I was privileged to be taking that trip especially to find answers, as what I had *thought* I wanted to do with my life was not quite hitting the mark. I had been dedicating my life to the not-for-profit sector, and while I loved making an impact I was burnt out and sick of sitting in front of a computer all day.

The answer was there all along really: during my working week I was happiest when I was practicing yoga. Once, when I had to stay back at work late to meet a deadline I totally cracked it at my boss because I missed yoga (whoops, sorry Carl!). On the evenings I wasn't practicing yoga, I was painting, drawing, collaging, sewing, cross-stitching, catching a show at the theatre…

Then on the trip (let’s call it an odyssey, because, why not?!) there were three constants: 1) Practicing yoga. 2) Visiting art galleries, sooooooo many art galleries. 3) Drawing, I drew every single day.

When I got back to Australia I still felt a little lost. It was then that I came across The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron at my local library. I undertook that self-guided twelve week course of creative self-discovery and healing at the same time I started my Yoga Teacher Training. Talk about transformation! That was the year I “walked through the fire.” I continued to work in fundraising and advocacy until, pregnant, I moved back to my home town Portland with my husband Marc.

Since finishing my training all those years ago I've taught in yoga studios, community centres, gyms, offices, lounge rooms, aged care facilities and even our local library. More recently I've been giving classes that combine meditation and mindfulness practices with various art and craft activities. Last year I took ten people through a fourteen week program called The Creative Connection Collective that combined all sorts of yogic practices and wisdom with working through the The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. It was an idea I’d had since it proved to be the magic mix for me. Just like when I first engaged with the teachings of yoga and that special book, it was an epic adventure of self-discovery and healing for everyone.

It was actually while I was hosting the Creative Connection Collective that I felt the pull back to activism. You see, I’d set up this narrative in my head of “then” versus “now.” I was thinking of activism and yoga as being separate. I saw my life as “before” when I was an activist versus “now” when I am a yoga teacher. An issue in my local area that I could not ignore (SAVE THE WHALES!) woke me up to the realisation that yoga and activism are not separate. For me they are inextricably linked.

So now… I combine the wisdom and practices of yoga, conscious creativity, and spiritual activism! And in a way, this online world which enables us to connect whether we are literal neighbours or a whole world away is that “studio” I imagined where yoga, art and doing good in the world meet.