Have you ever read my About page?
In the introduction, I tell my readers that I was introduced to guided meditation and pranayama at a very young age and immediately noticed the mind-body benefits of conscious breathing and meditation. No one has seemed to ever question when or how I came about learning these techniques, maybe my readers assumed I grew up in an ashram in India. I did not, however, grow up in an ashram, and it is also not too often I actually admit that I am from the East Coast (Sorry fellow East-Coasters! Really no one would believe me anyway, as I am much too hippy now), but I was born in Philadelphia. I learned the early stages of breathing and meditation while attending school at Saint Hubert’s Catholic High School for Girls. What?! Yes, it is true! Saint Hubert’s did more than provide me with a stellar education. It was the springboard for the yogi I have become.
The faculty at Saint Hubert’s pushed my intellectual capacity for learning, but amidst the academic environment I was also coached to breathe and be with God (meditate). Unlike typical elementary Catholic schools, where students are forced to attend Catholic rites and engage in ritual, while at Saint Hubert’s High School I was encouraged to learn how to incorporate the divine into my everyday life. I must say this is something I carried forward today. You may be thinking that I am crazy. How can a Catholic school inspire a person to become a yogi? Hmm, maybe I am not that far off. Have you ever heard of the book Jesus in the Lotus: The Mystical Doorway between Christianity and Yogic Spirituality by Russill Paul? A great read! A review later, but just to mention…there is an overlap.
Today, I teach yoga. The word yoga literally means to yoke or to bring together. In yoga, the goal is to unify the mind, the body, and the spirit/divine. Yoga is not simply a set of poses (or asanas) to keep us physically fit. Yoga is also a pathway for discovering, and uncovering, who we are as divine living beings. This desire to learn about myself did not simply begin four years ago when I started teaching yoga. Rather it began, (I cannot even believe I am going to admit this – gulp!) 18 years ago when I stepped through the doors of Saint Hubert’s High School in Philadelphia. My parents sent me to Saint Hubert’s because they knew that I would be getting the best education possible (without question) in the city of Philadelphia; what my parents did not realize was that the education I received from Saint Hubert’s would perhaps be more influential than my college years.
Why am I suddenly mentioning this now? Well, Saint Hubert’s High School has been slotted for closure through the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. There has been an appeal instated, and if Saint Hubert’s raises enough monetary support the school may be able to remain open. For me, my high school experience was much more that a place to learn and pass four years of my life. My high school years set the course for my future self. It is because of Saint Hubert’s that I am the woman, and the devote yogi, I am today.
It was William Butler Yeats who said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” And for the young women in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia, and the community surrounding Saint Hubert’s High School, it is this fire that empowers young children to become more, and achieve more than they have ever expected. The present and future students of Saint Hubert’s High School deserve every chance to continue to burn their intellectual flames in a safe, nurturing environment. For many of these students it is their respite away from the hostility of the city, and their solace for self-discovery.
Molly & Aubrey (cousins) ~ and Future Saint Hubert Bambies!
If you are interested in knowing more about the legacy of Saint Hubert’s High School, and how you can help to save Saint Hubert’s High School for future populations of women, please click on the following links: Save Huberts, Saint Huberts High School Website, St Huberts Alumnae Facebook Page, Save Huberts Press Conference Video. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.
Remember you are not just helping to save a school; you are saving a community…a legacy of women, who deserve every chance to succeed in their lives. It is my hope that this legacy never dies!
~ Once a Bambie, Always a Bambie ~
