Speaking of, has anyone found the purple banana?

If you read that header and thought ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, now might be a good time to tune into your music streamer of choice and give Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” a listen. It’s an inspirational bop about life, afterlife, elevators, and the proverbial purple banana.

As you will recall or as you just learned, “we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.”[1] I created Florella to share with you, fellow seeker of wonder, things that help me punch a higher floor on the elevator of life.

• The second r in florellaraye.com is reiki. In Japanese, “rei” means universal and “ki” means energy. Align with this energy to reinvigorate your body, mind, and spirit.

• The second a in florellaraye.com is ayurveda. In Sanskrit, “ayur” means life and “veda” means knowledge. Bring balance to your life through this traditional Indian wisdom.

• The y in florellaraye.com is yoga. The Sanskrit root word “yuj” means to yoke, join, or unite. Unite yourself with the universe through this ancient Indian practice.

• The second e in florellaraye.com is et cetera. This practice potpourri is filled with wild and wonderful activities to honor your light.

Reiki, ayurveda, yoga, and other transcendent traditions are often considered a little bananas in our hyper-empirical Western culture. Modern science is just beginning to explore these holistic practices for evidence of their benefits, but so many of the benefits are immeasurable, intangible, ineffable.

Yes, there are measurable, tangible benefits to mindful breathing (a yoga practice) or tongue scraping (an ayurvedic practice), but there is more to it than science is ever going to explain. If you found your way to Florella, chances are you already know there's more to life than what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch. 

So, if you already called Dr. Everything’ll Be Alright and something is still wrong, maybe add some reiki, ayurveda, or yoga to your routine.* If you often ask yourself what it’s all for, try some of the et cetera activities to lighten up your life. If you seek wisdom of the body-mind-spirit, join this wild and wonderful fellowship.

Now, dearly beloved, are we gonna let the elevator bring us down? Oh no! Let’s go!

*Reiki, ayurveda, and yoga are not substitutes for healthcare. Consult with a qualified healthcare provider before beginning any new physical or mental health activity. Read more.

[1] Prince and The Revolution, “Let’s Go Crazy,” recorded August 1983, Warner Bros., track 1 on Purple Rain, 1984. (Fun fact for you citation readers: I have asked my husband to play this at my funeral.) 

Why me? Because you.

I started down this path in the early Aughts when my body and mind were fighting against my go-go-grad-school schedule. The searing pain in my back and the rising panic in my brain demanded attention. I stepped on a mat to see if it would help. Basically, I began yoga for relaxing exercise. There’s nothing extraordinary about that. It’s why many people go to yoga classes.

However, my hometown yoga studio had strong roots in the entire tradition of yoga. By that, I mean they emphasized that asanas—the poses—are only one branch of the eight-limbed yoga tree. As we students worked out the cricks and creaks in our bodies, our teachers reminded us to work out the blips and bleeps in our minds as well. Thanks to the studio’s founders, I learned that yoga is not just exercise. It’s a lifelong journey for the body, mind, and spirit.

My yoga practice has naturally waxed and waned in that lifelong journey. There were times when I would vinyasa for days and days in a row. There were times when I didn’t unroll my mat for weeks. There was that time when I took up running and actually finished a marathon. Or there was that time I rolled my way onto a derby team. Even then, with sneakers or skates on my feet, I was on my yoga path.

I have spent nearly 20 years turning and returning to yoga. I have surrendered to these cycles of “doing” and “not doing” yoga because I know that it’s more than just asana. Whether I am on a #yogaeverydamnday streak or I muster only one mindful breath in a week, I am still on this eightfold journey. My body, mind, and spirit carry this practice with me wherever I go and whatever I do.

Once I realized yoga was with me and I was with yoga, I wanted to know it better. I signed up for yoga teacher training hoping to find some secret answer. When no secrets were revealed, I signed up for ayurveda educator training because maybe I asked the wrong question. When I still had questions, I signed up for reiki attunements. When I still felt out of tune, I went within. And here we arrive at the point.

Living life forces us to look outside ourselves, to ask questions, to find answers. Yoga, ayurveda, and reiki guide us back inward and remind us that we are both the question and the answer. In taking up these practices, you are asking the universe, “Why me?” By and by, the universe will respond, “Because you.”

Honestly, this little collection of paragraphs began as a way to tell you why I am qualified to share reiki, ayurveda, and yoga with you. It ended up somewhere unexpected, but it somehow works. My study and practice of reiki, ayurveda, and yoga helped me discover my light. It has taken years to get this far along the path, but it is a lifelong journey. I am sharing reiki, ayurveda, and yoga with hope that you will also discover your light. It may take you years too, but Florella is my way of marking the path.

Why me? Because you. The light in me sees and honors the light in you.