Taking the plunge and signing up for yoga teacher training has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Not only have I learned so much about one of my passions, but I have been able to be a part of such an incredible group of people who encourage and support each other every step of the way. If you are even considering becoming a yoga instructor…DO IT. In the words of Baron Baptiste, “you are ready NOW”.
Every weekend that I leave training I feel like I am totally floating on a cloud. I just spent 16-18 hours with awesome people all working towards the same goal. I laughed, I cried, I listened, and I was heard. But then you step back into the real world and not everyone is making eye contact, sharing their feelings, or telling you “you got this!” with every step you take. This particular weekend we did an exercise that really stuck with me as I went back to my day to day routine and we called it the “Glowing Ball of Love and Light.”
For this exercise, our instructor had us stand in a circle and practice being glowing balls of love and light. Sounds super weird, right? Well that’s what yoga teacher training does, it pushes you out of your comfort zone again and again, and makes you do things that you never even thought of. So there I am, standing there trying to be a glowing ball of love and light (whatever that is) with my eyes closed and palms out when my instructor starts explaining what this glowing ball is all about.
She tells us that each of us is radiating love and positive energy to the world. That we have the power to always choose to do this, no matter where we are, no matter who we encounter. And then things got even more interesting. We paired up, one of us was to be the glowing ball, and the other was to guide themselves through a silent yoga sequence doing whatever moves called to them for however long felt right. I went first as the one practicing yoga and my partner began as the glowing ball. The goal here was to make your partner who was practicing FEEL your love and light, without a single word being spoken.
At first, I felt pretty dumb actually. Am I doing this right? What pose should I do next? But then, I just starting “being”. I transitioned into whatever pose felt right in that exact moment, whatever my body felt like doing, I did it.
My instructor started walking around the room giving words of advice/wisdom. She told us that we were whole and complete human beings, that exactly how we are right now is perfect and nothing needs to change.
Think about that. How you are RIGHT NOW is perfect and complete. It really hit me and stuck with me.
She told the people practicing to allow ourselves to love and be loved. I felt myself opening up, and I felt warm and happy all at once. How many of us are blocking ourselves from being loved with our own negative thoughts?
Eventually I stopped my asanas (yoga poses) and faced my partner, who was still radiating love and light onto me. I felt amazing, all of the awkwardness had faded away and I felt peaceful. I could feel that she was truly trying to give me the gift of feeling complete, and I appreciated that.
All week I have been thinking about this. What if we went around and pictured each other as being perfect the way we are? What if we were glowing balls of love and light, ready to give that gift to the next person we meet? What if next time someone cuts me off in traffic, I thought about them as whole and special, and gave them warmth and happiness for the rest of their day? Would this be hard? Absolutely. Would it be worth it? I have a feeling it would be.
The light in me sees the light within you, namaste.