As a child, one of my vivid family memories was the annual viewing of the THE WIZARD OF OZ. The film was a source of great family pride, for my grandfather had composed and conducted the score and won an OSCAR for it! In my young impressionable being, Dorothy became my hero and the magic and power of her determination and fearlessness seemed so big. And the score: who could, in their right mind, deny the impact that the score has in the cellular experiencing of the film? Greatness!! Many years passed until I fully began to register how deeply my soul had been influenced by the metaphor and archetypal resonance of the film. In my early forties, I was immersed in graduate school, studying psychology and leading sacred dance circles. I began studying archetypes of the goddess and mythology. I was also, significantly, introduced to the big world of yoga and my first yoga teacher, Guru Singh who (each class) would take us on a magical, transformative physical and vibrational journey that transported me to a deep internal space where I felt safe , loving and powerful. I was hooked. The embodiment of warriors, eagles, lions, goddesses, sun and moon. Now twenty years later, I have taught gazillions of classes/workshops and am a zealous, humble student of growing and leaning into my inner work. When we practice yoga, we come home to the recognition that our deepest power resides within. Our task is to remember . Each time we practice yoga we take that mythical hero's journey. We hear the "call", we get ourselves to class. We take a grounded seat, close our eyes and travel inward. We have a wizardly (but very human) teacher showing us the way. We create intention, take our victory breath and move boldly into the multi-layered adventure that is our practice. We face the demons, we melt the barricades. we roar, we sigh, we take the stand of a courageous warrior of wisdom and peace. We click our ruby slippers, find our tribe of like-minded seekers and chant our mantra: "there's no place like home". Take a breath. Repeat.