How has Yoga impacted your life?

I first found Yoga as a teenager, taking classes with my best friend and our moms. It was a special time of bonding and togetherness; my first tribe. Later after the birth of my son, Yoga was the one who mercifully helped my hips slide back into place. Relieving the chronic and agonizing pain that I had come to accept as a part of my young life as a wife and mother, my practice became my reprieve from the business of the daily grind. It was not until years later, admittedly after battling with declining health, mysterious illness and endless fatigue that I landed in a place of depression and shame. Anxiety, guilt and self resentment building to a crescendo of suicidal ideation and substance abuse that led to a wake up call. So what did I get out of this wild ride? A golden ticket. The realization that I hold the keys to the reality I desire within my locked psyche of perceptions, concepts and held notions. By letting go I've freed my mind from Concentric Thinking and Suffering. Not from pain, no, rather accepting pain as temporary as anything else and not resisting against things as they are; there in lies the struggle and thus the suffering. Today, I feel. I laugh, hurt, I cry, I heal. I move on. With Yoga by my side I can meet myself on my mat or on the trail, even just sitting here writing this: by connecting to my breath, my awareness. I connect by tapping into that stream of collective consciousness that wires us all together. Whether working my handstand or breathing pranyama in bed, the biggest impact I feel day to day is this one. The knowing I am at peace, contented to be present in the moment, trusting things are just as they should be.