West Door Yoga: What the Name Really Means
- Jun 1
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 4
I am often asked what the name West Door Yoga means.
The name came from a stage of life shaped by years of work, responsibility, and experience.
The mission became to use everything that had been learned, the lessons, the challenges, and the scars, to guide others.
It comes from living through it.
That is how West Door Yoga was built.
What Are the Four Directions of the Medicine Wheel
Do you know what stage of life you are in?
The shamanic medicine wheel comes from Indigenous teachings, where the four directions, North, South, East, and West, define the stages of life through seasons, elements, and experience.
Each direction marks a stage of life, often referred to as the life stages of the medicine wheel. Understanding where you are changes how you make decisions.
Each direction carries its own role in that process.
The North is both the beginning and the end. It represents entry into life and the completion of it. It carries both early curiosity and the full integration of a life lived.
The East marks the early stage of life, where learning happens through exploring, repeating, and adjusting. It forms the foundation for what follows.
The South moves life into action. It is where work is done, careers and families are built, and responsibility and achievement are developed.
The West is integration. It is where experience becomes understanding and what is important becomes clear. This is where wisdom is passed forward.
The West Door is known as the stage of life where experience becomes guidance.
Learn more about the traditional meaning of the medicine wheel through the National Library of Medicine.
The Deeper Work of the West Door
It comes after the South Door, the season of summer energy, years of doing, building, and providing.
The West Door is the fall season. It is the stage of life where experience becomes guidance.
Time moves indoors where people gather for coffee and good conversations. Stillness replaces constant movement and the focus shifts to connection and supporting others.
The West Door has an important role. It is the stage of guiding and holding space for others facing challenges you have already navigated.
There is a responsibility here. To show up and listen, to offer direction when it is asked for, and to step back when it is not.
This is the work of the West Door.
West Door Yoga was Created from this Stage of Life
West Door Yoga was created from this stage of life.
After 35 years across two careers, a clear body of knowledge came from responsibility, training, and years of real decisions.
That knowledge is now structured into practices that settle the body, quiet the noise, and bring clarity to decisions.
Living the West Door Path
West Door Yoga is built on working with the body as it moves and functions.
Movement is taught through anatomy.
Breath is used to change your response under stress.
The practice includes the study of the eight limbs, meditation, and the philosophy of Swami Kripalu, alongside Reiki and hands-on work with the body.
This, practiced consistently, can be applied when clarity and sukha, or ease, are needed. Explore how this is practiced inside West Door Yoga classes.
Final Reflection
Living a life where I trusted my choices and decisions was not always easy. Sometimes it worked out exactly as it was meant to, and many times it did not. Either way, it always came with lessons.
Big lessons. The kind that shape how you live and provides you with the tools you need to carry forward.
Those are the tools we are here to pass on and guide others through. As Uncle Ben told Peter Parker:
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
The power comes from what has been lived, and the responsibility is in what is done with that knowledge.
That is how West Door Yoga came to be.
Written by Dee Morrow, 500-hour certified Kripalu yoga teacher, holistic practitioner, Reiki master, and former critical care RN. Dee’s work integrates yoga philosophy, nervous system healing, meditation, restorative practices, and spirituality into grounded everyday life through the community at West Door Yoga.
Learn more at https://www.westdooryoga.com
Comments