“Take up space and get LOUD”
It was the last day of the Forrest Yoga teacher training at Fresh Yoga, and the last of my week of intensives. Had a rough night’s sleep last night and had to ignore my inner resistance to get it together this morning and it was SOOOO worth it.
The theme of the last session was two-fold… a challenge set of sending her trainees & extraneous students back out into the world “to embody your spirit, No Matter What.” Whatever else is going on in life, we can still choose to live as our spirit dictates. And, when faced with a decision to make, we can choose based on “does this brighten or dim my spirit?”
Ana encourages action over just existentially hanging out & “being” which I really like. Nice phrasing today along the lines of “being present is where life begins. Now what are you going to DO with it?”
Lots of laughter today; majorly happy final chant dance party. Growing a community and place where folks can get that jazzed by each other and a couple of drums completely sober at about 6:30 am is quite an accomplishment. All the flipping upside down and getting tangled up in fantasy hip opening arm balance poses with exotically humorous names (“Roadkill,” “Weathervane,” “Reincarnation”) is just a side benefit. More recognizable, non-Ana-unique poses of the day included Firefly, One Leg Crow, Tortoise… it was just a blast.
I had so much more fun auditing this teacher training than taking my own. This may be in equal measure due to the fact that I got to spend the afternoons resting rather than facing my demons & teaching while being scrutinized (really, which is worse? : ), but also because a year-plus after TT, I’m a hell of a lot more open & happy in my life. I was spending so much energy keeping up my shields & pushing people away, resisting & fighting the wrong things, that I made things 10 times harder on myself.
Finally, maybe, I’m opened up enough now to actually start learning something.
Safely & happily reunited at home with Beloved Husband & kitties. Hugely looking forward to the time at Back Bay (start assisting Wednesday!), the Forrest Yoga mentorship program at Fresh in the fall, and six months from now, Ana will be in Boston for Continuing Education for teachers.
Being present was just the beginning. Now the adventure starts. : )
Tags: Daily Yoga Practice, Forrest Yoga, Teacher Training, The Forrest Yoga Project