The Hub of All Places

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Several years ago when I experienced my spiritual awakening, I was lead somewhere that would literally alter the course of my entire life. This place would end up being where so much of my healing happened. It would connect me to people that are now my Soul family. It would expose me to healing and spiritual practices I had never been exposed to before, yet in the depths of my being, made sense.

This place would be the container in which I would cry & scream — one in which I would feel terrified and free all at the same time. It would be the space in which I would become physically strong again, the space where I would pray, and the space where I would rest my mind and my body at the end of each work day.

It would be the space in which I would come home to my Heart.

A gift in front of my L.A. apartment.

Having suffered through many years of depression and anxiety prior to my awakening, my emotional, mental, and physical bodies were all in deep need of loving attention. Intuitively I felt a pull to seek out a Yoga studio where I could start practicing — to get physically stronger, and to be a place where I could be quiet and peaceful after hectic days of work (I was very busy running my stationery design business at this time). Traditional gyms had always been too noisy and stimulating for me — that kind of environment feels a bit assaulting on my system, and ends up taking more energy than I receive from the workout. I was also entering into a new exploratory journey spiritually-speaking, so I knew I needed something different.

I was still living in Los Angeles at this time, and it is no secret that there are an abundance (maybe even overly so) of Yoga studios there. All different types of Yoga, all over the city — many choices. So to choose one, I decided to simply listen to my intuition and explore the ones I felt resonated with what I was looking for. I tried a couple for their discounted intro periods that were pretty good, yet still not quite right. So I remained patient and open.

During these many weeks, I had also been exploring various meditation experiences — I attended writing groups and Sunday services at both Ananda L.A., and SRF (Self-Realization Fellowship), and received so much from both. Down the line, about 18 months later, SRF would become a bigger part of my life once I’d be led to Bhakti Yoga, and the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and Neem Karoli Baba. At this point though, all of that was still basically uncharted territory for me…

It would be one day in August of 2013 that, in my efforts to avoid the hellacious traffic on my way home (which, for anyone who lives or has lived in L.A. knows, is basically unavoidable...), I would drive an alternate route and pass by a building that, out of the corner of my eye I would see, read the words “YOGA | BREATHWORK | MEDITATION” in large green letters on the facade next to their logo.

Within less than a second of time, my awareness deeply connected to those 3 words and I thought “I should stop there sometime.” And with almost no space following the thought, I audibly heard the words:

“Go there now.”

And so I said out loud to myself, “I guess I should go there NOW.” I quickly turned at the next stop sign, parked my car, and went inside.

Practicing Yoga on my rooftop in L.A. – May 2014

For the next 13 months, The Hub would be my spiritual home… my sanctuary. It was my school, my playground, my therapy, my nourishment on every level, and quite literally my saving grace. It is where I would learn about many special healing modalities, including Breathwork, and subsequently heal lifetimes of trauma I was carrying... while simultaneously training with my mentor to facilitate this work for others too. There’s a whole other story on how that came to be! I never did the work or the training with the intention of teaching. Obviously the Universe had other plans… ;) The Hub would also be where I would meet and practice with the teacher I would eventually do YTT (Yoga Teacher Training) with after I’d completed the Breathwork Healer Training.

It would be the space that held me while I literally came alive again.

That 13 months would’ve likely continued on for much longer, yet in September of 2014, The Hub announced they must close their doors. You see, they were that special a place that the work they were doing was really “ahead of its time” as we say. They were in business and service for over 5 years there, though the community masses simply weren’t ready for the deeper healing offerings they were bringing to the table. They were pioneers, and for those of us who were blessed enough to be called there during that magical span of time, they gave us a greater gift than would ever be possible to put into words.

I’ll never forget the day I found out they were closing. I had never felt such a strong connection to a place like that before, and I felt so sad, and then scared too — where would I go? What would happen to my practices? The feeling was that I needed that space.

I didn’t know what my healing journey looked like without it.

And then in the same moment, just like my first visit ever when there was no space between the thought and the guidance, I felt the understanding drop into my heart. The opportunity I was being given was to practice detachment. (Again a Yoga philosophy I had yet to more deeply learn, as my YTT was still to follow…). I understood that this was part of the plan for me — my next level of learning was about doing it on my own, and understanding that the community that came with The Hub wasn’t going anywhere, it was simply changing form. The physical space would go away, but the connections made and the healing received would live on infinitely.

Me, the best I’d ever felt! – August 2014

There is a beautiful quote by Bhagawan Nityananda, an Indian guru, that says "The Heart is the hub of all sacred places. Go there and roam."

This quote graced the very cool, conscious graffiti wall at The Hub in Los Angeles, and was quite literally the essence behind their philosophy, as well as the invitation extended to each person who ever entered that space. It has been the journey I have continued, and only continue to go deeper in, since that time. Exploring one’s own Heart IS the work. It IS where the wisdom of the Soul and the Voice of Spirit reside. And it is a space that never goes away — it is “The Hub” you are carrying around in your body and your being. It is the sanctuary you take with you everywhere you go.

I am indescribably grateful to The Hub for giving me all the gifts that I never could’ve imagined would come from that time. And I am also deeply grateful to them for listening to their own journey, to close and complete that cycle, and venture on. Because, while it was within those walls that I learned how to come home to my Heart, it was in their being taken away that I learned how to stay there on my own.

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