In Search of Talia

I am forever amazed at the power that social media has to connect us;  to ideas, people, opportunities, and knowledge we’d be otherwise unexposed to. I am a bold follower, in the sense that I have no reservations about reaching out to someone I admire. If they don’t respond, that’s their prerogative, but I need to honor my need to try and connect. I’ll only regret it if I stuff that need down below and squelch it. When we fight healthy urges to connect and share, we send a message to ourselves that our feelings/thoughts don’t matter enough to be aired. This causes a domino effect of other bad feelings. Sure, I’ve been unanswered (it’s all good, Steven Tyler). I was once in contact with this yogi who lives in Bali. She was running a retreat on an elephant sanctuary that sounded wonderful. Once I realized I couldn’t make those dates, and that I might be scared shitless to ride an 🐘, I never heard from her again. I had at that point spilled my guts (of course), so it was an important disappointing moment. One I needed to learn. Needless to say, I then unfollowed her since her behavior didn’t feel very yogic to me anymore. It’s cool; lesson learned. It’s so funny how hitting the “unfollow” button feels like a 👆🏽. When it really is a kind of “no thank you”. It cracks me up when we hear of it in the sense of, “ I REALLY showed her. I unfollowed her”. It’s all part of the ridiculousness that social media breeds, but humorous nonetheless. None of it matters.

What matters are indeed those beautiful connections we make. It’s how I met Shiffy, the Mumbai blogger, how I met a whole bunch of DJ mentors and friends, old friends to reconnect with, artists, poets, inspirational guides, spiritual guides, authors, and yogis. The people I have been drawn to, and have drawn back to me, have been massively influential in my life. One such human is @talia_sutra, an Israeli yogi from Tel Aviv. As a writer, I pay close attention to the content of the posts. The words, messages, and feelings. There are tons of yogis who can post impressive shots of handstands on a cliff, but they’re not interesting to me if there is no wise, pure message underneath that picture. I don’t need proof you can contort yourself physically; I need the metaphor and spiritual guidance attached to the asana. I need what the heart is telling me through each movement. When I say “need” I mean it. There are accounts I follow that seriously get me through some of the biggest battles in my mind. If I go to sleep uneasy, I’ll wake up uneasy. It’s not healthy to start the first second of your day off with a screen, but if I’m feeling unsteady I’ll reach for my phone, take a quick glance at Mark Groves @createthove, @talia_sutra, @sahdguru, @mooji.official, and let their soothing words calm me down and lift me up.

Back to Talia. She is so pretty, and is a master yogi. She has a lovely husband, an adorable baby, and an incredibly interesting travel schedule that takes her all over the world to teach. She could easily maintain an IG account on the coattails of those facts. Pictures, stories etc She’s a spokesmodel for Alo, films tons of classes for Cody app, and has hundreds of thousands of followers. If she wrote nothing but nonsense like “Happy Monday!”, her account would totally remain afloat. But this is not who she is, and that’s why I love her. Talia is clearly a worker who has dedicated her life to being a spiritual teacher in the purest sense. There is an incredible depth to her words. Her messages and captions speak to the core and essence of the human condition. She gets us, and we need her. Talia doesn’t pretend to be above sinking just like the rest of us. She’s honest about her own struggles. There are so many super popular yoga-lebrities who just spit  overly positive platitudes while modeling their new comped leggings. Don’t tell me to always be positive; I can’t. Life is harder than that. Don’t tell me to breathe; I know that already and it’s not that simple. Speak to the epicenter of my pain and teach me to rise the hell out of it. Remind me I am loved and bolstered by the unseen, and that truly calling upon my ability to love will lead me to my destination. Calm my fears with assurance, not a cheer. I’m smart, I want the real stuff. If you’re a messenger then please send me the message. I’m waiting and willing to receive it.

Talia’s tag line is “love and all is coming”. After discovering her and reading this, because it felt so real and true, I probably tell myself this two dozen times a day. But my favorite was a picture of her in a deep backbend next to red rocks, I think in Petra, and she wrote, “Surrender, like rock to the sand”. I read that in a time in my life where I had to release control and trust the unknown. That is frightening for us humans, to not know the outcome. We don’t like not knowing where we’re going. I’m so in touch with nature, and am truly moved by all the elements, so the visual of rock melding into sand, and vice versa, instantly calmed me. It’s a partnership of the earth. There is not an hour that goes by that I don’t self soothe with that phrase.

This past Passover was a very hard time for me. I felt lonely, shaky, and adrift. I had found a yoga studio in Miami that became my home every day, Green Monkey. I’d sit and read at this coffee shop nearby after class, and do the IG thing. I had this urge to reach out to Talia so I emailed her. I was honest about the tough time I was having, gave her a brief background of my Megillah, and told her I’d love to DJ her classes, and that I’m coming to Tel Aviv in the summer. I seriously cried when I got her response email; connection just feels so good. It’s knowing someone got your message in a bottle and internalized your SOS. So recently, on my beautiful trip to the Holy Land, Talia and I were again in touch. She was so gracious in wanting to meet me. On a Friday while I was buying vegan, homemade soaps at the Nachalat Binyamin crafts market, Talia was two blocks away. I shlepped my friend James, and we met her in a park nearby. I was beyond excited. It’s like meeting a singer whose lyrics mean so much to you. As I saw this little, glowing fairy 🧚‍♀️ walking towards me, I burst into tears (jeez, can I stop crying already??). Just seeing her in person was so impactful. This woman had lifted me up so much since I came upon her. I don’t take that lightly. The gratitude I have for anyone who is there for me in any pure sense is overwhelming. It’s proof that as spirits having a human experience, all we need is to connect at our core (“makor” in Hebrew). Connect to ourselves, to each other. The tools are built into the very architectural design of our making. The ability to forge these connections lives within every single one of is. I’m not special because I reached out; I just did it. The word “sutra” is Sanskrit for suture, or stitch. We are all stitched and sewn together, creating this never ending tapestry of humanity. Which is why feeling connections to complete strangers, whether it’s via IG or simply at a bus stop, feels good. It’s because we are in alignment when we connect. It’s why strangers find it easier to spill their guts to each other, more so than to someone they know. It’s not because you don’t know them, it’s because you DO.

Underneath the body jacket we are all the same. We all love our children, we all need to eat, we all need physical affection, we all feel scared sometimes. The list obviously goes on because it’s true. Sometimes, all we need to lean into our god given ability to connect is an email address or an IG handle. I feel so close to Talia. Meeting her was life affirming. We can see people every day who don’t enhance our lives, or we can meet someone once (or never) who stays with you forever. Talia, thank you for teaching me to surrender like rock to the sand, and for filling me with so much light. I listened to you; I loved and indeed it all came, in that park in Tel Aviv.

Todah. Namaste🙏🏻❤️☀️🧚‍♀️