Trading my skis for a yoga mat?

“Yoga is not about getting to know the postures. It is about getting to know yourself.”

~ Gary Kraftsow

Who am I? This is a question most ask, eventually. We spend a lifetime preparing to define ourselves through our careers, a favorite sport, or perhaps parenthood. For me, it was all the above, yet a ski injury, more than anything else, forced me to question my identity.

If anyone asked me to describe myself, I’d answer immediately. I know exactly who I

am. My biggest passion is my identity. I’m a skier. I was this before being a marketing

professional, a mother, an auntie, or a big sister. Everything that skiing stands for is

what I live and breathe. If I’m not a skier, then who am I?

On February 16, 2021, at Palisades Tahoe, one ski crash tore my ACL, MCL meniscus,

fractured three bones, and shattered my identity. It was devastating, but in order to

move forward, I entered a stage of intense self-care after experiencing extreme

self-doubt. This included practicing yoga daily from my home.

This essay is not about my ski accident so much as the journey I took towards

self-realization and how I’ll take this experience into the classroom as a teacher. My