I lived at the mother ashram in Espanola but traveled daily to Santa Fe to work, meet with my men’s group, and attend events. A few times a week I would work out at Santa Fe Spa, mostly working with the stair stepper, and would finish with some yoga stretching.

One day an aerobics teacher and lead organizer of classes at the Spa asked me about yoga. When she became aware I was a yoga teacher, she got very excited. She said how teaching aerobics was destroying the bodies of all the trainers and they needed a way to help align and heal themselves. All were starting to experience body pains and felt yoga would help. I agreed that yoga can be most helpful. She immediately offered to set up a class for me at the Spa with the assurance she and her friends would come. I only needed to show up and teach the students who will already be there.

I have come to learn not to believe everything everyone says. To prepare for a successful class, I decided to create my own flyers and distribute them throughout the city. In a few weeks when the class started, half of the 18 students came because they saw one of my flyers. It was a good beginning to teach yoga classes in Santa Fe. I ended up teaching a class every Saturday at 10.45 in the same room for the next six years at the Santa Fe Spa. When moving to Europe, I handed over the class to another teacher, that was in 1996. Last I heard, that class is still happening every week.

During that time, the aerobics coordinator who invited me never attended one class. Ever. But she did get me started. I made many wonderful experiences teaching at the Spa. People in our lives often facilitate and give us the needed push to take the next steps in our lives. Help, support, and strong influence can come from unexpected people and situations. When we allow this natural flow, that is serendipity. Serendipity is simply defined as good things happening by chance or luck. I have come to know serendipity as the logical outcome of my inner trust in my needs, my intuition and my deserving to be offered the gifts needed for a successful venture.

Photo about 1984 taken at the mother ashram. Me with students attending a workshop I was teaching.