I’ve been spending the last 6 months working on another yoga teacher training. I went into it planning to solidify my skills enough to provide more yoga to clients through one-on-one sessions and workshops. That’s been evolving, for sure, but what has been more profound is the calmness and clarity that has arisen from the practice. There’s a new understanding of what it means to be with myself and other people. I have so much more impatience around distractions and superficiality and so much more joy over genuine moments of really seeing and being with the people and the world around me. I have so much more joy in really seeing and being with myself.

I’ve been so interested in trying to understand what about yoga, of all things, could be part of this alchemy. Why would moving my breath and my body through these structured poses and practices be causing such a profound shift? I think I’m beginning to realize it’s because yoga, as I’m sure is the same for many other practices, is all about understanding yourself much much better. You notice how you breath, how you feel, and what happens to your emotions when and after you practice. You tune in to how subtle changes in movement and breath and relating to others in the room, leave you feeling that day and in subsequent days. And you definitely notice more about the stories you carry and the influence those stories have on your patterns in moving throughout the world. Through the practice, I’ve found a greater tenderness with myself and a much greater awareness of how what I’m accomplishing doesn’t matter at all. One day, I’m able to accomplish so much and the next day, maybe nothing. How curious that hasn’t ended up being the point. Instead, what has mattered above all else is the ability to be a better companion to myself and all the important people in my life, including my dear clients.