Yoga Scholarships

We proudly offer two (2) Yoga Scholarships each semester. Let us know what makes you say, "F*** This is Hard" and how Yoga helps. By submitting an application, you will be considered to receive a Semester Unlimited Package ($475 Value). The deadline for submission is January 9, 2022. Recipients will be announced and notified the week of January 10, 2022.

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2020 Winter Semester Recipients

Olivia C.

Last March, I remember sitting in a study room at the Shapiro Undergraduate Library focusing on doing work for one of my classes. I was proud of myself for staying off my phone for a few hours as I was determined to chug along and complete what I went there to do. After I was finished with everything, I checked my phone to see if I had any notifications before heading home. As I glanced at my screen, my heart dropped. “Active Shooter in Mason Hall. RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.” I sat in my chair shell-shocked and unable to collect the thoughts frantically running through my head. I felt my heartbeat speed up as I read the text messages saying to stay away from the library as people believed the active shooter was headed there from Mason Hall. My back had been turned to the window that sees through the open area of the library, so I quickly looked to see what other people outside were doing and how they were reacting. I turned around to a large room that was once packed with students, to a completely empty second floor. They had left all their belongings where they had been sitting to hide somewhere safe and out of sight. I was alone, and I had learned about it too late. I remember the exact feeling of running out of the room trying to find a place to hide, but nowhere felt safe, and I felt utterly helpless. Eventually, I hid in a bathroom stall and waited quietly for what felt like an eternity, and finally, the university security and police gave the all clear to everyone and reported that there was no active threat. I walked back home dazed. I couldn’t believe the events that had gone down in the past three hours. It did not feel like a reality anymore, but I was just happy to be alive and felt relieved. Trying to navigate the trauma I endured was difficult for me because I just wanted to be thankful that it was a false alarm and that no one was harmed, but instead, I was a mess and devastated for what I had gone through mentally and emotionally. After going through a rough winter semester, I knew I needed to figure out how to calm my mind down and think clearly. I have always been a partaker in mindfulness and meditative practices, but I felt there was a distraught energy in my body that needed to be released. That’s when I turned to yoga. I attended my first yoga class at aUM Yoga Studio during the beginning of that school year when I was a sophomore. Not only did I see the immediate effects of a satisfying workout, I started to see the mind-body connections and how exercise and meditation intertwine after taking more classes at aUM. During the summer following that winter semester, I attended yoga classes more regularly at aUM and fell in love with the ambiance of the studio, the quality of each class, the welcoming and knowledgeable instructors, and the values they hold and share with other yogis walking into the studio every day. Furthering my practice calmed me down when I needed it the most and centered my train of thought. I found myself to be increasingly level-headed and decisive in situations and decisions. Most important of all, I found aUM to be a place of no judgment. I was able to exert all my energy into self-care and personal intentions during each class. Each individual focused on engaging strong, united breaths with their movement and carried on in the space of their own mat without worrying what other people were doing and thinking. It was a safe space that allowed me to let things come and go, to restore my mind and body, and to truly get in tune with how I was feeling in that present moment. After each class, I would step out thanking myself for dedicating the time to heal and work on my wellness, and I would find myself already excited to do it again. Yoga saved me in a lot of ways, and I have aUM to be eternally grateful for that.

Trina P.

As I write this, I’m sitting on a sunlit-strewn bed in Kolkata, India. India is the birthplace of both my parents, who immigrated to the states in 1990 to complete graduate school and settled in the metro-Detroit area soon after. My roots in the U.S. are personally deep yet ironically shallow. Metro-Detroit is all I’ve ever known; my years of school and friendships have all been confined to this part of the world. But generationally, I’m the first member of my family to have thought this way. My parents’ roots will always be in India, which they colloquially call ‘desh,’ meaning “the country.” Even though I can only manage to visit a couple times in a decade, India has remained an important part of my life. Kolkata has given me a lot; it’s the city that all my family, aside from my immediate family, calls home. As grateful as I am for my roots and upbringing, the clash between Indian and Western cultural norms has taken a toll on me, none more significantly than Indian conceptions of beauty and body image. I once visited Kolkata when I was in middle school, at the height of puberty and of larger body size at the time. During that visit, I remember being physically compared to my cousins numerous times by my relatives, none of them with ill intentions. In India, it’s common to speak more forwardly about physical beauty and intellect, but my twelve-year-old brain couldn’t comprehend this. One of my great aunts asked me what I was eating on a daily basis, another referred to me as big-boned. Being large in India is a double-edged sword – it’s partially a symbol of high status, but equally indicative of a lazy disposition. Either way, children are frequently criticized for how they look during formative years of physical and mental growth, and I was no exception. Middle school was already a tumultuous time for me, as it is for many early teens, and I’d developed a bad relationship with my body. Conscious of my body fat, I used to constantly suck in my stomach in an effort to look thin. I would look in every mirror that I passed by and judge my appearance from the side. I even tried binge eating for a year by only eating healthy foods six days of the week. After being subject to all the peer pressure and expectations of being a pre-tween, being called fat by my relatives was the icing on the cake. As I entered high school, I started to understand Indian conceptions of body image on a deeper level. Physical exercise is not common in India, especially compared to the U.S., but food is an integral part of Indian culture. From this, two standards of Indian body image emerge: “skinny,” meaning you don’t eat enough, or “fat,” as in you eat too much. I’ve always been frustrated by this limited understanding of body shape – where does genetics, metabolism, and age come into play? Why is there no space for muscular bodies? This had become a shape I’d come to identify with as I started playing tennis and exercising regularly in high school. Now, as a junior in college who has never been more confident and comfortable in her body, I realize that a lot of my cultural mental blocks began to fade as soon as I was introduced to yoga. Up until two summers ago, exercise had been a form of physical catharsis for me: a nice endorphin rush, but more importantly an avenue towards weight loss. I had naturally gravitated towards workouts that burned large amounts of calories in a short amount of time, such as interval training and running. I enjoyed none of them, but I did them because I felt I had to. I had to look a certain way, be a certain way, to flip from being labeled “fat” by my relatives to being labeled “skinny.” If I couldn’t earn the approval of my own family, how could I expect anyone else to be satisfied with my appearance? I bought a pass to the Plymouth Yoga Room the summer after my freshman year of college without high expectations. My friends were doing it, so I figured I would too. After stumbling through my first yoga flow, I can still vividly recall my emotions: stunned, but ethereal. I had never experienced an hour like that before, an hour for physical movement that was completely under my own will and control. I walked out with a slight shake in my legs, not from the burden of physical stress, but from an excitement at what could come of a regular yoga practice. Two more classes were all it took for me to realize that I needed yoga to be a consistent part of my life. That summer, I attended class multiple times a week, and when my pass ended, I practiced flows in my own apartment (and still do). This past summer, I felt confident enough teaching flows to my friends and family, many of whom now make yoga a part of their daily routine as well. It’s taken the better part of this decade, but I’ve finally become secure in my body. But the security is more than just physical: my body is emotionally connected in all the right places. I feel this sensation the most in mountain pose, with my feet and heart grounded to the earth. It’s a solid, stabilizing and otherworldly sensation. Once I found it, I haven’t let it go. Yoga taught me that physical and emotional movement can exist in the same space, and for that I am eternally grateful. Yoga gives me the opportunity to exercise not for appearance or expectations, but for my own mind and body strength. Cultural expectations can be some of the hardest to overthrow because they’re consistent and intimate. I’m incredibly grateful that yoga helped me find the strength to do so.

2019 Fall Semester Recipients

Chun L.Y.

Three years ago as I was informed of the award of scholarship and my acceptance at UMich, I thought it was the best thing that ever happened to me, someone who has gone through a life of abused family and bully. I decided to do voluntary teaching in Cambodia for three months as a means to pass on the blessing because I never thought that anything good could happen to me. Yet negative things that happened in my program the past two years were more unbearable than I ever expected. There were times when I doubted my decision to leave everything behind to come to the States; there were times when I felt like breaking down even though I still needed to be walk into a classroom pretending to be a normal, cheerful instructor; there were times when I desperately questioned how life could be so unfair, and certain people, so mean-spirited. Approaching the third year of my stay in the States, I have decided to take initiative to take better care of myself, which is why I wrote an honest account of who I am (something I fear all my life) and applied for the yoga scholarship at aUM. And it really means a lot for me to be chosen as a recipient. It seems to metaphorically tell me that it is okay to be vulnerable; it is okay to be who I really am. Yoga has been something that saved me in the darkest time of my life; and I am very grateful to you for offering me a chance to continue doing it in your studio.

Deaweh B.

As a first-year doctoral student, I’ve come to know the imposter syndrome painfully well. Every single class I wonder if I could have said anything more stupid. Everyday I hope the admissions committee doesn’t send me an ill-timed April Fool’s letter for Christmas. On a purely logical level, I can recognize these thoughts as irrational. However, I want to know the truth of my worthiness in the core of my being. I am grateful to have received the aUM yoga scholarship because it will provide me the opportunity to deepen my yoga practice, and ultimately connect with an authentic confidence. The scholarship has also inspired me to pursue my own yoga teacher training. In the future, I hope to design experiences that are accessible to students who are typically underrepresented in most yoga studios. I am looking forward to a great semester!

Lilian B.

College students across the globe suffer from a loss of identity, stress, and anxiety; I was a contender against all three.  With yoga, I have found a way to boost my self-love, and it has changed my life completely.  I have learned the seemingly impossible task of quieting my mind which gives me a sense of complete self control.  With each drip of sweat induced by the ninety degree air and movement I physically feel the anguish being stripped away, and with each “f*** this is hard” that crosses my mind, I can always come back to my breath.  At aUM Yoga, I am able to experience a healthy practice in such a transitional stage in my life, and for this I am so grateful.  Everything about the environment allows me to feel relaxed and renewed with each visit.  Along with the physical aesthetics, the instructors are easily approachable and overflow with contagious passion.  I am beyond blessed to have the opportunity to practice at aUM, and I look forward to each and every chance I have to share with this beautiful yoga family.

Moniek V.R.

I knew that going for my Ph.D. would be difficult. The first two years of my program were a blow to my self-confidence and my self-worth—in what I had hoped would be a stimulating environment that built budding scholars up, it felt like everyone existed just to tear each other down. It took me over a year of self-denial and a toxic “man-up” mentality to finally recognize that I needed help. I turned to therapy, which brought me to mindfulness and self-compassion, which brought me to focusing on my breath. I began meditating on the tiny floor space of my apartment and teaching myself sun salutations with no mat, nothing—just me learning to love myself again. I was on the road to healing until my best friend, Falin, passed away unexpectedly in Indonesia. Thirty hours and four plane rides later, I stood by her side and squeezed her hand as tight as I could as I watched my favorite person quietly pass away. The rest of the year was a blur of grief, anger, and heartbreak. With nowhere else to go, returned to my mat at aUM. I remember pressing my forehead into the mat in child’s pose one class, pouring my heart’s intentions into the universe for strength, for healing, for freedom, when I heard the instructor’s voice say, “the only thing we can control is our breath, so let the rest go.” In that moment, I surrendered myself to the universe. As I contorted my body in amazing ways, the tension slowly lifted as I began freeing myself from the grief that had paralyzed me. And here I stand, a survivor. I have continued my practice with just me and my mat. When the anxiety and depression start rearing their ugly head, I turn to my breath. As I go into my preliminary exams this semester and prepare for my dissertation fieldwork in Indonesia without Falin, my intention is to deepen and enrich my yoga practice as part of my journey to continue to be more mindful, more present, more self-loving; to learn to let things go and control the one thing that I can: my breath.

2019 Winter Semester Recipients

Isabelle H.

As a student, a perfectionist and a professional performer, it was extremely easy for me to constantly judge myself, my talents and my schoolwork. I fell into a cycle of self-loathing and self-judgement without realizing it. In addition, my identity as a woman of color presented another avenue or opportunity to hate myself for not fulfilling the unattainable standards of beauty that are presented to us and expected that I fulfill as a performer. Growing up, I coped by disconnecting with my physical body. It showed. My dancing became more robotic, I had a difficult time connecting my breath to my singing voice and my mental health and self-image suffered. Electing to take yoga as gym credit in high school because I heard it was easy, I never thought that I would get anything out of it beside a mid-day nap. Through practice multiple times a week, it forced me to become more in tune with my body and, more importantly, love and nurture my body through breath and movement. I am extremely grateful to have had found the practice of yoga when I did, as it became even more crucial to maintaining a healthy relationship between my body and mind. Dealing with the academic stresses of college was overwhelming. It is so easy to feel as if I have no control over anything: my grades, my social life and my professional life. I found it tough changing atmospheres so drastically — moving from New York City to Ann Arbor. I had just learned to be comfortable in my own skin, then the seeds of self-loathing began to sprout as I suddenly found myself being one of few people on campus and in Ann Arbor who shared my Latin heritage, which I had grown to be so proud of. I became lost in the new culture I was immersed it, desperately grasping for connection to my own identity. I knew exactly what I had to do in order to not fall back into a feeling of lostness. I actively sought out yoga studios in order to gain back that feeling of control. Every time I practice, I am reminded that I have full autonomy over any stresses or obstacles that are thrown at me during my time here and moving forward. If I can listen to my body and use my breath to calm my mind, I can approach any challenge with a clear and calm demeanor. Amidst my busy schedule, I can always and will always make time for yoga to connect and tune into what is going on with my physical body and psyche and to connect back to roots. This scholarship allows me to practice yoga, not only in a space, but in a community. It provides a constant reminder that I have a community I can always go to in order to feel in control and feel more in tune with my body, my emotions and my identity, not only in Ann Arbor, but anywhere else life takes me. 

Rebekah G.

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As a kid, I would cough or sneeze and get an intense thirty-second headache. I just thought it was normal--I didn't know anything different! I also was really clumsy. I remember everyone started playing sports like soccer and softball, and I wanted to be good at them so bad. I wanted to be the all-star. But, I could barely kick the ball or swing the bat without falling over. Again, I thought this was all just a part of who I was. Then, when I was in 6th grade, I found out that I had a rare disorder called Chiari malformation, which is when your skull is too for small your brain, and your brain pushes down your spinal cord. Side effects of this condition are pressure headaches and balance issues (both of which I struggled with).  Chiari also caused me to have scoliosis since my spinal cord was being pushed down, and that was the start of my back pain. The surgery that I had to fix my problem was called a decompression. It was very successful, and I am forever grateful to my surgeon and all of the nurses who helped me through this process. However, I still have bad musculoskeletal issues as a result from the condition, and I also have some nerve damage that was a result of the surgery. I decided that instead of wallowing and letting this pain run my life, I was going to overcome it. I have done many things to try and mitigate this pain including chiropractic care, homeopathic medicine, etc. But the one thing (in combination with the others) that has helped me connect to my body and escape from the pain is yoga. The deep stretching and challenging flow movements seem to heal my body from the inside out, and with consistent practice, I have found my body doing poses I thought I would never be able to do. Every time I lay in Savasana after my practice, I feel a release of tension in my body, and I walk out of the studio feeling stronger. I conquer my pain when I step onto my mat. I decided to apply for this scholarship because I was going to have to significantly cut back on practicing yoga as I just simply can't afford it. This scholarship is truly a blessing because I can keep doing what is best for my body, and I can keep bettering myself each and every day through yoga. The pain will always be there, but I choose to do something about it. 

2018 Winter Semester Recipients

Kirsten E.

I knew the transition into life post-grad would be difficult, but I wasn’t prepared for the challenge I have faced in the last eight months since I received my diploma (as well as my first student loan invoice). For the first four years of my adult life, I was inundated with my inner voice chanting, “Go, go, go.” I was a productivity machine; I was always ready to fill my time with another pursuit to make myself the best I could be to prepare me for life after college. Because of this, my mind was always frantic, and while I thought that I couldn’t wait for the craziness that is student life to end, I didn’t realize what was next. I had found a job right before graduation, so I thought I was set up for a successful few years while I was getting my life after college figured out. A few weeks into life as a post-graduate, however, I found myself restless and unhappy. While I should have been content in my place in the world at twenty-two, the sudden halt to all activities and stress that came along with them made me feel like I was doing something wrong. Who am I if I can’t focus on the next deadline or exam? What is my identity underneath my busy schedule? In an attempt to cure my post-grad blues, I decided to buy a Groupon for a 30 days package at aUM. I signed up for the package with the same intention I had with any other physical activity I have pursued in the past, which was the finished product; I thought that maybe I could get really good and master the poses I initially found so hard. While this seems like the journey of any workout class, the difference that I found in yoga was that I was thinking about it all wrong. The focus of the class was not on the goal, or mastering the pose, but understanding how your mind and body felt in the exact moment you are on the mat. The more classes I attended, the less I found myself worrying about the journey to perfect my practice, and the more I focused on how good my body and mind felt on the mat at the current moment, reveling in the now. While it was easy for me to find the joy in practicing yoga at my current ability, the focus on breath and quiet of mind was much more challenging – Focusing on breath continues to be the hardest part of my practice. Like I struggled adapting to the slower pace of post-graduate life, I struggled greatly with keeping my mind still on the mat. Throughout class, instructors reminded not to lose my breath. With time, I have come to understand that this is just as crucial off the mat as it is on it. Coming back to the breath and stillness has been key for me to finding peace in the place I’m in now. It has been hard for me to adjust to living without the identities of stress and busyness, but my focus on breath on the mat has helped me tremendously in coping with life off of the mat. I know that if I have struggled adjusting as a young adult, then I know countless others must as well. This scholarship will give me the tools to instill in myself and in others what I have come to learn and appreciate through my practice: we are not merely a sum of our pursuits and goals. My time on the mat has brought me to understand that I don’t have to be a marathon runner, or a student, or anything – I am allowed to just be. My practice in yoga had helped me to no longer chant, “Go, go, go,” but instead, “Breathe, breathe, breathe.” The difference is everything. 

Meghann N.

Before coming to college, I had this fantastical vision of what college would be like in my head—a place full of brilliant, interesting people; classes that were always engaging and never draining; and inspiration and support around every corner. No surprise, the reality wasn’t quite like that. I love the University of Michigan, and I love the people I’ve found here, but college is by no means a miraculous fantasy land with a never-ending supply of energy and inspiration. The most difficult part of being on campus, the constant pressure to be someone that others refer to as “cool.” To clarify, this sense of the word “cool” is far from what it would mean in high school, an “it” girl with the latest fashion labels on her back and clique of cheerleader friends. From a college perspective, “cool” now means someone who is engaging and funny on a personal level, and also seems to effortlessly balance interesting extracurriculars with a heavy course load that she’s unwaveringly passionate about. The “cool” girl knows that she’s going places, probably has an artsy side to her, and most importantly, is never anxious or insecure, or questions that things are going to work out for her. Subconsciously or consciously, ever since I came to this campus, I’ve been striving to be this girl—yet not acknowledging the total fallacy of a perfect character such as this. This means hiding even from my closest friends the fact that I ate fries for dinner, that I watched an entire season of Sex and the City last week, or that one of my classes really isn’t as inspiring or motivating to me as I’m saying it is—as a “cool” girl would never do these things or have these problems, right? Here’s where the magic of yoga comes in—the ability to acknowledge imperfection, and embrace it, and still allow for self-growth. I’ve been to a few yoga classes throughout my life, and each time I left feeling so much more comfortable in my own skin, and so much less like I was trying to be someone I’m not. In my experience, yoga practice recognizes that everyone is struggling in their own process of self-growth, and embraces that struggle. I’m so thankful to now have the opportunity to regularly practice yoga this semester, and actively work on the process of self-acceptance—and recognizing that I can be enough without creating an unrealistic façade. In order to accept myself and grow as a person, I’m going to have to embrace those imperfections, and realize that eating fries for dinner happens sometimes. I’ve come to realize that college isn’t a fantasy place where everyone is always happy and satisfied, but a place of struggle and self-growth, and all the more beautiful and inspiring because of these challenges I and my peers face along our journey. I am so, so grateful to have yoga as a means to accept my own personal journey and guide me through challenges yet to come.

Sylvia K.

I slowly lifted my hips into the air and immediately, an electrical rush fired up my body as the pull of my hamstrings zapped at the fatiguing heat. I remember the strangest sensation in that moment; the cool cushion under my feet felt almost spongy in the sweltering, humid air under the afternoon sun. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath; with my head hanging comfortably above the firm support of my open palms pressing against the mat, I had never felt my head this light before, and my rib cage had suddenly expanded like an eagle spreading out its wings for the first time. The sudden capacity of air I breathed in felt oddly cool and almost minty despite the hearty warmth of the sun's rays that pierced through my brown curtains onto the edge of my mat. It's the tiny bedroom in my home 9000 miles away that marks the place where my routined yoga flows used to take place. As if my body was painting on canvas, the gentle turns and complicated contortions of my body created the hard and soft strokes on the empty canvas. Colored with the warm yellows and bright glowing reds of a fire that burned within me throughout the yoga transitions in my flow, my suppressed anger oozed out as beads of sweat that humidified the already moist air, representing the blend of water and paint on the canvas. The deep breaths and tears I would let out in deep satiation from the hour of forgetting my academic stress were the finishing touches of the painting of the day. Yoga was a paradox of raging madness and a silent bliss that I was madly in love with as a 13-year-old. Caught between the struggle to accept myself as I am or to deduce myself as being ‘not-enough’, a discontent had always lingered within me since childhood. More so, it took control of my life significantly during early adolescence where I strenuously strived to do better academically under the watchful glare of my mother. Yoga was a unique channel to express my bottled-up frustration and anger as a structured form of creativity in the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that ran through my head everyday since I was young. A familiar warm, humid air encapsulated me as I stepped onto the yoga mat in the aUM studio for the first time, and the same spongy sensation under my toes made me look down onto my feet. Instantly, I was rushed back to the little practices I used to have in my tiny room and I was reminded again of the energy and power within yoga that uplifted me. No matter how much force one exerts during a yoga practice, the yoga mat would always be ready for the next day’s practice. I left for college in another city, followed by transferring to another country and within the distance of 9000 miles and length of three confusing college-university years, I had come to realize that my yoga practice had dissipated along the way. By refusing to accept the disappointing idea of 'losing' yoga, I sought aUM and this scholarship represents the valuable fuel that is able to rekindle my passion for yoga again. aUM had been the connection between my yoga journey and myself, my home and the relationship with myself as a person - there is no better hope than for aUM to provide a space for me to grow and restart my practice in the new year, while helping me overcome the financial burdens of an international student.'

2017 Fall Semester Recipients

Cat K.

I recall waving goodbye to my father in the Bangkok airport as my mother took me and my two sisters’ hands to board a jumbo jet. We fled the Southeast Asian crisis when my father’s business collapsed. That experience brought our family close and made the distance between me in college, in NYC, and my mother and sisters in Florida very hard. I missed home. As a oldest, I acted as a co-parents and started working at 14 to help alleviate some of my families’ financial pressures. I went to school full time and worked almost full time. My mother always told me that the only way to supercede the prospects of a manual job that left her hands crippled, was to get a college education. I started saving very early for college and knew that I had to act as an example for my sisters. Growing up on free lunch, watching my mother scrounge by, helping her deliver the Sunday paper on her second job, a paper route, while my little sisters snoozed in the back of the van, is the life I was use to. My mother constant urge me to prioritize school. I worked extremely hard academically and earned an almost full-scholarship to a prestigious women’s college in NYC called Barnard College. I came to a campus full of young women swiping their parent’s credit cards, going out for $15 cocktails with their fake IDs, and enjoying expensive Broadway shows on the weekend. I was slapped outside of my reality, my comfort zone, did not feel adequate or that I could ever keep up socially, financially, or academically. While these women studied and partied, I worked. I ate to cope with the stress of starting college far away, taking on the challenge of being pre-med, while worrying about my single mother working her jobs. I joined a commercial weight lose program that rewarded me with more food if I exercised. I binged at night while home sick and exercised multiple times a day to earn those food points. I soon became an exercise bulimic and fluctuated in weight drastically. My friends wouldn’t see me for two weeks and would ask me if I am ok, because my appearance and size changed drastically. At the advice of the Residential Advisor, I sought counseling and help. I had to stop exercising and did so for quite a while. I started meditating to calm my mind, started positive self talk, and discovered yoga. Yoga has allowed me to transcend not only living a more balanced life, it has allowed me to do so while helping other women with eating disorders. I am now in graduate school, the same type of demanding scheduling that brought me to the insanity of food and overexercise. I know I can do this if I continue my yoga and meditation practice to not only stay sane, but balance academics with what I hold very dear: to continually serve and support other women who are currently battling eating disorders. I know that if I help them cope with homesickness, family financial pressures or life stresses, from my own experience, strength and hope, I can lead them to helping others in ways that few without our experience can. We identify with each other and build a sense of camaraderie, a home away from home. I would like to say, “F””k life is hard, and this is how yoga helps me cope” but I humbly know that there are others that have had it worse than I did. I can only count my blessings and express my gratitude daily through meditation and yoga. I am very grateful for the scholarship and it has really pushed me to make time a minimum of 3 days a week to put self-care first. Without this scholarship, I would not practice yoga in a class setting as often. However, I have noticed the benefits of practicing in a group. It pushes me to exceed the limits I set when I practice solo. It also forces me to make time for the entire one-hour session, which you can imagine that I would not when practicing alone. It has really made a huge difference to my serenity, attitude, and ability to push through the last couple weeks of balancing school, work and taking care of my pup. 

Stephen L.

Coming to the realization that you need to grow up is not easy. You have to accept that you as a person are too immature, too selfish, and too lazy to push yourself to become person you need to be. You must look past your own excuses and pretexts and face the decisions you have made. It is an extremely humbling experience, and it is what I struggled with this entire summer. At the end of my first year at the University of Michigan, I was a physical and mental wreck. I had spent the entire year indoors without any sort of exercise and self-control. I locked myself in the library for hours studying for classes, and when I returned to my dorm, I sealed myself in my room to smoke and drink. For months, the only release I had was the haze of my own inebriation. I slowly drowned out the sounds of my own mind with drugs and alcohol. Instead of facing my problems, I pretended they did not exist. I would have continued living like this if it weren’t for this one day in February; the weather changed. All the snow melted, the sun came out, and the world briefly came back to life. The campus shed its cold and harsh exterior to reveal what was underneath, a beautiful and warm spring. It was on this day when I first attempted yoga. That day I found myself on a borrowed mat listening to the voice of my friend within the basement of Couzens methodically going through sun salutations. Covered in sweat and on the verge of giving up, my world consisted of only two things: my body and that borrowed mat. It is here where I found a moment of clarity. At this period, I had nothing. My health was gone, my grades were almost failing, everything that I worked so hard to maintain had crumbled away. I had been brought to my knees, and it is here when I began to grow. With, every breath I took, with every stance I held, I slowly began to reorganize my life. Finally, after months of hard work and dedication, it has paid off. I am happy. I have moved on from that dark period of my life. I love myself and I have come to accept the decisions that I have made. I understand that every problem has a solution, and that best thing that you can do is to face it head on. None of this would have been possible without that first yoga class. Yoga, to me, is a lifestyle. It is a lifestyle of growth and self-love. It is a lifestyle that constantly pushes you to improve yourself. I have learned to not only love myself, but to also love who I could be and to make it a reality. This scholarship is more than an opportunity to learn yoga, it is an acknowledgement of the effort I have put into my growth and the faith from others that I will continue to improve.

2017 Winter Semester Recipients

Anonymous

I always enjoyed the idea of having my life in place and labeled clearly. I knew since junior year of high school, what I wanted to pursue for a career. Like how mathematics is, I liked living in a straightforward and pattern-like style. However, as I grew at the University of Michigan, I began questioning a lot of things, and everything seemed like an obstacle–I wasn't getting good grades, the Winter Blues got me real good, and I was getting rejected by companies I’ve always wanted to work for. Therefore, throughout my years at Michigan, my anxiety and depression got worse and worse. It took me 21 years to label what I had: anxiety. I have always neglected it and refused to call it anxiety. I grew up around the stigma that anxiety is a disability, and I never wanted to be known as “disabled.” When I had panic attacks, I just brushed it off as nervousness or the jitters. It wasn’t until this past summer that I decided I couldn’t handle it by myself. I was going to be entering my senior year and the anxiety of applying for full time skyrocketed. I had to seek help. The counselor I saw recommended me to pick up new hobbies and to exercise. She always repeated, “It’ll take your mind off things.” I worked out every single day for the Summer term. I picked up lifting, even dabbled in a bit of pole dancing, and yoga. I learned Bikram Yoga at the studio on Washtenaw because I could only afford the $5 drop-in classes on Fridays. (It was ~9% of my weekly income so I justified it.) I’ve always been told that yoga is so effective for anxiety, but I was skeptical. However, every minute that passed and every sweat that dripped down my face, I absolutely LOVED it. If I can visually describe anxiety, it’s a dark environment and it feels like trains are moving at 100+ MPH. It’s louder than NYC but it’s not a specific noise; it’s an all-surrounding loud noise. It’s like being caught in the middle of people yelling all around you, and you’re just stuck there. However, when I’m in the moment doing yoga, it all disappears. I’m too focused holding poses, and my eyes are locked to the mirror, trying to perfect what I’m doing. It’s an incredible feeling to get away from your thoughts, and focus in the moment. I can’t really describe it but all I remember coming out of a yoga class is yoga itself – no negative thoughts, no distracting thoughts, just yoga. This is why I am applying for the aUM Yoga Scholarship. I want to continue learning yoga and to conquer my anxiety. I am hopeful that one day, I can become certified and teach yoga at a studio or a YMCA. And if I do, I want to give people who also have anxiety to learn for free because yoga is an effective medicine, and anxiety can ultimately be conquered. I am hopeful that 2017 will be my year–graduating, starting a fulltime, and mastering yoga. I have always had a passion for wanting to learn yoga and the proper way to practice it! Unfortunately, there has always been something that has gotten in the way of me pursing my goal, whether that be a leg injury - I had an issue with my leg a few years ago which required me to have surgery and stay away from any type of physical activity for a while - or financial reasons, my mother fell ill and I had to help her with bills and other financial expenses, which prevented me from paying for anything else. However, these setbacks never deterred me from wanting to practice yoga and better my health! For 2017, I created a theme for myself which is centered around personal growth. Learning and practicing yoga will help me in this by providing me with the ability to learn the proper form for various poses, which could serve as a preventive measure for anymore injuries that may come my way. I would be learning something new for not only myself, but also something that I could take back and teach/show to my mother who could also benefit from taking on a healthy practice. Yoga would encourage me to continue to make healthy choices and improve my physical activity and overall wellbeing. Finally, it would provide me with a fun and creative way to meet new people who are also passionate about the same things that I am interested in. I've been doing yoga for 2.5 years now and I have grown immensely from it. When I started I didn't take it so seriously, I was kind of hopping on the bandwagon because yoga was getting more and more popular. It was the lessons I started to learn from coming to my mat that inspired me to make yoga a big part of my life. When I'm home in the summer yoga is a daily practice for me and over winter break yoga was a daily practice for me. Right now I'm the communications chair of the Michigan Yoga Club which gives me access to the Michigan Yoga Club classes. In 2017 I want to really dedicate myself to yoga even more than I have in the past. I want yoga to be a daily practice while I'm at school so I can really really progress instead of remaining kind of stagnant in my practice. I want to use yoga not only to better myself physically but mentally. I always leave yoga feeling amazing, sometimes like I'm on top of the world. I want to use yoga as a tool to put myself in a good place and then hopefully pay that forward to others. I struggle with an anxiety disorder and it makes navigating the world on a day-to-day basis very difficult. When my anxiety takes over, it becomes hard to control how I am feeling and thinking which in turn makes it harder to control how my body reacts to the stress. I think that returning to yoga could really help me learn how to get my body and mind in sync with each other. Learning how to achieve a sense of peace and calm in my daily life would be the ultimate height I could reach in 2017. Since I stand only 5’1” tall, there are a lot of heights that I can’t reach, at least without a step stool. The thing about being short, though, is that you figure out how to get to the things you want with a little creativity and a lot of help. Whether it’s climbing on a counter to get the pasta pot, or sitting on someone’s shoulders to see a show, there’s always a way for me to make the faraway a little closer. For a long time I have been reaching toward, and sometimes even getting close enough to brush my fingertips against, mental health and self-love. I never thought of myself as depressed in high school, I just thought that things were hard, I was stressed, and eventually (on the weekend, during the summer, at college...that day kept getting pushed back in my head) I would wake up happy. I believed things worked themselves out, and all I had to do was wait until the situation was right for every day to be a blessing instead of a struggle. A year and a half ago I picked up everything in my room at home and moved into a dorm for the start of freshman year. Shocking as it may be, I did not suddenly feel happier. I loved Michigan, my friends, and my classes, but nothing was going to magically change overnight in a way that would make me feel “good”. In the winter I pushed myself to a dark place, which was when I found my way to my mat. On days when I struggled to get out of bed from under imaginary weight, I found new peace in the studio. Pushing back into child’s pose, pressing my forehead into the earth, I feel grounded and whole. Where I normally feel empty, distant, and alone, the ocean of breath traveling the room fills me with the reminder that we are together in this space, sharing energy, sharing love. Yoga is a way that I have found love from and for others, and, perhaps most importantly, for myself. Sweating and pushing through a flow with shaking limbs keeps me from thinking of all the ways I’ll never be good enough, and forces me to focus on my strength, soft enough to be flexible and open, but powerful enough to keep going. That’s not to say that things have gotten easier for me, there are still days where I can’t breathe for the anxious pressure in my chest, but they’re fewer and further between. I still doubt whether I’m good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, anything enough, but so does everyone, sometimes. When things get to be too much, I know that focusing on just the mat and my practice can help me regroup, recover, and hang on one more day. There are so many things I want to do this year, but I have to pull myself out of this pit of depression first. It’s a long journey, and sometimes a lonely one, but give me a boost and I’ll climb out among the stars.

Anonymous ​

At this time last year, I had just returned for my second semester of my sophomore year here at Michigan. My family was preparing for my mom’s bone marrow transplant hopeful that it would combat an unknown blood related disorder that she had been struggling with since January of my senior year of high school. This disorder was particularly disheartening, as it was not her only autoimmune disease; my mother has lived with Multiple Sclerosis for nearly twenty years. We all knew that things were going to change after the transplant, but I don’t think I ever really expected my world to turn upside quite as much as it did. Up until early February of last year, I talked to my mom daily; she was the person I called when something exciting happened, or when I was struggling to make a tough decision or even when I was just bored walking home from class. This made it particularly heartbreaking when, following her transplant, my mother basically disappeared from my life for several weeks. After chemo and radiation to kill off her existing bone marrow, and a transplant to replace it she was in good spirits and I had hoped that we were through the worst of it, but I was wrong. A few days after the transplant, when I would call my mom, my dad would pick up the phone and tell me that she was having a bad day and she wouldn’t be able to talk. This continued for several weeks, and when I finally did begin to talk to her again she was incoherent because of all of the medications. I don’t believe that she remembers my 20th birthday, or the days I spent with her in the hospital over my spring break. As she gained her mental functions back, it began to wear on her how limited she was physically and she began to struggle with depression. She became a shell of herself, and I experienced some very extreme feelings of loss. However, as time progressed she did begin to get better, and when I saw her over the summer she was starting to become herself again. I finally felt like I was getting her back. Then came the test results; her cell counts were showing signs of losing the graft. They tried several cellular supplements to save the graft, but over this past winter break it became apparent that she has lost the graft and we will have to do another transplant. I have done a lot of reflection on this time in my life. I can look back and see how severely my life fell out of balance. I have searched for ways to cope with what is about to be another difficult few months. I have fought back the small voice in my head that fears that I might never truly get my mom back. I am so grateful to receive this scholarship because I have found that yoga allows me to genuinely feel at peace with all of things circling around in my head. For an hour, I am able to let go of all of the fear and anger and generally bad feelings that I carry around inside me. I know that yoga is going to be such a useful practice for me in staying grounded this semester, and in the future. I truly believe that, as my family prepares for this next transplant, this scholarship will enable me to maintain the balance in my life that I just couldn’t the last time around. Thank you so much for awarding me this opportunity and helping me keep that balance.

​2016 Fall Semester Recipients 

Anonymous 

Since December 18th, 2015 I have been battling an uphill battle with Depersonalization Disorder. Many do not know exactly what that is, so it is important for me to explain what it feels like: On December 18th, which also happens to be the day I found out I got into the University of Michigan EA and committed to the school, I had an anxiety attack at an In and Out Burger while waiting to go see the premier of Star Wars: The Force Awakens with my friends that triggered the disorder. I remember looking down at my hands as I scarfed down a double doubled and realized that I had completely lost feeling of my arms and hands. They looked foreign to me. My eyes seemed to glaze over as if I was looking through a foggy looking glass. My entire body felt foreign. Others looked like automated robots, who were not conscious of their bodies, but were rather programed into sequences. I looked into people’s eyes and didn't see people who were mindful of who they were or what they were doing. Life felt like a daze, a made up construct, an illusion. I thought something was entirely wrong with me, and it kind of was. Months went by and I didn't even know it. I would look into the mirror and not see myself. I’d look at old pictures of myself and say I wanted that person back. The only thing I knew for a while was the all too familiar feeling of being outside of my body, lacking self-control, and being terrified. It almost feels like you are watching yourself from a movie or floating outside of your body looking down at yourself. I thought that this would last forever, and that my life wasn't worth living anymore. I didn’t think about suicide often, but the thought of ever escaping this terrible new reality seemed impossible and it sunk me into a deep depression. My mind seemed trapped. As my depression got worse, my anxiety got worse; They were each the gasoline for the other’s fire. I was lost for months. Nothing made me feel better, and believe me- I thought I had tried it all. But when I was deep into my disorder and my depression, my AP Psychology teacher suddenly suggested mediation to my class. I remember the first time I tried meditation vividly- I went to a class at UCLA with that same teacher. When the session was over and I was on my way home, I unexpectedly burst into tears- tears of relief. Meditation gave me hope that I could battle my seemingly never ending depression and seemingly unavoidable disorder. From there, I took meditation further, and that is where yoga comes into play. Yoga and meditation has grounded me and has shined some light on a seemingly never ending darkness. They together bring me back into my body and make me feel reinvigorated, even though for only short periods of time. But this is something that no pill and no therapy, both of which I tried for months, could make me feel. Yoga and meditation is more than just a feel good activity to me; it is literally the only thing that gives me hope that I can conquer Depersonalization Disorder, since it is the only thing that has worked so far. I still struggle with this disorder every day, and if I miss a meditation or a yoga session, then my symptoms are enhanced for that day. Luckily, it is said that people who obtain the disorder are able to get up to 90% recovered. Interestingly enough, after doing a lot of research a few months ago, it is said that yoga and meditation are two of the biggest contributors to healing from Depersonalization Disorder. After taking my first class at Aum yesterday, I feel confident that participating in yoga at Aum every day will help free me, or at least minimize the effects, from Depersonalization. I have struggled a lot with my disorder and figuring out what works for me. I've found that a lot of the options I have to minimize the effects of the disorder, as it is permanent as far as people know (there is not a lot known about the disorder), including going to therapy, psychiatrists, and taking medication, are all expensive options. And since college is already expensive enough, I have hesitated to speak up about the disorder. (As I mentioned earlier, I have not even told my parents yet). So, getting this scholarship means a lot because I know that yoga and meditation have been effective in minimizing my depersonalization symptoms, and since now I will be able to participate for a semester for free, I feel less guilty about taking the necessary action to help myself out. In addition, I love yoga, especially since going to aUM, as it has been a comforting and loving environment, one in which I am grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of. Finally, I appreciate that you have appreciated my story enough to give me this scholarship, and for that, I am also very grateful. That is why I am so thankful for the scholarship. ​

Shannon M.

I think too much. A busy schedule means less space for thinking. Less space for thinking means less time to gather emotion. This is a cycle that has been turning without fail throughout the past year, taking a different form each time. It allowed me to harvest anxiety, sadness, self-consciousness, and even at times real happiness. The most important thing I lacked, though, was awareness. You know that saying "I lost my identity?" Yeah, well I thought that looked like a movie scene where a sad girl eats out of a gallon of ice cream and chugs a few bottles of wine, crying on the couch over a Sandra Bullock rom com. Little did I know, it could happen to the girl who went to an 8-5 job, jogged her daily route around the neighborhood, and went out with her friends a few times a week. How could you lose anything when everything is so perfectly normal? Well at that time I had lost something, and I never realized how trapped I really felt. My best friend became certified at aUM this summer. I myself, being inflexible and catastrophically uncoordinated, have never tried yoga with success. But to support her in her first few classes I decided to buy a week package. When my first class started, I sat in child’s pose, feeling my forehead compress into the mat. I focused on the music, and listened intently as my friend began to talk in a soft, welcoming voice. She told me to breathe, and I did. And in that moment I wanted to breakdown. It was unexplainable at the time, and still is to this day. I somehow knew that something was coming back with each new flow and position. I felt that self-knowing that I had been searching for slowly warm again in my stretched fingertips. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, and my legs gaining strength. In those 7 days I felt a sense of community grow in me. I met people, and nice, good people at that. I learned so much in such a short amount of time, and I didn’t want to stop learning so soon. Not only about myself, but about others at aUM. Because of this scholarship, I can now know the limits I can reach, and continue my journey of self-awareness. I cannot thank you all enough for that. I never want to settle for a robotic life. I want to feel. I want to open up to new people. I want to travel and climb tall mountains. I want to keep friends like Erin, and cook 3 course meals with them, and do horribly dumb things and fuck up every once in a while. That's my goal this year. All I could ever ask for is genuine love in everything I do. And I think yoga has reminded me of that. I’m thrilled to be a part of this aUM family.

2016 Winter Semester Recipients 

Cass B.

Savasana. Corpse pose. I’ve heard many times in my recent but intense love affair with yoga that savasana is arguably the most difficult pose in the entire practice. Many smirk at that. I remember one friend in particular laughing after a class. “Why is it so hard to just lay there?” For me, savasana is my hardest pose. Convincing my shoulders to relax away from my ears. Letting my tongue fall away from the back of my teeth. Keeping my eyes shut and letting them roll back. Relaxing every muscle to take make my body soft. Peaceful. Vulnerable. Savasana asks for a kind of relaxation I struggle with, even in sleep. Why is it is so hard to just lay there? Before you try to answer that question, ask a sexual assault survivor. It was in November of my freshman year. A few girlfriends and I were at a party when I lost track of them. I had probably already had enough alcohol for the evening, but I was naïve and careless, and I wanted another drink, so I had one. And then another. And then another. I was carefree. I was invincible. A man caught my eye and came over to talk to me, asking me questions, starting a conversation. We danced. I wanted another drink, so we went and got one together. Then I started to feel funny. Like I lost hold of something and it was just out of reach. My last memories of the night were of the world starting to spin as he pulled me towards him. There is a quote by a yogi named Lilias Folan that says, “What the mind has forgotten, the body remembers long after.” I remember nothing of what happened that night until I woke up the next morning, sore and in shock, in an unfamiliar room with the barely familiar man sleeping next to me. Logically, there was nothing I remembered that I could truly be afraid of. But my body knew. And my body was terrified. I stopped sleeping. On the rare occasions when I did, I woke up in the morning stiff and sore from flinching from the nightmares in my sleep. I refused to be in a room alone, ever. I took to sleeping with a friend at their house to give my body a rest from having to vigilant even while unconscious. I would have panic attacks over the smallest things, like my boyfriend playfully grabbing my shirt or my friend sitting on my lap. I had never known what prey felt like until it was my constant state of being. Ready to run. Ready to fight. Anything to prevent being attacked again. In one night, he had taken my body and my sanity away from me. Then I found aUM. It started with one class in the spring. I had done yoga before, but the classes I had done had been slow and monotonous and hadn’t really helped. This was different. I could feel everything. The sweat pouring down my back, my heart pounding in my chest, my muscles burning. I loved it. For a single hour I found control of my body again. And still I held, my serenity, the ultimate control of my errant body for far longer than that single hour. So to answer the question of what brings me to my mat, it’s the peace. The spirit and soul of all the beautiful people around me, who don’t need to talk to me, touch me, or even know anything about me to provide me comfort. Its for the brief time almost every day that I can have complete control of myself again. In that room filled with humidity and heat and acceptance, I am completely safe. And with each pose I held my serenity, the ultimate control of my errant body for far longer than that single hour.

Sarah W.

For me, yoga is a celebration of wellness. In dedicating your time and consciousness for one hour, you push your physical body but also your mental and emotional strength, escaping your thoughts and anxieties and crazy hectic schedule. The practice of yoga is athletic, but more importantly, it is spiritual. It is healing and therapeutic and generous, and you find recluse in your own self, in this time that you have set aside for yourself. I learned about the idea of multi-faceted wellness during the first semester of my sophomore year, because I was unwell. I was extremely unhappy and lost, giving all my energy to things and relationships that were not returning any value to me. And as a result, I no longer found value in myself. Unaware of the idea of holistic wellness, I continued trying to achieve, running myself into the ground and completely ignoring my spiritual, mental, and emotional health.Through a long, dark, humiliating struggle, an expanse of time ridden with loneliness, despair, and unhappiness, I came to a yoga mat, searching for an outlet. It was here that I found spirituality- on a yoga mat, covered in sweat and shaking as my arms held me in chaturanga. This hour of yoga each day, unplugged from my life, offered me salvation from my anxieties. In these moments of dimmed light, trembling as sweat poured down my face, flowing from pose to pose, I found grace. Yoga is not competitive, it is not self-seeking. It is an extremely intimate, introspective practice that allows you to connect to your breath, your being, and your soul. From yoga I learned to invest my energy into relationships and activities that returned value to me. I began to be indulgent with my time and my energy, beginning with this hour of yoga each day. Tending to the emotional and spiritual needs that I had ignored for so long, I feel a lightness to my being that I haven’t felt in a long time. When I received the email from aUM yoga telling me that I had won one of the two yoga scholarships for the semester, I was absolutely floored. Thank you aUM yoga and Lululemon for your dedication to wellness, displayed by this incredible act of generosity. By encouraging and celebrating the mental, spiritual, physical and emotional health of all those who practice yoga, you demonstrate that it is people like you who make the pursuit of wellness worthwhile. People who have a light about them and selflessly give so they can lessen the darkness of others, people who value all the facets of wellness so much, that they will do anything to help others become full of light too. Thank you for your grace, and your powerful support in my journey towards wellness. 

2015 Fall Semester Recipients

Annika N.

Annika grew up in the small town of Stowe, Vermont. Among the mountains and open fields, life was simple. In such an isolated environment I had maximized my days and had things figured out. I knew how to manage my time, schoolwork, family, and friends. My weeks were filled to the brim.Yet I had my Sundays. The one day I could wake up to the sunshine on my face rather than the blaring of my alarm. My day would begin on my mat. Within that hour of yoga, I could finally listen to my body. I could be present, revitalize my senses, and recognize my values. And with that, I was ready to dive into another bustling week. Exactly a month after making my way to Ann Arbor and U of M, things are quite different. I am now more than 700 miles from home, among more than 6000 unfamiliar freshmen faces. With a packed course load, and the desire to meet as many people and join as many organizations as possible, I am still in the process of “figuring things out”. While I am overwhelmed by both studies and excitement, I know that I have many challenges ahead. Yet I still have my mat. With yoga, I can revisit my Sunday mornings any day of the week. I can be present. I can breathe. And with that mindfulness and revival, I can look forward to any obstacle the next four years will bring. I am honored to have been selected to receive the Yoga Scholarship from aUM Yoga and Lululemon Athletica. The days I have been in the studio have been those filled with the most joy, ease, and appreciation for my new journey. Both my body and mind thank me for making it to my mat. And so, I thank you all for allowing this sensational opportunity and look forward to all that is to come.

Mara C. 

I take a deep breath and embody the formation of the Child’s pose that I have known for so long but somehow it feels different every time I come to my mat. This pose is my little place to reflect, to rest, to check in- physically and mentally. A place within where I know I can always come- no matter my yoga purpose at that moment. Six years ago, a freshman in high school, I would describe myself as an overcommitted, stressed out, teenager. Attempting to balance extracurricular activities and schoolwork, I was obsessive with doing everything correctly. Too often, I would come home and take out stress on my family. My mom tried everything to get me in a more relaxed mind state but it wasn’t until she took me to my first yoga class that she was successful in her efforts to make me check in with reality. After the class, I felt a huge release of stress and I literally felt lighter from the toxins released from my body. I was hooked. Yoga taught me to not let my head soar so far in the clouds of useless stress. I started doing a weekly slow-flow yoga class that helped set my mind at ease. I knew I could always trust my mat to let the  familiar calm feeling take over my mind and body. Throughout the years of high school, I formed a bond with my yoga teacher and she suggested I take a Hot Vinyasa class. I fell in LOVE. I love the way that during any class, I can push myself farther than I would have ever expected with the power of my mind, my yoga classmates and the energy that fills the room. Even though yoga will always be a stress reliever for me, my purpose of yoga shifted. Yoga became a way for me to stay fit and keep up my exercise level. My practice helped me get stronger physically. About two years into college, my yoga purpose shifted again. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer. As I began my chemotherapy treatment, I knew I needed a way to keep moving my body as well as keep the toxic medication flowing throughout to treat my cancer. And I knew the answer right away: yoga. I first start with a slow flow class the day after treatment and as the week goes on, I build up to doing faster, harder classes. I notice on days when I skip yoga because I don’t feel well, I am more weighed down by the medication. Even if I don’t have that much energy to give, just going to a class, stretching and taking it easy, helps me feel lighter from the heavy side effects of chemotherapy. My current purpose of yoga is healing. I am so thankful to humbly accept the Yoga scholarship from aUM Yoga and Lululemon Athletica. I take comfort in knowing that throughout my healing journey, I have the opportunity to come back to my mat as much as I want to and feel rejuvenated, sending love to every part of my body. I am so excited to continue practicing yoga and see what new meanings it will bring me.