♥
FOR YOGA TEACHERS – Do you ever get up in the morning and open your emails, see all those amazing things others are doing and feel your energy crash?
That’s what happened to me this morning. I woke up feeling slightly tired. Didn’t have a good night. My mind wouldn’t switch off and I was restless. I did too much yesterday and didn’t wind down in the evening.
And when I got up I made a mistake of checking my emails instead of doing my practice first. This rarely happens but when it does it usually has unpleasant consequences for me.
I saw all these wonderful people doing amazing work that I also long to do and my energy crashed. I heard a quiet voice within me: ‘Ohhhh I’ll never be able to do it’ and I felt my whole body loose vitality. It felt as if a plug was pulled out in a bathtub and all the water poured out into the ground.
If you are anything like me you want to show up for your community and clients and do your best work. You want to support others the best you can. You are willing to do the work and learn and grow for the benefit of all.
But here is the crunch – in order to be able to do it you have to take time to nourish YOU first.
Your morning yoga, meditation and pranayama practice that you know you should be doing daily is not just for you so you stay healthy, fit and grounded – it’s also to create a strong container within you so you can support others from this grounded and embodied space.
Your reflective practice of journalling or Focusing is not just for you to reconnect within and build inner self-trust – it’s also to be able to hold a safe space for your clients when they’re struggling or processing something.
Your time out to rest is important so you can nourish your energy and integrate in an embodied way all the learning and progress you’ve made.
This time for your own practices is the foundation of who you are as a yoga teacher.
Why??
Because…
It’s about your own deeper connection, integration and wholeness.
It’s about you walking your talk in an embodied way.
It’s about you teaching from a space of understanding, embodied experience and compassion for yourself and others.
Otherwise something within you will feel like a ‘fraud’, scared that it will be found out. It will remind you again and again that you are not walking your talk and it will sabotage your efforts of showing up fully. It will bring up doubts about your abilities to achieve your dreams.
So today just reflect on your ‘I don’t have time for my practice’ story. Your practice doesn’t have to be long – but it has to be consistent. Because showing up for yourself is the foundation of showing up for others.
I’d love to hear what you think.
And if you’d like to connect with me and other yoga teachers check out current further yoga teacher trainings with mentoring on trauma-informed yoga at YOGA SCHOOL page.
∞