self-patience, understanding that it takes time to grow, to learn new lessons and change old destructive habits into new healthy ones. This has allowed me to tap into my own creative world and bring forth the dream of our new sacred space: Peace Love Art Yoga. A place where together, through the arts, dance and yoga, we learn how to reconnect with that inner bliss as we tap into our creativity and unleash our inner voice. Our souls are not technical; they are cyclical just like Mother Nature. If we take the time to learn and grow by understanding her different seasons and cycles, we will better understand our ever-evolving souls.
As a daughter, friend, sister, wife and mother, it is with open heart and mind that I welcome you to come and PLAY with us this new year, as we learn to turn on our intuition and tune into ourselves.
Gratefully Yours,
Lotus Baker
Tribe Leader, PLAY Studio
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