A personal love story.
I remember when I stopped trusting myself. It was in nursery school, and there’s a story.
I remember the feeling of recoiling from life, and shrinking.
And, then after that, one event after another. More shrinking and hiding. I searched for places of refuge.
Tiny little slivers of light shining through cracked windows.
I got older, life kept happening.
Teenage years were full of confusing sorrow.
I was tired. I wanted to dance. I wanted to scream. I wanted life to be more than what I could see. I knew that it was, but no one around me understood what I knew. I didn’t have words, or guidance.
I went to art school. Then, graduate school. Then, yoga became a lifeline. It was a place where I could feel and breathe. It was a place of refuge and belonging.
Like a bag full of tea, I steeped myself. I made a vow to follow the path all the way.
Then, 30 years of circuitous questions, leading me to revelations of the invisible kind. My body became my friend. I learned how to trust myself; it’s been work, oceans of tears, and the woven stories that have been passed down from one heart to the next.
I learned how to listen deeper, how to follow the threads of some kind of truth that I could never explain to you with words.
We feel this truth in our bodies. It’s a knowing feeling. It’s in the gut, the heart, the throat, the indigo color on the inside of your closed eyes.
You will recognize it when you walk barefoot in the grass, on the sand, on the mountain.
I believe in nature.
I believe in invisible things.
I believe in the goodness of the Universe.
I believe in art and music and dance.
I trust life. I trust my body. I trust everything that helps me to feel closer to life and more connected to others.
Biography
Marni Sclaroff is an art teacher, movement educator, and creative living advocate.
She has over 30 years of experience in the holistic, visual and movement arts, and a Master’s Degree in Teaching in the Visual Arts. She holds 3 certifications in different styles of yoga, and she has received formal initiation as a practitioner of meditation. In 2020, she completed the rigorous Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach training.
Her classes are a fusion of functional movement, creative & energetic liberation, emotional fluency, and playful exploration.
She is a published author, and essayist. You can buy her book HERE, and you can read some of her essays HERE
"I appreciate you, Marni, you are so refreshing in the yoga world. Your humility, vessel-hood, and honesty maybe your secret powers. Thank you."
-Palika Benton
