Shannon Larsen on Yoga Under Lockdown and Loving the Gift of Death

YogiTriathlete Podcast

It's hard for me to imagine having a mindset now where I wished suffering or death upon another being. Eye for an eye was the mindset of my past. I believed punishment would bring peace. I know better now. I fully understand that love is the only answer. Shannon Larsen was born with this wisdom. Described by her grandmother as someone who "loves where others are afraid to go" sums her up to perfection. Her motivation is always to increase the connection between herself and others. She has the undeniable foundation of what it means to be a true yogi. She is curious and it's through her curiosity that her beautiful story of life continues to unfold. Today she shares with us her experience teaching yoga in the lockdown units of juvenile prison. The worst of the worst describe the crimes committed by the boys in her class yet Shannon was not concerned with their past. It was their present that she tended to in each class. It was their divine perfection that she taught and to their inner peace that she sang. She was the freedom within their cage and the reflection of their beautiful light. Shannon is a warrior walking her path with bravery while life continues to deliver all the feels. We dive into the interconnectedness between us all and the importance of both the dark and the light to our awakening. We talk about the beauty of death and the gifts that it gives the living. We celebrate the freedom of when one of us leaves this world and we honor the very human depths of grief. Shannon's story is raw and she is extremely generous in sharing how mindfulness has assisted her in the process of losing someone very special to her just a few months ago. We are so grateful to her and what she brings to our community in this episode. Thank you so much for tuning in and sharing this show with everyone that you feel will benefit from it. We are on a mission to create a better world and we believe that bringing awareness to stories like Shannon's will deepen the understanding of our oneness.