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Julie Selected for “Yoga Warrior” Competiton

I am SO excited to share that I’ve been selected to compete in the Yoga Warrior competition! The winner will be featured in Yoga Journal and receive $10,000 for his or her business.

I hope to use the platform to raise awareness and money for victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. Will you help me? Voting begins in March!

JULIE GROSSMAN

I am a yoga teacher, assault survivor, artist, and activist. I teach yoga for girls who are survivors of sex trafficking or exploitation.

WHAT DOES YOGA MEAN TO YOU / HOW DOES YOGA ENHANCE YOUR LIFE?

Since my own assault, yoga completely transformed me, helping me through physical and mental illness. I have learned the importance of yoga in healing from trauma, coping with depression and anxiety, and teaching us to be comfortable in our bodies again. I became a certified trauma informed yoga teacher and RYT-200, now I teach yoga and meditation at a shelter for girls, as young as 10 years old, who have been victims of sex trafficking or exploitation. I hope to bring awareness to this issue.

WHAT WORDS OR MANTRA DO YOU LIVE BY?

I have two quotes I love and live by. The first is from the Dalai Lama: “There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.’ No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.” The second is from Thich Nhat Hanh: Most people are afraid of suffering. But suffering is a kind of mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow. There can be no lotus flower without the mud.

“Finally Free: Healing from the Wounds of Trauma” Published by Edge Magazine

“Our perception becomes our reality. If we wonder, “what did I do wrong,” then “wrong” becomes the focus. “I am wrong” becomes the reality. But it is important to recognize that this is a thought. We are not our thoughts. This is where practicing meditation and mindfulness comes in. If you recognize that you are having an uncomfortable thought or memory, and consider the science that it is merely firings in your brain, you can watch the thought drift away like a cloud in the sky or a boat on the water. We can then mindfully engage in the activity we are doing, the time and place that we are in.”

Read Here (Note: trigger warning)

Julie and “Fighter” Featured in Photojournalism Project for Break the Silence Day

Thank you to Break the Silence for including the photo and original poem, “Fighter” in the Survivors of Minnesota photojournalism project.

*Trigger Warning*

My name is Julie Grossman, and I am a survivor of assault.

I’ve been a fighter since I was thirteen
Bows to my opponents, always fought clean
But that night
He stole my chance to fight
The alcohol and drug
Pulsed through my blood
The underdog and the heavyweight
Not a chance was stood

So just imagine how I felt
When I found he had stripped
My championship
Belt

I fought to conceal
Scars I thought I earned
I fought not to reveal
Outpourings of tears that, like fire, burned

Then I pulled on my gloves tighter Landed solid punches on the bag
Jab left, hook right
I’m no used, shook up rag
I let out all my fight there in the gym
And for one night, I don’t think of him
I fight for myself,
Made not of glass
I kick the thoughts from my head
Choosing instead
To kick
Ass

I am a fighter
And I’ve always been
I carry on, not carrion
At the hands of some man
The trick is to keep getting up
Until the bell sounds
He may have gotten one
But there’s still nine more rounds.

I am alive
And I thrive
I am a fighter
And I will survive.

“Upon Waking” is Out Now!

The original poem, Things I Can’t Remember, has been published in the new anthology book Upon Waking: 58 Voices Speaking Out from the Shadow of Abuse, sponsored by the League of Minnesota Poets.

According to the League’s website, “Upon Waking: 58 Voices Speaking Out from the Shadow of Abuse gives victims a place to share how the abuse felt, how abuse lingers, and what they have done to heal and move forward. These poems show that abusive experiences affect us all, and if we speak up, we can change our culture for the better.”

Things I Can’t Remember is an original piece by Julie Grossman that inspired the song of the same name.

To purchase your own copy of “Upon Waking,” click here, available also at Barnes and Noble, or other booksellers.