I sat at the side of my mother’s bed holding her hand and reciting a mantra as she transitioned from this life. It was a transcendent experience as I sat for a few more hours feeling the extraordinary love that she was/is. The only words I could express at the time were “my beautiful mother” as I looked at her pale face, softening as the tensions of her life fully released. These hours were precious. At some point, my brother’s friend Shabby sat on the other side. We both held a hand of my mother. We stayed silent other than a few short philosophical discussions. The two of us and my husband Tommy sat with the body and experienced the transcendent energy that opens when a soul transitions.

The teaching of yoga expresses unequivocally that the soul does not die, but transitions from one dimension to another. It is just the physical body that is born and dies. Both birth and death are a type of renewal, both can be celebrated as such.

The aftermath of my mother’s transition revealed the areas of her life that had been unexamined. The unconscious underbelly of unresolved trauma was acted out in family dynamics that sprang up in the absence of her presence.

And isn’t this the way it is for all of us. We strive to be conscious, we get as far as we can in this life. Inevitably we leave some unfinished business behind.

Each generation, therefore, has a choice: Look at the shadow, unearth the unhealthy subconscious tendencies that drive our behavior. Transform, connect, heal and love.

Through my mother’s transition, I felt her love and her light along with the unfinished business that we as individuals, as a family and as a society inherit.

We are currently witnessing a collective energy of unconscious behavior played out on the global stage. If we wish to disengage from this unconscious behavior then we start with our own thoughts and actions. The good news is that as much unconsciousness as there is in the world, there are also new modalities of healing springing up every moment. In this era, the potential for getting help to heal our wounds and maximize our power is greater than ever.

It is certainly no coincidence that Yoga is so widely practiced today, offering us an opportunity to leverage the gifts and the challenges of the inheritance left us.

I invite you to get on the mat today. Take a personal inventory of your body, notice which emotions are predominantly driving you, start to watch your thoughts and patterns of interaction. Use your breath to begin to unravel the unhelpful patterns of your life. This is a time to weave a whole new reality where your Soul gets center stage.