September 2026

Soul Serenity Notes

Dear Reader,

One Year Later: What Teaching Restorative Yoga Has Taught Me

One year ago, I taught one of my first restorative yoga classes.

At the time, I thought my job was to learn more, do more, and become more confident. I worried about saying the right things, sequencing poses correctly, and creating the perfect experience.

Over the last year, something surprising happened:

Restorative yoga began teaching me.

This year has been full of meaningful growth. I taught community classes, offered free online practices for family and friends, completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training, continued my Reiki studies, launched Soul Serenity, built a website, started this newsletter, and began teaching at Lake Frederick and Valley Health Wellness & Fitness.

Yet when I pause and reflect, the biggest lesson was not about teaching.

It was about rest.

Like many people, I believed rest was something I would earn after everything else was finished: after the closet was organized, the website was improved, the emails were answered, and I had finally done enough.

This year reminded me that rest does not arrive at the end of the list.

Rest is part of the journey.

I've also learned that support matters more than I realized.

Sometimes support looks like a blanket carefully tucked around the body, a bolster beneath the knees, or a chair that makes a pose more comfortable and accessible.

Sometimes support arrives as a teacher, a friend, a family member, or an unexpected conversation that helps us take the next step when we are not quite sure where we are headed.

I have been fortunate to experience both.

The encouragement of teachers, friends, students, and loved ones has reminded me that growth rarely happens alone. Opportunities to teach, collaborate, and share this work with others have also reminded me that community is one of the greatest forms of support.

And perhaps the most important lesson is this:

I do not have to perform.

I do not have to be perfect.

I do not have to have all the answers.

The magic is not in the teacher.

The magic is in the pose.

My role is simply to guide people into supportive shapes and offer enough quiet, permission, and space for rest to become possible.

When the body feels supported and there is permission to pause, something begins to soften. We remember that we do not have to keep striving every moment of every day.

That lesson has been as much for me as it has been for my students.

Thank you for being part of this first year. Whether you attended a class, read these notes, shared an encouraging word, or quietly followed along, you have helped Soul Serenity become more than an idea.

You have helped it become a community.

If you would like to continue exploring the practice of rest with me this fall, I would be glad to welcome you. ✨

Ways to Practice with Me This Fall

🌿 Arrive & Rest​
Complimentary community restorative yoga practice via Zoom
​September 11 · 7:00–8:00 p.m. Eastern

🌿 Rested & Grounded​
Restorative Yoga Workshop at At Ease Yoga in Winchester, Virginia
​September 27 · 4:00–5:30 p.m.​
​90 minutes · $40

🌿 Breathe & Be with Dr. Dee​
A 75-minute online restorative yoga practice with gentle guidance and spacious time to rest.
​$22 per session​
Upcoming dates: Sep 24; Oct 8 and 22; Nov 19; Dec 3
​7:15–8:30 p.m. Eastern · Online via Zoom

🌿 Restorative Reset​
A private, individualized 1:1 restorative yoga session shaped around your comfort, preferences, and season of life.
​75 minutes · $95 introductory rate

Please take good care,
Dee

Soul Serenity​
​www.doctordee.com​