Come alive
“Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” -Howard Thurman
As I was getting prepared to come back to teaching from maternity leave, I expressed some anxiousness to Michael. He stated , “Its like riding a bike.” Of course that did help ease my mind that he was confident in my abilities to fall back in place without effort. Because just like riding a bike, once you learn, you can’t unlearn. Another thing that is the same is that you don’t just learn it. You have to fall, over and over again before you can actually ride. But I still felt nervous. I am not content to teach on autopilot. The only way you will want more from yourself is if your teacher also wants more for themselves.
And while some people are content to just ride, there are those others that choose to take bike riding further, like X-games style. So yes I can continue “riding my bike” or I can choose to become an “epic bike rider”.
That is what has always drawn me to my mat time and again. The fact that yoga asks you to not only exist but come alive. For me, the physical practice is the gateway to the rest of the practice. The reason power yoga is so popular is because it is challenging. You don’t get to just show up and exist. When you want to give up and you feel like you may fall, say to yourself, “just 2 more breaths” then breathe and STAY. That is how you experience the power of the physical practice. How we show up physically can help us figure out how we need to show up off the mat. What is your passion? My promise to you is that I will be the continuous student, bringing and learning information that you can use to come alive on your mat. Will you exist or do you choose to come alive?