Fully Alive

"Think about what it means to be fully alive..." chanted my yoga instructor as I lay on my mat in Savasana (laying flat on the back) pose. I took the class to work on my flexibility and muscle strength, and yet here I was contemplating the meaning of life... or at least what it means to feel "fully" alive within this life. Her words still ring in my ears days later and so I thought I should write about it.

So what does it mean to be fully alive? What does that look like? Feel like? Taste like? Sound like?

Honestly, I'm not sure how to describe it.

However, there have been distinct moments throughout my life which I believe have poignantly ushered me into the reality of my humanity. Like coming out into the bright noonday sun from a pitch black room, these moments have caused me to squint, blink, step back, and rub my eyes to really see and experience my humanness. These could be moments of pure unadulterated joy, or times of deep sadness, even certain points of boredom have all brought me to the sobering yet liberating reality that I am here; right now. I am spirit, skin, bone, breath; I am body and soul intertwined and I exist in this place. I exist as you exist and that means something. It's more grandiose than I can articulate, though many authors, poets, musicians, and the like have tried.

Being fully alive carries substance. It matters. I am choosing today, and hopefully everyday, to push into my humanness; to live fully.

Join me.

I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life... (Walden, 91)

To being fully alive, 

K