First of all I want to give a shout-out to Wendy Weymann who put together this Yoga Teacher Blog Tour. It is a nice way to help get us out there and connect with one another. #fvyogateachers I for one find it challenging to put myself out there. I work full time in the business of ornamental horticulture, and teach yoga and meditation part time. So, finding and making time to share what I'm doing or how I'm feeling on social media isn't high on my list of priorities. I am a fairly private person by nature. Finding the time to meditate and practice yoga daily, preparing and teaching weekly yoga classes in between running a household, tending to the plants in my garden and spend time my family and take time for self-care - well these things are my priorities - and not always in this particular order! Thankfully my husband Vic of 33years and our three kids are grown up and almost all moved out, but keeping up with daily tasks, promoting myself and my yoga business and finding time to catch up on some reading can just get to be sometimes too a bit too much. All this doing, achieving and accomplishing, will it ever be enough? Am I enough? The answer is Yes! (Thank-you Yoga) And I'm making time now to share a little of who that is and I'm hoping you can relate a little, because its certainly a lot easier for me to pull away in my zone of safety, where I'm mostly content. So for me, connecting with all of you is a good reason to put myself out there, so here I go...
Yoga wasn’t something I was looking for, and like a lot of things, maybe its at times like these we recognize maybe without even knowing it at the time, we get exactly what we need. I'd practised yoga on and off for many years, in one form or another, and I think it was in 2007 that yoga really started resonating with me and I began my relationship with it. Yoga has helped me in so many ways. I have a much better relationship with my inner self than in most of the all years I spent in ballet slippers and in dance studios, scrutinizing the reflection of my outer form in the mirror. Yoga didn't set an expectation for me to do or be anything other than who I was in the moment, so as I kept sticking with the practice I was able to let go of the obsession of my physical form meeting a certain criteria. There was no need to judge myself for not achieving something and I could just move my way through a yoga class and feel whatever I needed to feel. Honestly it felt good to be connected to my body in a more positive way than I had for many years when I was dancing. I could let go of perfection which sounds easier than was, and yes sometimes still is.
So, as many of us do, I took on the challenge of deepening my yoga practice through a teacher training at Parallel Yoga in Abbotsford - not with the intention of teaching, but to learn a little bit more of what this practice of yoga was all about. Well, at 51 I did learn a lot about yoga and surprise, I learned a lot more about myself in the process. Since the latter half of 2014 after completing that first 200 hrs., I’ve continued to keep practising, connecting with myself, struggling, making mistakes, falling down, getting back up and trying to embody all I'm learning. I remember when I was introduced to the eight limbs of yoga and the philosophy component of the training because I was immediately drawn in deeper. I started seeing yoga from a wider lens and so, in 2015 when Wendy Weymann offered a meditation for yoga teachers training, I was in. Meditation started to wake me up and I began to understand that yoga was indeed a lot more than just something you do when you get on your mat, move your body, or meditate in silence. And I continue to be a forever student of yoga by expanding my knowledge and have been further educated in areas of Yin Yoga, Chair Yoga, Meditation, Yoga for Trauma and more. I attend workshops of interest and continue to read and learn on line when my schedule allows.
I teach weekly group and private yoga classes and pre-registered introduction to meditation workshops and classes in my home space @thebunker and also offer public classes to groups, privates to individuals and offer self-care style workshops in and around my community of Abbotsford, BC. I aim to teach authentically and respectfully share the teachings and practices of yoga that resonate with me and connect with others . I look forward to what the future holds for me as my yoga community expands.
In closing, Yoga and meditation both have a huge influence on how I move through my day. Besides the fact I am unlearning everything I think I already know about myself and my ego, it helps give me pause in times of stress and chaos. My body is aging, my physical practice is a little more gentle these days and my edges are continuing to soften as I learn to adapt to all the changing conditions of my life. My heart is more open, and through my interactions with loved ones, clients, colleagues and strangers, I’m better able to recognize myself in them and hold space to find love and compassion for all of us. I am becoming a more empathetic human and beginning to see that all I am is just a small part of the sum of the whole of who we all are. There are continual shifts, and yes I do struggle, I don't always get it right and I fall down. But I keep getting back up and yoga provides space for me to accept it all as I move forward into who I am becoming. And I just can't help but want to share this practice of yoga with everyone!
If you missed yesterday’s post, check out Kiran's post here: ihttp://www.wendyweymann.com/2019/03/05/fvyogateachers/
& you certainly don’t want to miss tomorrow’s post by Kim Maxwell Green at https://www.heartandlotus.com/fvyogateachers~
happy reading yogis! #fvyogateachers