Growth Comes with
Change
Seeing where the Road
Takes You
This May I celebrate four wonderful years of teaching yoga
in Hagerstown. In these years, I’ve
taught at a party store, a basement, a sunroom, a gym, a park, a conference
room, a high school, a lounge, and a historical loft in downtown
Hagerstown. I’ve met hundreds of people
– beginners, intermediates, advanced, healthy, injured, young and old. And the funny thing is, I still considered
myself a new teacher.
I recall my very first class as I nervously stood on my mat
and held tightly to my sequence. I spoke
quickly, moved quickly and barely left the safety of my mat. I also decided to begin teaching mirroring my
students while pregnant (not recommended).
After two kids and a whole lot of classes in between, my style evolved
into something that reflects who I am today – more confident, flexible.
The most challenging decision I ever made as a yoga teacher
was to offer all my classes in an all-levels format. I may have a sequence prepared for class, but
I had to be able to adapt to whoever walked through my door. I had to quickly access my students’ energy
levels as well as physical abilities within the first 10 minutes of class. I took continuing education classes and read
lots of books on how to modify and adapt yoga for each body.
While not every class is perfect, I continue to get better
with this format. We should all be open to change, willing to see where the
next path will take us. We may not know
what the road looks like or where it will take us, but with confidence, we’ll
be able to look back at the changes we’ve made to arrive at our current
destination.
Here are 3 tips to help embrace change:
- Cultivate patience. We are going to make mistakes. Take a few deep breaths when life gets frustrating. Life responds between each of those breaths.
- Have faith. We don’t always know exactly how a decision will play out. Decide to be confident in your choice. Instead of the constant doubting and worrying, become fully aware and experience joy with the outcome.
- Stick with it. Changing habits typically take time (31 is the magic number I’ve read about). Make a plan and stay with it for a period of time. (i.e. When incorporating meditation in my daily lifestyle, I failed so many times to stay consistent. I finally found the right formula for me – 5 minutes a day, anytime during the day. This was four years ago, and now I almost feel like I’ve forgotten to brush my teeth when I don’t meditate.)
Thank you for the last four years. It has been a pleasure sharing what I’ve
learned about yoga with you. I’ll always
consider myself a student learning from you.
