The Odyssey is a story of strength and resilience, one of facing hardships and overcoming barriers. Odysseus’s story inspired Yoga Odyssey’s name; it serves as a reminder that the journey of life will test us by diverting us from our paths and forcing us into a zone of discomfort.

This morning, we made our last stop before YO moves hOMe. Thank you to the Somerville YMCA for supporting us and to MJ Turnbull for another awesome insightful and powerful class!

YO is taking the opportunity to move the practice of stress reduction and self-healing off the mat. From August 3 through August 9, we will be taking our summer break and, instead of offering classes, encouraging all to search for the lighter side of life by inviting laughter into each day and noticing the benefits that it provides.

For the YO community, the past few weeks have been anything but structured. While we wait for our beautiful home to be rebuilt, we have jumped around to new spaces, toyed with different schedules and faced abundant uncertainty.

What a week it has been! While the past several days have been among the most challenging for downtown Somerville and the Yoga Odyssey community, we are taken aback by the outpouring of support that we have received.

The New York City Marathon was a true test of mind and body connection. Congratulations to Christina Christodoulou for completing her first! I am proud to have retired the Ironman in Greece and the Marathon in NYC…. the two greatest places on earth!