When I read the above passage in Travel and Leisure magazine, I immediately connected the author’s experience with how I feel when teaching a yoga class. I often will have a loose plan or intention for the sequence of the class before I show up, but depending on the students that are there and how they are feeling (their energy), I will often shift the class from posture to posture. It’s like making a meal without using a recipe: improvisation can happen when you know which ingredients enhance each other’s flavors. The students in my yoga classes create the class.

I thought this was such a beautiful analogy!

Do you allow your day to unfold one moment at a time?

Choose love,
Grace

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Trust Your Intuition

I first heard about Deborah Williamson’s Yoga Life Coach training on Nikki’s blog Live.Love.Yoga. I was very attracted to the idea that I could combine my 2 passions: teaching yoga and coaching (cheering people on!)! I was scared, even though it sounded like the perfect thing. I was afraid of failing, afraid I didn’t know enough to coach people. I debated about the certification program for days before taking the next step…but I just knew in my heart of hearts that it is the right thing at the right time.

If you’re having trouble making a decision, gather more information!

I e-mailed Nikki to ask her about her experience with Debbie’s training. She responded almost immediately with a ton of positive feedback and couldn’t stop gushing about the amazingness that is Debbie. She emphasized all the laughter during the training, and I was SOLD. You see, my family is big into laughter. And I’m not talking about giggling here- I’m talking about full-blown, belly-hurting, tears in the eyes, slapping your thigh, hysterical laughter. My Mum is the queen of laughter…she just lets go and lets the laugh fill her up. Such a JOY.

Ask for what you want!

I wondered if there is a scholarship for this sort of experience? Even though the cost is reasonable, it would be a stretch for me to make this happen right now. I asked Nikki about this, and she suggested that I “like” Debbie’s Facebook page right away. Not long after, I saw the Facebook post about a contest to win FREE tuition! Total kismet, right?

What you resist, persists!

I am terrified of video cameras. I have no problem at all teaching a live yoga class full of students, but as soon as you put me in front of a video camera, I freeze up! The “you have to record that video” mental reminder tape kept playing over and over in my mind until I sat down to do it. At night, I was having trouble falling asleep because I was so worried about making the video.

When you’re stuck, take action!

Doing one step at a time helps. I watched Kelly’s instructional video, wrote a basic script, practiced what I wanted to share in my mind, and then went to a local park with my camera to record the video. And after I had finished recording, I couldn’t stop beaming. I was so proud of myself for building my courage muscle!

Sometimes new students will approach me after yoga class and ask if I have any coaching training because I am a cheerleader by nature. I strongly believe “it will take the best in each of us to make the best world for all of us.”  My main goal is assisting others in living more balanced lives, so they can have time and energy to focus on their unique gifts and live up to their full potential.  I believe this training will help me gain confidence and fine-tune my skills in order to become a better teacher, friend, sister, daughter, cousin, and eventually yoga life coach!

I want to be the SPARK that inspires others to SHINE!

My raw footage was over 5 minutes long, and it took me 4.5 hours to edit the video down to the required 3 minutes. Gratitude is really important to me, so I included a list of people I wanted to thank and since laughter is key, I couldn’t resist putting some silly bloopers at the end as well.

I feel so very, very blessed.

Please click on the following link to vote for my video (just “like” it on Debbie’s Facebook page) and help me make this dream a reality:

Grace’s Audition

Choose love,
Grace

***
Update 8/13/11: Enormous gratitude for all the cheer leading (and votes) over the past 2 weeks: I feel super loved. I did not win the Yoga Life Coach contest, but I value your support more than you will ever know…

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But what happens if you attend a gentle class expecting to be given the gift of nurturing relaxation, but the teacher decides to kick things up a notch and add a bit ‘o challenge? What happens if you show up for a class feeling super strong and just bursting with enthusiasm and end up being instructed to take child’s pose over and over again? You may feel frustration or disappointment that the yoga class is different than what you expected.

What if you decided to be your own teacher?

I mean this in a slightly metaphorical sense: I am not encouraging you to just ignore everything that your teacher is saying and do your own thing! But I always remind my students to listen to their bodies and trust themselves. So what if you decided to add in an extra push-up in chaturanga to add a little challenge for yourself? What if you rested in an early savasana during the last inversion if you were wiped out and didn’t want to be upside down anymore? What if you asked the teacher for a modification for a posture if you found that you were straining and holding your breath? As you become more familiar with the postures, you can learn to tailor them to fit your needs each time you practice.

We can take this idea off the mat as well. It’s super easy to blame other people when things don’t go the way we want them to in our lives. What if we took responsibility for our actions? What if we found growth opportunities in life’s challenges? Your life is teeming with possibility: Do you OWN IT?!

How can you be your own teacher both on and off the mat?

Choose love,
Grace

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The image above is a section of my most recent Journey Collage!  I tend to create new Journey Collages in the midst of big life changes, to help center myself.  I cut and rip phrases and images from magazines that inspire me.  I meditate on the things and experiences that I want in my life, and those particular things usually just jump out at me on each page.  I am drawn to the visual things that I need.  Here are the awesome phrases that I chose while creating a new masterpiece over Thanksgiving weekend:

I sought the simple life that nature yields.
The smart investment this year is YOU.
Morning stretch
Pure Enthusiasm
Try putting a little spice in your diet.
HEAL
Imagination
Her Lush Life
Simple
Bright and Beautiful
Make a statement. Your own.
More peace of mind.
Reward yourself.
Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but look what they can do when they stick together. -Vista M. Kelly
Radiance
Confidence

And my very favorite placed smack dab in the center of the collage:

“Living your epitaph may be the most important ingredient for inner peace and serenity. When you actively align your choices with your life’s purpose and goals, you live more honestly, more courageously, and with greater integrity, and these virtues bring with them a powerful kind of freedom.” -Zoe Weil

Just gazing at my collage can shift me out of a drab mood in an instant!

For those of you that are local in Cincinnati, I am hoping to host another Discovery Collage workshop at Park+Vine sometime in January. I will keep you posted…

If you created a Discovery Collage, what key phrases would you include?

Choose love,
Grace

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Another student recently professed that she was an avid runner in her youth.  She explained how her feet would start to blister, and she would push through, running even further until there was blood on her socks (sorry to be so gross, but I promise that I’m emphasizing a point here).  She would pull a muscle, so she’d take some medicine and run through the searing pain.  She got to a point where she had to wear a knee brace each time she ran, but she never stopped running.  She did a lot of damage to her body, and she was always pushing her body past it’s limit. 

Our body sends us signals when it needs a break.  During college I used to almost always get a stuffy nose, sore throat, and other cold symptoms right after I arrived at home for winter break.  I had pushed my mind and body by running around finishing up end-of-semester papers and projects in a whirlwind marathon.  By the time I got home, my body would crash.  Was this healthy?  Not so much.  Thank goodness I found yoga!  Or perhaps yoga found me?!

This past weekend I had a student complain about the recent development of lower back pain during boat pose.  She said she was going to stop practicing the pose until her back didn’t hurt anymore.  I offered her some modifications of this pose that she can do in the interim. But, the important thing here is that she is paying attention to her body and taking care of herself.  Yay!

Be gentle and kind to your body.  Modern medicine can do wonders, but it can’t fix permanent damage. This doesn’t mean you can’t challenge yourself!  But it does mean that you listen to the subtle signals and pay attention to how you are feeling, so you can hopefully prevent injury from occurring, or prevent an injury from getting worse.       

Needless to say, please take care of your body.  It’s the only one you’ve got!

What is your body telling you that it needs today?

Choose love,
Grace

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