With continued yoga practice, one typically learns several types of breath ranging in style, length and type. Some are heating; others are cooling. Some amp you up and some slow you down. Most beginner yoga classes teach fairly simple pranayamas like three part breath and Ujjayi, for focus and control. Since taking that first yoga class, and continuing my studies over the years, I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve come back to my breath OFF the mat.

My breath helps me get to sleep at night.

My breath calms me down when I’m upset.

My breath centers and re-energizes me when working.

My breath brings me into the now.

My breath is one of the biggest blessings in my life.

I am completely annoyed when I’m sick and cannot breathe. I am off balance, un-centered and aggravated, in addition to not feeling well.

And yet, as much as I know how much I am blessed with the ability to take long, deep breaths, I know I also sometimes take that gift for granted.

I know that because I know someone who struggles to breathe ON A DAILY BASIS because she only has 30 to 40 percent of her lung’s capacity available to her.

Her name is Jessica and she is a beautiful 33 year old mother of two who was born with Cystic Fibrosis. This terrible disease, along with the medicine she’s taken over the course of her life have caused other health issues such as a gastro intestinal disorder, the most severe case of diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver. Yet, she never complains and has an amazing outlook on life. Her condition has worsened over the years and will continue to do so unless she gets a double lung transplant.

Jessica and her husband Chris (who I work with) have been making trips to the Cleveland Clinic over the past year for a number of assessments to determine the immediate need. One of the qualifications they must meet for the lung transplant is the ability to raise $60,000 for living and medical expenses during the 2 to 12 months they’ll be required to live in Cleveland during and after the transplant. They’ve formed a foundation called Hope for Jessica and have partnered with COTA (Children’s Organ Transplant Association) to accomplish this goal. A benefit is organized and scheduled for this Saturday at Woodward Avenue Brewers in Ferndale, Michigan. Several other events are scheduled to raise money for Jessica, including yoga classes, bowling, massage and more.

To date, they’ve raised almost $18,000, but they have a long way to go.

I write this post as an appeal to you. If you are a yogi, you know the value of breath. You know the blessing it continually gives to your life. Value and cherish it, and in an act of kindness, please help me help Jessica with the opportunity to have the same. A double lung transplant will give her the ability to do so many things she’s never been able to do in her lifetime.

If you’ve found this post, ANY AMOUNT you can give will get them one step closer to their goal. Please give today and share this post, along with the Hope for Jessica site and Facebook page with all of your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Spread the word. Dedicate your yoga practice to Jessica, sending love and good thoughts her way. Please pray for her and her family during this critical time of need.

All she’s already gone through, and will have to endure in the coming months are more than most of us could ever imagine.

Easily take your next full breath, retain it, let it out slowly and enjoy the immediate sensation and profound effect.

Help Jessica do the same.

There is no gift more precious than breath.

Life. Isn’t it amazing?

If you’ve followed namaste*heather for any length of time, you would know that I had some super trying times in 2010. Without going into great detail, the times were life changing. Luckily more positives than negatives prevailed.

One “birth” that occurred was my new found faith in God. I began attending church after a long absent stint, and started to grow in unfathomable ways. Instead of constantly returning to the turmoil and strife that I’d felt in the situation, I realized I didn’t need it. I realized that it wasn’t what God intended for me. I became happy, for no apparent reason – or so I thought. I realized I only need to surrender my life – instead of forcing it the way I’d done so many times before. After months of deep soul searching, more devastation when I thought the worst was over, and not knowing where to turn, my faith became even more sealed. Often times a death must occur before true birth can take place. God was doing that to me, little by little, day by day.

Truth is truth and anything less falls short for me now.

Yoga teaches us to ground, but on and in what? I wasn’t feeling very grounded with ONLY yoga and the yoga philosophy that soothed me in the past. I still turn to it. It still resonates and feels true when digested and integrated with the Word.

At the end of last year, I began to dive deeper not only in the church but in my own experience of the Word. I needed more. I needed to learn and understand what I had been missing for the majority of my life. I found a church home that finally fit (after attending many that were just wrong for me) and started to GET REAL about my faith, my writing and my journey. I finally narrowed down a book topic that excited me and began doing some research, only to find that so much was already written. I was – and still am so energized by it all. I am energized again the way I was when I first discovered yogic philosophy. So much has been written. There is so much to learn. One could never “arrive” and master an understanding of it all in a lifetime. I didn’t realize how true that was about God as well. I love that I will be learning and growing for the rest of my life. It enthralls me like nothing else.

In October of 2011, I enrolled in a Holy Yoga Teacher Training and for the first time in a long time felt at home – in my body, with my soul. I found what I’d been searching for, for so long. At the same time, I started a new website without making it public, and began to put the pieces together. You are now viewing the website of which I’m writing. My Holy Yoga Immersion will be ending next week and I’ll be attending a retreat in May, after which time I’ll be offering Holy Yoga classes. Visit the HY website (linked above) to learn more.

Most importantly, please continue to follow me on this journey, and “like” my Facebook page to stay up-to-date. Thank you for your love, encouragement and support. I am ever grateful!

I am beyond thankful for all of the people God has placed in my path. He speaks loud and clear. My problem is typically my inability – or unwillingness – to listen.

My friend, Lauren, who I became acquainted with through my class at OU-L sent me the video above. She’s a young, beautiful Christian woman and I reached out to her about my new path of connecting my yoga (practice and teaching) with my Christian faith. I feel God’s presence when I practice and teach but have never expressed it as such. I am ready for God to use me in this way.

She said to me “I have no doubt God wants to use you in this way. It’s part of who you are. Allow your passion for God to show in your teaching the same way you let your passion for yoga shine.” Thank you Lauren. I needed to hear that. I will.

~Psalm 46:10

I’ve been practicing yoga for a long time. I’ve also been a Christian – though a non-practicing one – for a long time. My heart has been longing for answers, and when I reached out I found it . . . “Seek and ye shall receive” sound familiar? Sometimes it seems so surreal and amazing, but if only I’d opened my eyes I would have known the Truth all along.

“Be still and know that I am God . . .” is the verse that connects me to my yoga and also to God. I’ve known for a very long time that when I get quiet, really quiet, God is there. This is the reason I must go deeper. This is the reason Holy Yoga resonates with me so deeply. I am grateful for this beautiful journey.

We took pics of each other in yoga poses just for fun. It’s a beautiful spot anyway and the sun was amazingly bright and shining. Looking at the pics it was hard not to reflect on how much she’s grown over the last few years – physically and emotionally. Looking at her in those poses, she now looks like a young lady instead of a child unaware.

She took this pic of me in Warrior I . . . look at the sun shining down upon me! We were reminded more than once of God’s beauty, and for that I am truly grateful!