Check out my Guest blog post on Karma Mob NYC ! Super cute clothes for yogis too.

Ah, urban dwelling.

Where monthly rent on a 5th floor walk up studio apartment could pay a mortgage on a million dollar house and yet, you have to do your dishes by hand because it doesn’t have a dishwasher.

Where you fantasize about owning a washer dryer and how that literally, could probably, definitely change your life.

Where you have never seen so many people crammed so tightly into a subway car at rush hour you’re positive that it has to break some type of world record.

The honking.

The sirens

and

the opportunity for growth.

Every single day- especially in a city like this, we are confronted with chaos and choice. React or don’t. Cook a healthy dinner or order in again, buy it or pay a bill on time, stay or leave, chase your dream or live someone else’s.

Living in this great city for 13 years has definitely humbled me in the same way living in D.C. has humbled and taught Lucy, the guest blogger for this post. I think I learn something new every day but my biggest takeaway from living in New York is that if you truly want something, you can make it happen.

Where do you live? What lessons have you learned while living there?

Xo, Alex

Growth through the Hustle

Shortly after graduating from college I found myself in the hustle and bustle of Washington, D.C. I had just started a summer internship at the Nation’s capital. I had never been to the East Coast before, I was young, and had zero idea what I was doing. Putting yourself in a position where you know no one or your surroundings is daunting. Especially in a city that never stops it was quite the challenge. Some days were good, some were frustrating, but little did I know how much that city would force me to grow.

Being an only child I was protected and coddled a lot in my life. If something didn’t go the way I planned my parents fixed it for me, I always had someone fighting in my circle.

However, when I moved to D.C. I found out no one really cared about my petty problems and it was in those first few months in the city that I realized my personal strengths. The strength to persevere and problem solve on my own.

I missed buses, I walked miles in the wrong direction in a business suit in the middle of summer, and I found myself in neighborhoods I shouldn’t have been in. For the most part it sucked- it was frustrating. I couldn’t call my mom to solve my problems. I was all I had in the big city and I had to make it work.

I ended up finding my way; I loved what the city had to offer and the feeling of anonymity so I stuck around. I joined an employment law firm and started to find a career path. I rented out an apartment by myself and did what I could to survive the daily grind. Hustling to the metro became the norm. Realizing that you were at the whim of public transportation and had little control over the outcome was humbling.

It was in those months in the city that I found yoga. I had never done yoga before, but in my 400 square foot studio apartment with not much besides a bed and a TV I found a practice. I began to stretch my body and expand my mind in ways I didn’t know was possible. It was just me and my mat mostly every night for about eight months. It was in those days of solitude that I learned who I was; what made me tick, my core values and beliefs, and my inner strength.

Shortly after I moved back to Colorado to pursue a Master’s Degree in Environmental Policy. I am still with the same law firm working remotely, with now two cats and a boyfriend. The constant remains as yoga. I became yoga teacher certified in January 2016 with an amazing Guru, Saul David Raye who taught me about Bhakti and how to find my bliss.

Today I teach a weekly class to a steady group of students who have grown in their practice with me. Together we are evolving into more conscious beings or at least giving it our best effort for the hour we have together with aspirations of being more mindful in our daily lives.

The city changed me for the better. Without the struggles of being alone in a foreign place who knows where I would be today.

Take chances. We only have one life to live and the present moment is now – don’t let it pass you by.