Both Stacy (my illustrious assistant director) and I think of that song when we hear the word A-HA so it seemed a fitting title for this entry. Drum roll, please…………it’s the A-HA blAHg where I get to talk about the light bulb moments that students have during teacher training.
If I might selfishly steal the floor before I reveal the group’s A-HAs, I wanted to talk about mine first. I started a new Friday night feature called B.R.A.G. where each participant shared a Brag, Rant, Affirmation, and Gratitude. (Thank you AbundantYogi.com for the idea.) My A-HA came while I listened to each woman list out her multiple Gratitudes. What I found amazing was I’ve had conversations with most of them to know each one struggles with various concerns, issues, and problems. Yet each one easily found many reasons to show gratitude. My A-HA was the realization that there is no better sound than a woman expressing her gratitude for her life, her health, her children, her work, her abilities, her friends, her intuition, or her love. BEE-U-TEE-FULL!!!
The group tackled the world of breathing this weekend, and as our newest participant stated, “l hear ‘inhale and exhale’ in class but now I really get what is behind it.”
No, breathing is not the most exotic topic but it’s a pretty darn important function of our lives. It’s the first thing we do when we’re born and the last thing to do when we die and somewhere in between those two points is a hell of a lot of inhalations and exhalations. Like so many other functions in our lives we take breathing for granted because it’s an automatic & involuntary action of the body. No conscious thought has to go into respiration. The downside is that the body doesn’t have to guarantee the quality of the involuntary breath–only do it enough to keep us alive.
Only by turning respiration into a conscious act can we change the quality of our breath AND change the quality of our lives. Yep, changing the way you breathe can totally change your life. Through better breathing, students find more restful sleep, more focused thinking, calmer moods and less stress. It even chops, slices, dices and makes julienne fries. That’s not exactly truth in advertising but better quality of breathing could help YOU chop, slice and dice better, I’m sure of it.
The other A-HA I wanted to share was a similar one from two different participants. In this crazy, competitive mixed-up world, it’s difficult to appreciate where we are as individuals and not get caught up in the comparison game; however that’s just what these participants are doing: appreciating their diversity and what they bring to the game instead of worrying about what skills they don’t have.
When someone contacts me about training, one of my bullet points is to let prospects know that Purple Lotus Yoga isn’t about creating cookie cutter teachers. Instead the directors meet each participant where she is and guides her to where she wants to be.
