I’ve been meaning to write this post FOREVER. Since last November to be exact. When I started taking pre-natal yoga classes at Yoga Yoga, that’s when I met Mandeep. Meet Jodi “Mandeep” Filleman. Her list of credentials are endless, but she is best known to me as my yoga teacher that forever changed my outlook on yoga. She came in to my life as my yoga teacher then, and now, I consider her a friend that I can go to in order to get enlightened. Or just to vent from time to time. =) She’s a great listener.

Some time last year, after a class, I asked Mandeep if I could take a photo of her after and she was more than happy to oblige. My intent then was to write about how pre-natal yoga forever changed my life, and how I wanted to find a way to thank my teachers in order to show them my gratitude. One year later, I am finally doing just that. (Sorry it took so long!) Let’s just say being pregnant and then giving birth to Jalen has made me put off many things on my “to do list.” But now, I’m finally get to cross this one off my list! Yay!

Mandeep has this “glow” about her. Literally. I have never met anyone who seem so calm and at peace. I would go in to her class full of anxiety and stress. But when I am done with her class, I come out feeling like melted butter on a toast. Seriously. I don’t know how else to describe it. Whenever I’m around her, I feel so much joy and happiness. I wish I could just put her in my pocket all the time in order to feel… serenity wherever I go.

THANK YOU Mandeep for being who you are. I am so forever grateful that you came in to my life. You possess this wonderful gift of love that you share with everyone that you come across. And I am just so so blessed to have you in my life as my teacher, and also as a wonderful friend. You are, indeed beautiful inside and out. Thank you for inspiring me and teaching me how to be “present.”