My name is Lindsay Langer and this is my story about why I want to become a yoga instructor. Five years ago I was in a terrible car accident that almost killed me. With the power of yoga I was able to heal myself mentally and physically, and transform myself into a happier, more spiritual person. I have been given a second chance at life, and yoga has allowed me to live in the moment and cherish the movement of life. To be able to teach yoga has become a dream ever since. I can only wait for the day where I get to teach others the art of yoga, and help them to heal and find their inner light to happiness.
When I was 19 years old I was in a car accident that changed my life. I was intoxicated, most likely on my cell phone, speeding, and had run a stop sign in the back of my neighborhood. I ended up rear ending an illegally parked flat bed tractor trailer and pushed it about 20 feet, with my 2001 Saturn L400. This resulted in my car going under the trailer, the engine coming towards me in the drivers seat, crushing my legs, and trapping me in the car. When the fire fighters arrived on the scene, they said that I was 3 inches from being decapitated had I not been wearing my seat belt. As they began to use the “Jaws of Life” to cut me out of my car, the EMT’s had me hooked up to an IV. Fifty minutes later they successfully were able to get me out of the vehicle by cutting the top of my car off. I was taken by ambulance to the hospital where I spent the next three and half weeks for my recovery.
The first three days they did not know if I was going to live. I had suffered a closed head injury from the collision, and thankfully did not have an internal damage. The doctors, however, had to induce a five day coma in order to repair all my external injuries. I had a compound fracture in both femurs (thigh bones), which meant I had cut off the circulation of blood flow to my lower legs. This required them to perform a fasciotomy on both calves, where they made an incision down the sides of my legs in order for them to bleed out while they repaired my femurs by putting titanium rods in each leg. Without this surgery I would have been paralyzed from the waist down.
Next they had to wire together my right knee that I had shattered, place a screw in my left elbow that I had ruptured, and stitch up my arm where I had severe wounds, one which required a skin graft from my left thigh. After I came out of anesthesia I kicked my leg and pulled my knee apart again, causing them to have to reassemble my knee once more. This time they placed a splint on the leg so I would not do this again. However, after not moving my knee for two weeks this caused my bone to freeze up where it would not move past 15 degrees. This meant another surgery 6 months later, where they had to shave down the frozen bone above my knee cap, cut out a ¼ of my quadriceps that had died from lack of blood flow and manipulate my knee so I could use it without limping.
The next year was constant physical therapy, and had it not been for yoga since then I would not be the person I am today. The doctor told me I would never run again, but with patience and practice of yoga I completed a 5k run for fun two years ago, and finished my first biathlon this past September, finishing 34th out of almost 300 women. I have full mobility of my legs, knee, and arm and a big part of this is due to yoga. I can run, bike, swim, hike, snowboard, wakeboard, surf, and do anything I had done before.
Yoga has not only helped me physically recover, but has also helped me mentally deal with the life changing event of being in such a traumatic car accident. It has helped me get through many surgeries and tough times with the tools of breathing I have learned, and has also helped me experience minimum pain in my joints from practicing the asana poses regularly. Practicing various types of yoga from bikram, to Kundalini (my new favorite), I have been able to open my mind to the endless possibilities I have in life. It has taught me how powerful the mind is and the powerful idea of mind over matter in any situation.
My practice of yoga has mainly consisted of learning from yoga DVD’s, since it is a bit costly to take a class. However, I have tried a free week of Bikram Yoga in Boulder, Colorado, as well as taken a few classes at the University of Colorado in Boulder’s recreation center, when I attended class there. In the summer/fall of 2008 I was given the gift of taking a semester long yoga class in Washington, D.C. at Willow Street Yoga from my cousin. It was here where I was introduced to a women whose has become my favorite yoga teacher, AJ McIntyre. She inspired me greatly to be adventurous and active more than ever, as she would talk about her days as a dancer, and many kayaking adventures. I remember her once saying this, which I absolutely love, “You always can spot the Yogis in an airport, because they will be the ones shaking their head up and down, with a big smile on their face, being like yeah! Because they are living in the moment and happy to be taking it all in, and be where they are.”
Since then it has been my dream to one day teach yoga and eventually open my own yoga studio. I am currently finishing up my degree in Business Administration at the University of Illinois in Springfield to help with the latter, but need your help to start my first of many yoga certifications as I believe it will be a constant, and ongoing learning process of yoga. Please vote for me so I can begin my dream of helping others learn the power of yoga, and inspire people to realize that nothing is impossible in life.
Without yoga, I would not be the positive, active person I am today. With my story and yoga teaching degree I hope to spread the word about how powerful yoga can be and that we must always have something to fall back on just in case the worst may happen unexpectedly. With yoga I believe you will never grow old and with the flexibility it creates you can stay active and young for your entire life. With my busy schedule of school, it has been my dream to do an immersion yoga certification program, but these are usually the most costly and distant ones.
With all my school bills I still have to pay off, I do not see myself being able to afford yoga certification for a few years. So please help me to win this scholarship to Bali, Indonesia in the summer of 2012 by voting for me! You can like me on Facebook, tweet about me on Twitter, and leave a comment, so I hope you will do all three! These three votes will bring me closer to taking part in an 18 day yoga teacher certification course at Yandara Yoga Institute in Bali, Indonesia, on July 5 to July 23. Help me start achieving my dreams now, so that I may spread my passion for life and yoga to the world! Namaste^_^
2012 Yoga Scholarship Essay
By: Lindsay Langer
If you liked this article and want them to win a free yoga teacher training, then make sure to vote for her by leaving a comment (scroll all the way to the bottom), and sharing this article on Facebook or Twitter. Each comment, Facebook, and Twitter share counts as one vote and you can do all three!
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