Lisa Jakub

It was a fair question. The lady at the Seattle airport was wide-eyed as she asked. People in the Pacific Northwest can’t imagine surviving a temperature of 119 degrees Fahrenheit. I wanted to invent a fictional reason for this trip, because I was going to tear up when I said it, and then this random lady was going to feel bad, and because I have way too many feelings, I was going to feel bad for making her feel bad.

A quick note here to the men, if you are even still reading this: please, for the love of all that is holy — don’t be weird about this. Don’t roll your eyes or check out at the mention of “women’s issues.” We have been sitting through commercials for your boner pills for decades, and we’re cool with it. Gen X is going through menopause, and we are not going quietly. Broadly speaking, our generation has always been fiercely self-reliant, cynical, and angsty.

Since moving to my Canadian homeland late last year, I’ve not spent much time in the US, but I’m venturing back to teach at one of my favourite places on earth - Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. I went to Kripalu for the first time in 2016. I walked into the grand hall in an absolute panic, picked up a gigantic purple binder, and joined my classmates for a month of yoga teacher training.