How Mindfulness and Yoga Helped me to Build Emotional Resilience

Kayla Reetz
Apr 24
3 min read

Recently, I moved studio space locations. It was not planned. It was not calculated. It just was.

I was in my first space for about three months. In those three months, I made it a second home as much as I could. I brought in things that meant something to me—things that influenced and shaped the beginnings of Safe Harbor and its owner. I tried to create a space that inspired creativity and growth as well as positive change. And, just when I was about to settle in, it changed.

In those moments, things felt rocky, unbalanced, and dark. It almost felt like the world was spinning around me, and I was left grasping for straws, twigs, and anything I could to stabilize for a moment.

A great place to start changing the way we think of challenges: in our thoughts.

And yet, within the darkness of uncertainty, there was a tiny seed of hope, and I found myself repeating mantras—reminders of what is true instead of wallowing in things that are not true. I first learned about mantras as "I can" or "I am" statements. And while those are true and great starting points (especially for children), they have since grown into something more.

The mantra I returned to the most. I believe God even put it in my path on three separate occasions- He knew I needed that many to get the message!

I had to step back and remind myself that, while this was a setback, it wasn’t the end. It didn’t mean that anything I currently had stopped. It simply meant that it was going to look a little different. Sure, it wasn’t going to look the way I envisioned, but that didn’t mean the dream wasn’t real and attainable. I had to look at what was right now instead of where I wanted to be.

And the thing is, a few years ago, before discovering the various benefits of yoga and mindfulness, I didn’t respond this way to a situation like this. I reacted by wallowing in my grief and loss, finding every nook and cranny to blame. I became angry and frustrated, burned bridges, and became a person I wasn't very fond of. Or, I would go the self-pity route. My inner thoughts would venture toward the “I’m a failure” pattern or even validate the reasons why I can’t get ahead. But all of those reasons lead back to one person’s choices… mine.

I share this not to say how great I am or how perfect I am at life—Lord knows there is no truth to that—but because I see many people doing the exact same thing. They repeat the same pattern and end up at the same place: frustration.

What I have learned through my practice is that what happened before doesn’t have to happen in the future. I know that in order to change the future, we must be willing to first change, or consider the change, in ourselves.

A journal entry made at the start of downsizing and moving back home. It still holds truth today.

And that starts with a simple class. It did for me. Safe Harbor Yoga is still going, still gaining.

Its new location is in the same building as Subway. Classes are more of a small group size, but they still happen.

And something I’m proud of, something I didn’t give up on even after being told I didn’t need it, is Safe Harbor Yoga’s website:

www.stormlakesafeharboryoga.com.

Within it, you can find out more about me and what I am trying to build here in Storm Lake, IA. You can find out how to begin your yoga and mindfulness journey, or how you can give the opportunity to young ones in your life. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the impressionable generation say they wish they had this work when they were younger.