by Elizabeth Potter, Guest Blogger

I used to have panic attacks. I was completely incapable of any form of relaxation at the time – I couldn’t sit to read a book, watch a movie, and was barely able to fall asleep at night. The second I felt my breath quiet and heartbeat slow, my mind would throw my body into a state of sheer terror. I feared my heart would stop. I feared my breath wouldn’t come back. The state of calm whirled me into a nearly irreversible sense of panic. I had yet to begin practicing yoga at that point, but I’m pretty sure there’s no way I would have even tried.

You begin your yoga class in a moment of stillness – then you move. You put yourself into ridiculous situations and uncomfortable positions and are taught to breathe through it. The teacher encourages you to find a sense of calm within when your external self is struggling with balance and strength and a million other difficulties. And then after ninety minutes of sweating, shaking, and shifting, you lay down to enjoy the perfect calm in the simplicity of NOT.

When I envision the word “Calm” as an image in my mind, I tend to immediately visualize a still pool of water. Across the surface, I can see reflections of unmoving mountains, gently swaying trees, and perhaps even my own face. If I was to look too closely into the water’s surface, nose-to-nose with my own image in an effort to marvel at its stillness, I would be afraid of disturbing the peacefulness. I imagine I would hold my breath, terrified that the movement of my own life-force would absolutely ruin the sense of calm.

But that isn’t that far from the truth. The moment you seem to find a perfect sense of balance in your life, you can become too afraid to even move again for fear of losing it. It’s those moments though – the ones of shifting roles in your relationships, of difficulties in your life, instabilities in your career – that allow you to enjoy the calm when it arrives again. How else do you appreciate the stillness of a quiet pond without having seen the turbulent churning of whitewater rapids, or of an angry hurricaned ocean?

Take the moments of calm and allow yourself to gaze upon your true reflection in that breath. But when the waters begin to turn again, remember that sense of who you are. Even though you may toss and turn amongst the waves, desperately holding your head above water, never forget those quiet glimpses of your Self. That is who you truly are, and you are always there – whether or not you can see it in midst of it all, you can carry the memory of it.

öm time centers for yoga practice, supplies, trainings, community, and inspiration were founded by local yogis Shannon and Joe Schneider. Born out of a love for deep transformation, these centers strive to meet students where they ARE and carry them forward into where and WHO they want to be. öm time is a place to begin or expand one’s study of yoga asana and philosophy, shop for a gift, or visit with a friend. These Boulder and Denver walls are home to some of Colorado’s most beloved teachers and an incredible yoga community of soulful and joyful yoga practitioners.

Elizabeth, or “Elle” as she is affectionately referred to, has catapulted herself into the yoga world. She has spent the past 18 months in teacher trainings and reaches into her endless sources of creativity to develop fun-loving, easy-going, and ecstatic classes. If anything, it is proof that once you make the space in your life to open to grace, you can go anywhere you want…and Elle will endlessly promise you that. In any seemingly mundane act, Elle has a knack of finding how it connects brilliantly with the greater pulsation of life. Check her sometimes touching, sometimes hilarious, and usually at least mildly amusing blogs on om time’s Words of Wisdom page: www.omtime.com/news