FEATURED ALUMNI: DARBY CANESSA

I am grateful for the practice of Yoga and the community of Sonic. My teacher training taught me the beauty of being vulnerable and opening up to people, trusting that I will be supported and respected. I recently completed a pole dance teacher training, and were it not for Sonic Yoga’s teacher training program, I would’ve been too afraid to share and allow myself to be me. That is what Yoga has reminded me: just be. You are perfect. You are perfect in your being. You are whole.

I am now in Oceanside, California, feeling the resonance of a beautiful studio and community in New York. It is full of gratitude and joy. I am grateful that Sonic planted the seed for a perspective on life and movement that I have today.

I left New York in March 2020, never danced for my dream company. And I am okay with that. Life is a dance. And it is beautiful and epic!! I get to experience a dance with the ocean, a dance with a rock wall, a dance with a slackline, and a never-ending dance with the divine current flowing of life. Yoga has taught me to flow with it.

Through teacher training, I learned the importance of sadhana. Surfing before the sunrise is my sadhana. From the warm up, to the paddle out, to waiting between sets, to going down the face of the wave, to wiping out. It is all meditation. It is my morning ritual. I feel it so deeply. It is not your classic asana Sun salutations, but it is still a salute to the rising sun, to the ocean, to the goddess within. I have tons of wipeouts, but in multiple contexts, I jump back on my board and paddle out again. That’s what I experience in asana and meditation practice as well. Some magical force keeps pulling you back in. And all you can do is flow with it.

I had no idea life would bring me here, but I am happy and I am free. Through Yoga, Sonic, and teacher training, I have become present in every moment, every breath, and I enjoy the ride. 🙂

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