Learning and Growing
I was mentoring a new teacher in a class at the studio this week and she said the following “it’s about progress, not perfection” – and I thought wow what a great way of framing what she was experiencing in that moment, teaching her second-class solo. This was a message she was telling herself and by doing so she was also giving permission to her students. Boom, love that, I was hooked.
It stayed with me all week, in my own observations of myself – so much kinder to notice the progress rather than trying for perfection – the perfection which always ends up creating or adding to my suffering. So, the progress comes in noticing that I am kinder to myself, through loving my imperfections and realising that it is all part of being human.
I realise that learning and growth is one of my biggest values, and in the 200hr Teacher Training this is something that occurs for students and teachers. The below quote is something we talk about at the beginning and throughout the training and it is so true:
Yoga is a journey of the self, through the self, to the self – says the Bhagdad Gita
It takes courage to step into the unknown, to be seen, to find one’s voice, this is a personal inner journey, with the asanas (yoga postures) representing the external framework. But it is an inside job.
The intention that we set at the beginning of each class, each day is also part of the teacher training, an intention to help support the student over the 4 months we are in training. Intention is everything, it can keep us on our true North when the bumps and bruises occur, which is one of the byproducts of learning anything new.
My intention in 2010 when I did my teacher training was “Integration” - I have still to this day no idea where that word came from, but it was so strong, and it has been part of my inward journey back to myself, through the practice of yoga.
I remember looking up the word “Integration” it means – “the act or process of uniting different things”. Yoga means “union” – it is from all of this that I feel now more than ever I am coming into union with my true self, unchanging, ever-present, and free. Certainly, a daily practice – coming back to the initial point – it’s about progress not perfection.
This will be one of mantras for Teacher Training 2022, and it couldn’t be clearer, so thank you Kelley what a gift.
A final thought to finish up this blog….
According to Swami Krishnananda sutra 1:13 means "Abhyasa or practice is the effort to fix one's own self in a given attitude." Prolonged periods of practice within a given attitude to align ourselves with our soul's freedom, this is practice.
