Over the next couple of months, every fortnight you’ll be hearing from an incredible soul within The Daisy Patch community in our Joy Embodiment Series. They’re sharing their own ‘Joy Stories’ – how they embody joy in their lives, what it has meant to them, and a few lessons along the way. I trust you enjoy connecting with them and their joy as much as I have. 

Enjoy! 

Danielle x 

I had everything.  

Money, a nice home, my own car, a healthy baby and a partner who had placed a ridiculously large diamond ring on my marriage finger in front of a large classroom of my graduate school peers; and on Valentine’s Day.  

I couldn’t imagine my life not going the way I had planned. I didn’t want much out of the ordinary and did my best to be “good” and “well-behaved.”  

However, on August 23^rd 2014, a mere 3 days before my 32^nd birthday, I unexpectedly fled the home I shared with my partner (and father of our then 10-month-old son) with only my baby and whatever I had in my diaper bag.  

Our relationship dynamic had suffered tremendously after his long military deployment that spanned almost my entire pregnancy and nearly the first year of our son’s life. And suddenly I was starting over as a single mother in a different way. At the time I had a thriving marketing career and, while inconvenient, rebuilding a life on my own wouldn’t be impossible…until I also lost my job.  

Within a four-month period I was without a home of my own, out of a job, and mothering as a single woman. What could have potentially been a rock bottom moment for me felt strangely like all the windows of a hot and stuffy house had been flung open on a cool autumn morning.  

My circumstances didn’t feel at all like doors were closing to possibility, but were opening to freedom of purpose.  

For the first time in my life I was given the opportunity to reimagine a new story for my life.  

I had done everything that was expected of me: good grades, college, great job, gainfully employed man, house, baby; and yet I never paused to determine how much of it fed my soul.  

The amount of joy and freedom I felt in the midst of a “chaotic” situation felt mismatched, but like the only authentic expression I had afforded myself in my pursuit of happiness.  

Nothing felt impossible.  

I found a cute little apartment in a town far enough from my old life to feel like a new start. It had lots of windows (a requirement for reclaiming my life) and in the rising I would awaken to the sound of my son in satisfied conversation with himself in his crib.  

There was no arguing, no rushing, no hustling, no daycare drop-off, and no painful office small talk. I made time to prepare nourishing meals for myself, furnished my new home with intention and started each day with a deep breath of gratitude to the Divine followed by inquiry: ‘what am I supposed to do now?’  

A question full of more deep curiosity than desperation.  

In that season of my life is when my business was born and I made the decision to be a work from home mother and sought out ways to make my new dream possible.  

I had fantasized periodically about teaching yoga from the moment it entered my life in 2003, but didn’t think it possible. Until that moment. I allowed myself to believe that I had been given this space in life to receive the yes’s I needed to make my purpose manifest in this lifetime. So by the spring I had acquired a collection of freelance work and in summer of 2015 I had successfully secured a scholarship to a yoga teacher training. A training that fed my whole self and made space for all of me to exist, heal, and make space for the next iteration of joy in my life.  

At the conclusion of the program I wasted little time beginning my career as a yoga teacher, combining my corporate knowledge and experience in the beauty industry to offer wellness programming to the women in my community.  

In reflecting on that season I am in awe of myself. My faith in myself and my Source was unshakeable and I nourished every ounce of my dream with the joy that freedom and motherhood had to offer.  

It is because of this chapter in my life that I know how possible it is to not only ride the wave of difficult and painful transitions, but to thrive in them. 

I learned to appreciate the depth of breath necessary to make swimming in the deep waters of life sustainable, and how transformative the decision to own our lives and heal what’s broken can be to everything else that flows from us.  

Now, five years later, I have supported hundreds of women in their healing, reunited with my partner after working to mend the broken pieces with a commitment to continue the practice of partnering intentionally, am mothering the most amazing human, and have the vivid memory of my own ability to overcome and live with joy during one of the biggest transitions in my life. 

Find out more & connect with TaKisha: 

After discovering tools and techniques to facilitate her own healing and through years of studying psychology, Yoga, Ayurveda and reproductive health, TaKisha has supported hundreds of women on their journey to healing and trusting their bodies.  

She’s the Founder of Momkynd, where she offers soulful support for mothering whole, podcast host of new show, Stay (dedicated to collective healing and honouring our bodies and feelings) and a loving guide, coach and space-holder for women to be guided back into their bodies with breath, yoga, and ritual. TaKisha is an incredibly beautiful soul with plenty of wisdom to share. Be sure to connect via the links below. 

Visit https://takishaaugust.com or connect on Instagram and Facebook @takishaaugust