Live from the Heart

Speak from the heart.

Act from the heart.

Communicate from the heart.

Touch from the heart.

Shine from the heart.

Give from the heart.

Receive from the heart.

Live from the heart!

When I use to hear words like love, joy and heart, I immediately thought of someone who was soft, touchy-feely, etc.  Admittedly at one time, I was very “me” centered often putting myself before others.  However on the fiip-side, I had also been living with compassion for others but not necessarily for myself.

There has been a huge shift in me in the last couple of years.  I now have more compassion for myself, which has opened my heart to being completely “other” centered in everything I do.  It’s as if my heart has been cracked open.  And now when I hear the words love, joy and heart, I think of a person who lives with confidence, integrity and laughter.

Why do you keep doing Yoga Teacher Trainings?

If you’re already certified to teach yoga, why do you keep doing more teacher trainings?  Do you learn more advanced poses at these trainings?  Are the other attendees more or less advanced than you?  These are the types of questions I am often confronted with upon returning from a yoga teacher training.

My most recent answer took me even by surprise, let alone inspired my friend to question her career path.  Sure a few new postures are learned but yoga teacher trainings are really about learning more about one’s self, connecting with other teachers and gaining inspiration.  All of this happens by being challenged to answer hard questions, hold postures longer than I ever would want to and take a good look at my life and what’s holding me back from being bigger and better.  As I told my friend, if I’m not challenged, how can I challenge my students?  If I live in fear, I teach in fear.  If I don’t live from an authentic space –truly being who I am and capable of being –how can I expect my students to discover themselves?

Yoga is so much more than the physical postures.  My new definition of yoga:  Yoga is an adventurous process of self-discovery in which faith and curiosity rule vs. fear and status quo.  Whether it is riding my mountain bike down rock-covered hills and up tree-rooted dirt, skiing downhill, speaking in front of a large group or falling flat on my face in the middle of yoga class as I attempt a challenging arm balance, “keep the faith” and “I can do it” are now my new way of being.  With faith, grace inevitably shows up and soon enough fear is no longer a concern.  With faith and passion bursting from within, the “fear” ghost from my past is now fearful of the new me.

So how was Level II?  Why do I keep doing these trainings?  If you need more, let me know.  The simple answer is, Baron Baptiste’s Journey Into Power Level 2 Teacher Training in Montana ROCKED!  I can’t wait to go back for more.  In the meantime, I will live life and teach yoga like a ROCKSTAR!

How was Montana?

I have now been back for over a month from my 8-day yoga teacher training in Montana and continued to be ask “How was Montana?”  While others ask “Why do you keep doing more teacher trainings?”  Though it feels like so long ago, it was such an amazing experience that I still light up like a bright star when speaking about it.

As some of you may know from a previous blog post, I went to Montana the beginning of July for a Baron Baptiste Level II yoga teacher training.  One word wraps up the mountain-view & ranch (Feathered Pipe Ranch), training, my fellow attendees, Baron and his staff — AWESOME!  It was an experience I will never forget, from start to finish.  And the best part is I left D.C. (my home) with a bag full of fear and anxiety, and returned home with courage, passion and a new curiosity for life.

The thing I feared the most going into it was getting up in front of the group, teaching (in front of 50+ teachers) and receiving feedback.  It turned out to be nothing to fear.  In fact, my teaching stint lasted less than 1-2 minutes – for the entire week!  The fear I had was a tsunami was going to swallow me up (in the words of Naimi) and the reality is it simply felt like an 8-foot wave knocked me a round a tad.  Coming from a Delaware girl who has always had a huge fear of ocean waves, it really wasn’t much.  In fact, I need to plunge into those DE waves – minus the jelly-fish.  Hmmm…sounds like another fear is creeping in : )

The fear and story I created in my head around “doing it” was so much more nerve-racking than actually being in the moment and living it.  That’s how fear works; it’s like an ugly shadow that never leaves you until you have the confidence to turn around and face it.  In fact one of my new mantras from Level II is “have more faith than fear”.

To see the answer to the question about “why do you continue to do yoga teacher trainings”, you’ll have to read my next blog post.

Yoga on the Mountain Bike Trail

My husband surprised me last month with a new GT Zaskar mountain bike. The bike is way more advanced than I am. Let’s just say it would be a disservice to simply ride it on the local paved bike trail –my comfort zone for riding.

Recently we’ve been hitting Wakefield Park in the Alexandria/Annandale, VA area to force me out on the new bike so it can be used for its true purpose – mountain biking. Wakefield is an extremely popular multi-use park filled with trails for all levels of cyclists. Many of them, though perfect for the new Zaskar, are way too technical for me – I have already had my share of falling ☺.

As a result of these rides I’ve realized that everything I teach as a yoga instructor, I need to personally practice on the bike trail. This is much easier said than done. Here are some of the lessons I’m a pro at on the yoga mat but an amateur at on the bike trail…

1) Don’t think about it; in yoga, take your brain out of it
2) Breathe; invite the body to relax
3) Eyes to the horizon; in yoga, drishti (gaze) is essential to each asana
4) “Feel” the bike do the work; in yoga, feel the breath move you deeper into the pose
5) Find balance – clip out with the left foot (my weak side) just as often as you do with the right (my leading foot)
6) It’s a process
7) It takes a lot of practice
It takes a ton of patience with one’s self
9) Learn to let go of the need to control (see #4) and just trust
10) Have more faith than fear – this is my new motto since attending Level II with Baron Baptiste last month

As a yogi these are a natural part of my life on the mat –another comfort zone. As a beginner student in a sport I am intimidated by, the above list contains things I need to learn in a new capacity. The process of breaking out of the comfort zone is scary but can be extremely empowering. So I will continue to chant #10 as I fly down the treacherous hill: Have more faith than fear!