General · Uncategorized

Barefeet, Vulnerability & Good Intentions

I fell the other day while teaching. I cared a lot less than I thought I would have.  It was funny – I picked myself up and kept on trucking.  I did however, reflect a great deal what something like this would have done to my tender little ego even just a year ago.  I would still be embarrassed.

I had a number of new students starting this week and I love this; I love watching people discover Yoga, noticing what they can and cannot do, noticing how quickly they can deepen their practice and celebrating poses that they would have never dreamed of trying.  I remember those early days and first discoveries; I dreamt of yoga, I would often stop, drop and yoga right in the middle of my day, I was all yoga all the time (like, even more than I am now, I know – shocking, lol).
The thing about Yoga is the amount of Ego it brings to your mat and how quickly it can fall away. If you’re comfortable and in an environment that just allows you to give it a whirl; I received one of the greatest compliments the other day when one of my students announced “Eek, I think I’m going down” as she fell… and then laughed and remarked how much she loved that she could be comfortable enough to announce she was falling and then fall without too much of a bruised Ego.  This is what I want in my space – the desire to try and the comfort of being vulnerable enough to maybe have it not go so well and be okay with that too.  I also hope that my students will take this willingness to try and possibly fall off of their mats and out into their real lives.

One of my newest students is a total newbie… so new she had never stepped on a mat. We were starting from scratch completely.  She’s so sweet in her nervousness to try something new and her questions. She even asked what she needed to wear on her feet – now that’s a newbie.  I let her know that we do Yoga in barefeet 😉

After her first class (which she did phenomenal in) I followed up via e-mail with her and I could tell she as excited to be learning something new (we get stuck in ruts for years where we don’t do this right?)  She closed her email with

I am proud of myself for taking small steps to a healthier and happier lifestyle. See you tonight, barefeet, a little vulnerable and with lots of peace/joy/happiness/good intentions to be there! ️”

This last paragraph was absolute perfection for me; it’s all you need to start a Yoga Practice, really:Vulnerability(1)

  1. Barefeet;
  2. Vulnerability;
  3. Good Intentions.

And so it is. Namaste

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *