As I unfold my yoga mat, it doubles as a map charting two decades of teaching, learning, and growing - laughing and crying on the mat too! Each corner holds a story, every fiber is a lesson learned. Below I share the distilled essence of my journey. From the profound to the practical, these lessons are not just mine - they are ours, for I have grown with you.
Whether you've been part of this voyage from the start of have just joined, these insights aim to enlighten, inspire, and resonate deeply with yoga teachers, students, and studio owners.
I invite you to unroll your mat beside me, and let's dive into the wisdom that twenty years of dedication to the art of yoga has bestowed.
20 Lessons from 20 Years of Teaching Yoga
1. Get really good at teaching and/or practicing one sequence.
Commit, take your time, and cultivate patience. Benefits of diversification come only after you've mastered yourself which occurs through dedication and repetition. Dig deeply into the same postures over and over again to understand your own body, thought process, resistance, discoveries, and progress. Far from strangling your growth, you will have cultivated discipline and self-study and that will reward you in everything you do next.
2. Always go back to basics.
No matter how advanced we become as teachers or practitioners, the basics are foundational, boundless in their gifts, and are where the keys to all future doors are hidden.
3. No such thing as a little bit in yoga.
Every bit ranks the same. You don't know what small amount will have the most profound effect over time.
4. Celebrate your practice.
I can't even define what this means, but it resonates a "YES!" in me that compels me to add it to this list of 20 lessons from 20 years of teaching yoga.
5. Yoga encouraged me to acknowledge myself - and everyone else - as a multifaceted, energetic being.
And then I discovered that all things feed or starve this energy. This perspective transformed my relationship with all of my daily habits, choices, and the law of cause and effect. It perhaps has had the most profound effect on how and why I practice yoga "off the mat," and helps me define "daily practice" and "yoga lifestyle" in a meaningful, applicable way. I'm eager to share more about this in the yoga teacher training and yoga wisdom retreats.
6. "After age 40, everything you eat is either medicine or poison," is a lesson from my Taoist Master Teacher.
Expand your definition of eating to include everything in your energetic field, and allow your diet to change as you age. What nourishes you at one phase of your life may be starvation, excess, or poison during another. Permit yourself to adjust accordingly.
6. Yoga really is a process and not a destination.
The posture is not the point of the practice; postures are tools to access unique aspects of self and then ultimately release the limiting idea of self altogether and connect with the limitless cosmic consciousness. However, postures do have a form for a reason. Follow the form as best as your body allows and trust the process.
7. Yoga practice is personal.
What makes a good class varies for each of us. Teaching from a foundation of solid core values will attract students with similar needs who identity with your message and methods. Then allow them the space to have their own experience within the sanctuary you've created.
8. Don't drag an unwilling friend to yoga.
No one will be the better for it. Everyone must come to yoga pracitce in their own time. Lead by example with your own pracitce and keep the invitation open.
9. Impossible things happen in the yoga room every day.
The human body is miraculous. I still can't believe the degree of physical metamorphosis I continue to experience with each passing year of my practice. But you must show up and be willing to do the work to reap the rewards.
10. While many impossible things happen daily in yoga, not everything is within your reach.
Practice anyway to learn to stay open to possibilities. Practice non-attachment. Many outcomes are unknown.
11. Yoga teachers are not miracle workers and not all of our yoga student are nice.
I've received more hate email than I care to recall when I've made necessary changes in the studio (schedule, teachers, pricing, capacity, locations, and more) all to maintain the health of the business to continue serving the yoga community I love.
A yoga studio owner looks out for the whole community, not just you. The yoga teacher is responsible for the entire class, not just your personal preferences.
Think twice before you complain. You don't know the whole picture.
12. And to all yoga teachers and studio owners: when the complaints do come, learn to take every complaint with the same grace with which you receive every compliment.
Some complaints are justified, some compliments are not. Receive them all equally.
13. Every yoga teacher is not the right teacher for every yoga student, and vice versa.
Very rarely are complaints or compliments personal. Teach to your core values so you know you did your best whatever the feedback. Always strive to grow, adapt, and improve your skills. I learn from my students just as much as they learn from me.
14. Teaching yoga is an honor and privilege.
Respect and value your students and everything they do to make it to class.
15. Your yoga teacher is doing the best they can.
We don't have every answer and can't fix your problems. A good one will hold space for your own self-discovery process and light the path for you to find your own inner wisdom and intuitive guide. Your choices are your responsibility.
16. Lasting transformation takes time and patience.
Progress and momentum often grow silently, thanklessly, and unseen. Keep going.
17. Your yoga needs will grow, expand, contract, evolve, and change repeatedly over time.
You may need to leave your yoga community to answer the call of truth in your own process.
18. Beware of energy vampires.
Some people take relentlessly and will drain every last bit of your life force if you are not vigilant. Set boundaries and enforce them.
19. Yoga asana alone does not solve every health problem.
You may still need surgery, medications, physical therapy, physcotherapy, and lots of other wellness, wellbeing, and any myriad combination of all of the eastern and western medical modalities available to you. Partaking in any of these resources outside of your yoga practice does not make you any less of a yogi, devalue your practice, it's worth, or make you a failure of any kind.
20. While in yoga practice, if you can, you must. Do you want the pain of growth or the pain of decay? The choice is yours to make freely every moment on your mat. Choose wisely.
My heartfelt thanks and appreciation go out to you. Until we meet again on the mat, carry these insights forward and may they infuse your pracitce with renewed purpose and joy. While the insights are many, the true essence of yoga lies in the continuous cycle of learning and sharing. Let's look now to the horizon, where new experiences await us!
The first details of our 2024 retreat season are live with pre-registration beginning. Retreats are an immersive experience where we explore, grow, and embrace the fullness of our yoga practice together:
2024 Yoga and Wellness Retreats
VIP registration is open!
A Yoga Odyssey Through the 6 Senses
Inspired by one of my favorite yoga quotes:
"Before yoga, you live in the world, after yoga, the world lives through you"
Plan to be one of only 12 participants with me on this amazing journey to
the Oracle of Apollo in Delphi, Greece in September.
Like all Yoga Sanctuary Wisdom Retreats,
you'll earn a certificate of completion for 20 hours of
Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Credits.
Retreat details HERE.
A Wellness Journey of Yoga, Reflection, and Connection
Retreat for Women
with Patricia Cummings, Therapist, MS NCC, LPC, RYT200
We expect registration to open for this next week
and she is only taking 10 extraordinary women on this journey.
Retreat details HERE.
We are just getting started!
Namaste,
Lara
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