Bounce Back from Unexpected Challenges Stronger and Happier

Let's face it, whether it's big or small, stressful or easy, we all face challenges every day, some easier to deal with than others. Unfortunately, life can never be included in a textbook to deal with these challenges.

No matter how hard we try to plan ahead, count everything we do, or predict the future, we will never be prepared for the unexpected.

The last eight months of my life have been filled with more twists than the most popular roller coasters in Six Flags. As an unruly person, I was suddenly forced to give in to certain circumstances, I was forced to sit in the back seat and think about what my life was like.

Sometimes it takes physical pain to get to the root of a deep wound that you cause yourself unknowingly.

From the age of three, my heart and soul are thriving. For me, the ability to communicate emotionally with others through motion is an indescribable fulfillment.

In May 2012 I graduated from college with my BFA in Dance. It marked the end of four very important, exciting, and amazing years of my life. I grew emotionally, physically and spiritually, molding my old personality with amazing experience and effort. I was healthy, in good health, and free from injuries.

After graduation, I looked up at New York City and wanted to start my own dance career. I moved in August and left with a willing heart, determined to achieve my dreams. The way I worked was crazy, maybe even hotter.

I needed a job, I needed success, and I needed to prove myself.

That's where life threw the twisting ball that stopped me and I died in my tracks.

I was taking a dance class before the interview where… twists, turns, falls, cracks… Blurred I was in the ER holding a broken leg, full of fear, anger and grief.

After the initial shock of what had happened, it started to sink in that I would just get out of the dance for a while. Seeing this delay after just arriving in NYC was heartbreaking. At that moment, my only thought was “Why did this happen to me?”

I worked hard and worked hard to get to the top of my game, but in a way that hurt my body, physically and emotionally. I had allowed the competitive atmosphere of the dance and theater to control me.

Suddenly, I found myself out of my NYC apartment with a new life and at home with my parents, trying to heal. As a young dancer whose body is her job, standing up suddenly was painful.

Four months later I was able to return to the city to start over. I slowly made progress, feeling that everything was going to get better. After that, another screw on the system: the doctor's follow-up revealed the fracture was not healing.

As soon as things looked up, they felt as if they were sinking again. I would need surgery, with screws to replace a broken bone, and another five months of recovery.

We all face challenges at some point in life's journey, and learning to go back is what gives us the strength of our spirit.

Sometimes accidents happen for very good reasons. Personally, the whole universe was trying to tell me to slow down, that I had my whole life before me to work and dance and love. Rome was not built in a day.

Yoga has played a major role in my recovery process, allowing me to overcome the extreme feeling of failure and depression that comes with my injuries.

I can make physical asanas, gain meditation benefits, learn to lower my mind, and embrace the cards I have been entrusted with.

In college, I began practicing yoga as a way to cross the train and escape from my busy classroom schedule. Since then, this habit has become an anchor for me, with its emotional and psychological benefits that save me from self-destructive patterns and allow me the opportunity to be free, and to experience the peace and pressures of the real world.

Prior to my injury, I started working at a desk in Pure Yoga in Manhattan to further my yoga and to improve my teaching skills. It was to find a job in Pure, as I was living in a wonderful community of loving, caring, and truly wonderful people.

Throughout my injuries and recovery my friends in Pure have kept my spirits cool, encouraging me to keep moving forward.

When I returned to work, yoga was right next to my friends to help me build strength. It is very important to have a support system. When things get tough, your friends and family can catch you - and you should not be afraid to let go.

My return has brought some good, as it has led me to complete a 100-hour teaching certificate in yoga medicine. I soon became deeply involved in the vital role that yoga plays in the treatment of body, mind, and spirit.

While I was still recovering, I learned:

1. Releasing brings plenty.

Sometimes letting go is the hardest thing to do. But the more we hold on, the less likely we are to let the light pass.

It's like holding a feather: you have to stretch out your hand and let the feather reach you. You can't catch a feather in the heat of anger and hold it. Once you have released your grip on the visible effect, things start to happen physically.

Learning not to force things opens up the possibility of bright and unusual things happening.

2. Believing in love will lift your soul.

Believe that there are people in your life who love you and believe in you. Believe that you are love, and that your soul has unlimited power to give and receive love.

How does a simple act of faith make you feel? It's worth it. Unlimited. Content. Show empathy and kindness to yourself, and to others, and you will open up opportunities that life may offer you.