I am very open about my journey to California that occurred just over four years ago. I felt like I needed some more Sun, health and easy-living in comparison to New York. While I will always have The New Yorker hustle inside of me, I have concluded that life doesn’t have to be so expensive and challenging.

So when I moved to California, I felt a sense of relief because it was what I needed at that time until it wasn’t anymore and I decided to leave. I left Los Angeles in December of last year for freedom, the space to breathe and to build a better future for myself and, I do not regret it.

Here are 3 ways that I have healed since leaving Los Angeles:

1. Leaving Hollywood behind.

When I lived in Los Angeles, I was immersed in the ‘Hollywood’ lifestyle and a lot of what I did was centered around that area, most of my yoga students were celebrities or people attached to them. And although many of them mean well, it can be a very shallow sense of self.

After my first relationship with someone famous, I saw through the facade of most friendships and acquaintances that I had as a lot of them were attached to me because of who I was dating and what they could get from me.

It is pleasant to live in a place where people want to know you for who you are. A feeling that I haven’t felt in a while.

2. Feeling safe in my home and my neighborhood.

As much as people will harp on about not needing to feel safe to be at peace. Safety, particularly as a woman, means a lot to me.

My last few months in Los Angeles were a struggle. I felt the most unsafe that I have ever felt and while I won’t get into politics, I am disappointed that it has come down to people fearing their lives. I stopped hiking and doing any outdoor activities due to the lack of safety.

Many spiritual Gurus will claim that fear is not real and a figment of our imagination. However, I disagree. Some of it can be real and is a call for us to learn to differentiate what is for safety and what has been fabricated from our internal subconscious’ manifestations.

3. Letting go of the past.

I moved to Los Angeles to teach yoga and to heal and once I had decided to no longer teach yoga, I felt it time to move on with my life.

Although leaving Los Angeles was one of the nest decisions that I ever made, I was still sad and emotional about it because it had become my temporary home.

However, my necessity for healing, safety and growth overrode any fond memories that I had of California. And when I left, I was very glad that I did. Both can be true: I loved California when I moved there and I still loved it when I left it. But, I am also glad that I have moved on with my life.