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A few years ago I took a big step back from teaching. I needed a break. And perhaps more importantly I needed space to reorient my relationship with teaching and sharing in general. To better understand what conditions I need internally and externally to show up in a way that feels sustainable. Though I’m not entirely sure I’ve figured it out, I do know I approach teaching decisions differently. I’m more thoughtful about what I say yes to. I give myself more space to identify the next right step. And the part of me that clung to the idea that my being a teacher was marked by specific external things like weekly classes or teacher trainings loosened its grip. I had to allow my definition of teaching to evolve. And I needed to stop debating whether or not I was a teacher just because the circumstances changed. It reminds me of the countless times I’ve had to redefine my practice. Nobody told me about that part fifteen years ago. That sometimes without notice as the seasons of my life shift so too will my relationship with yoga. That time and time again I’ll need to give myself space to greet my practice in a new form. To welcome it into the home of my body and figure out how the hell to make friends with it even when it feels unrecognizable. Was I still a student if I hadn’t stepped foot on my mat for months? Was I still a teacher if I didn’t offer classes anymore? What I’ve noticed is as my relationship with yoga continues, the more my grip loosens on these questions. And the simpler my guideposts become for what is “required” of me to be a student and teacher. The less it’s even up for debate. Being a good teacher doesn’t go away simply because the circumstances change, nor is my studentship confined to a yoga mat. The consistency of a practice isn’t always in the approach or the method. A specific class or location. Sometimes it’s in the showing up and allowing your practice to arise in the form it needs to take on any given day. Loosening the grip on what you think it's supposed to be, or perhaps what it once was, in order to make space for what it has become. Our practices are always there to revisit whenever we are ready to greet them again. I’m wondering – how is your practice taking form this season? What approaches feel most resonate in your body? This week, today, or at this very moment? What might it feel like to greet your answers with a sense of curiosity? To get to know what your practice needs to be this season, knowing its evolution is as much a part of the process as everything else? May you allow your practices to take shape in the ways they need to during this season of your life. Sending you lots of care and encouragement as we continue into the month of October.
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