As a student of history, I try to go through life acknowledging the fact that I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me. At the same time, I far too often fail to remember all the hands that support me right now.

I don’t believe in the myth of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. If I pulled myself up from a working class upbringing to this middle class life, it is because as I pulled, many pushed. I do nothing alone and neither do you. As much as I have said and will continue to say that working towards a PhD is a lonely project, I have many people cheering me along.

Today was the Chicago Marathon and while I have never run one, I think it’s kinda the same thing. All those runners have to take each step, but I saw many on the news say that they can’t through the race without the cheers of onlookers.

I returned home from Blogalicious, a women of color blogger conference, in Miami with a new sense of determination. As I sat on a panel discussing Latinas and social media, the biggest applause I received came from when my quest for a PhD was mentioned. I had lunch with two of my biggest long-distance supporters who listened to my challenges and then told me they were proud of me.

After attending a dance party with plenty of drinks and passing out in my hotel room just past midnight, my body woke me up at 6:30 am on Saturday. Why? To attend yoga on the beach at sunrise.

I rolled out of bed, careful not to make too much noise and wake up my roomies. Brushed my teeth, pulled back my hair and put on a pair of shorts. Yup, I went to yoga in my PJs.

And it was beautiful. I kicked myself for forgetting my sunglasses and camera, but looking back, I think it was the Goddess who made me forget. The sunrise was breathtaking and any photo I would have taken wouldn’t be good enough to capture the moment. In fact, the camera would had distracted me from taking it in. My sunglasses would had blocked the true colors of the morning.

I ended up working next to another friend and supporter, who also teaches her own yoga classes. She inquired about graduate school and could tell she was sincere about wanting to hear the truth. She seems to not be the kind of person who asks, “How is it going?” just to make conversation. We did yoga side by side that morning with perhaps 20 other women.

As I stretched and breathed with purpose, I felt something. I felt connected to my body and me like I haven’t in many years. Yes, I’m gonna say it, in a way that I haven’t felt since I was pregnant. But even deeper than that. I felt the Goddess in me. Not the Veronica-goddess, but THE Goddess.

After yoga was over, my friend asked me how I felt. All I could say was, “Amazing.” I can’t recall what else I said, but she looked at me and said, “You need to keep doing this. Yoga will get you through this PhD.” And I knew she was right. The Goddess had just told me the same thing.

I am now determined to find a way to incorporate yoga into my life. I must. Yet, due to my schedule, I believe it will be at home. I doubt there’s a yoga class that ends by 6:30 am…Still trying to figure out if a 7 am end is too late to pull. But the energy I felt that morning was amazing. I need that energy every day.

It’s funny, I went to a bloggers conference and got more out of it for my PhD program.