Pretty much everything that could’ve gone wrong for my holiday travels did. I got sick the day before I was slated to fly cross-country to visit my family in Tennessee. I missed my connecting flight from Charlotte, NC due to fog and ended up shelling out more than I cared to for a hotel room that I couldn’t enjoy due a cough that rattled the room and a high fever that kept me up all night.

I went to the doctor for medicine with the hopes that I would be able to see my two baby nieces again—both of whom were also under the weather.

Unfortunately, an ear infection put one of them in the hospital in the Washington, D.C. area the week before Christmas and curtailed my sister’s plans to visit the family in Tennessee. My neice is on the mend now, but I’m still sad that I missed her.

It gets better. I had planned to bring my car (the beloved car that had been parked in my parents’ driveway for a year) to California over the holiday. The plan left me stranded in a hotel room again—this time for three nights in Tucumcari, New Mexico—because of road closures. New Mexico was even declared a state of emergency during my unplanned stay there.

Something good did come of all my rotten luck. I spent hours not doing—simply relaxing by knitting and watching mindless TV. (I’d like to tell you that I spent hours meditating and doing yoga in my hotel rooms to cope with the stress, but that would be a lie. I just couldn’t bear to let my bare feet touch the hotel room carpet!)

L to R: Catherine, me, and Anya.

In fact, the only yoga that I initiated during my entire journey-gone-wrong was an impromptu class I taught to my two older nieces, Anya, 15, and Catherine, 12. (A class that probably wouldn’t have happened had everything gone as planned, if I had more time to spend with my big sisters and baby nieces.) The class went well. The playful giggles were a fun reminder of how silly all of this yoga stuff seemed to me when I was 18.

More importantly, though, I could tell that it had sparked their curiosity enough that after Savasana (and before our mud mask facials and herbal tea party), Catherine said, "Can we do this every day that you’re here?"

"Of course we can!" I said in that giddy, encouraging tone yoga teachers use when they think they’ve helped someone reach a break-though. And even though the girls didn’t ask for another lesson while I was home, I knew I had planted a seed.

This all led to my conclusion that I want to focus my teaching on teenagers for the time being, which fits in perfectly with my New Year’s Resolution to do more to help people who need it. I can’t think of a better form of service than sharing yoga. My next challenge will be finding the time to make it happen. I’ll let you know how that goes.