That’s right!!!! I’ll be the first to say it if I need to be…. I practice much less now that I’m a yoga teacher and something tells me that I’m not the only one.
I started my journey as a yoga student and loved it so much that I thought, like many of you I’m sure, “What if I become a yoga teacher? I could do yoga all day long and feel this great all the time! What a great idea!” So I went through the teacher training… and I started my journey as a yoga teacher, but what did this really mean for my practice? Regretfully, it means I don’t practice as much as I used to. I am now teaching others in the exact time slot that I used to practice my yoga and have my “me” time. “Me” time has become “we” time. And, that’s ok as long as I can prioritize “me” time too, but the truth is that I haven’t. Oh, the sacrifices of a yoga teacher…
SOOOOOOO, what does this have to do with you, fellow yoga teacher? Well, I am calling all yoga teachers around the world to come together to get BACK ON OUR MATS!!!
It’s 2012 and it is a new year, a new time of action, a new beginning where we will need to shift our perception a bit… Those petty tasks won’t seem as essential after practicing a little yoga. We all know this, but let’s keep the practice flowing so that we can LIVE IT in every moment!
If you can admit that your practice has suffered due to your teaching schedule, then we need to help one another out. We all understand how awesome it is to be yoga teachers, but if we can come together to help each other out in the not-so-fun moments of our job then we can keep doing what we do and have the tapas to continue on this fantastical journey. Who’s with me?
If so, then be part of this online community to help us all motivate one another to practice at least 30 minutes a day… It’s not asking much… but I figure if we all at least verbally claim our practice back and start supporting one another, we might feel more connected and inclined to physically doing it!
Here we will acknowledge that we’ve done our daily practice in hopes to inspire other yoga teachers to do the same. I wish I had as much self-discipline as I used to, but I will be the first to say, ” I need your help!” Let’s hold one another accountable in a fun and playful way! This isn’t meant to be stressful or instill guilt. Instead it is meant to be supportive and give inspiration!
Here’s how it is going to work… Only 5 SUPER DOOPER EASY steps!!! 🙂
1. Click COMMENTS on the top left of the post – next to the date.
2. Scroll down and sign up with a username and an email address. You may add your website there too. I need to approve all comments for now, so bare with me please. (Sorry, I’m not as fancy as facebook yet.)
3. As your first comment, you will post this vow. You can copy and paste, but it is preferable to type it yourself word for word so that you are conscious of what you are agreeing to. No human centipads here please, haha! (If you don’t know that reference, don’t worry, it’s a really disturbing South Park episode (what’s new?) making fun of how everyone agrees to the iTunes agreement without reading any of the terms. Episode is not for the squeamish.)
“I, insert name here, promise to choose my health and happiness first. I can only truly serve others as a yoga teacher if I serve myself as well. I promise to have fun with this process and look forward to practicing every day. If I haven’t practiced my asana/pranayama/meditation/whatever your choice of yoga is yet in the day, I will choose to practice whatever my form of yoga is instead of watching an extra video on my computer, facebooking, sending out another email , watching another TV episode/movie, going out to a bar/restaurant/cafe, taking a nap, or whatever else I do to procrastinate my own practice. I will have balance in this adventure. I will practice at least 30 minutes every day. I promise this to myself.”
4. Practice every day for at least 30 minutes.
5. After you finish practicing, you come to this website and add your comment under the daily message. Your comment can simply be “Namaste” as that will indicate you have completed your 30-minute minimum for the day and have fulfilled your needs. You can choose to share more about your experience if you like, but it’s not necessary. Another option is to say Namaste and the name of the teacher you went to. If you practiced on your own you could say Namaste Self. You choose what suits you best.
And, THAT’s IT!!! Nothing more, nothing less. Just do your practice and let us know.
Thank you all for wanting to be part of this online yoga teacher community!!! I am excited to see us all fulfilling what at least was my original purpose as a yoga teacher… to do and live in more yoga!!!!! 🙂
Thanks for the support and spread the word to your yoga teacher friends all over the world.
If you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know. I’m open to making this OUR yoga teacher community!
Send me a photo of you and where you’re from and I’ll post you up as a new member.
Namaste’ 😉
Rina
P.S. The website is simple because I’m hoping we can make the site whatever we’d like collectively. If you have any ideas keep me posted. 🙂
P.S.S. I’ve also created a facebook group where you can post your daily “namaste” if you like… https://www.facebook.com/groups/getonourmats/
I, Ma Nithya Sevika, promise to choose my health and happiness first. I can only truly serve others as a yoga teacher if I serve myself as well. I promise to have fun with this process and look forward to practicing every day. If I haven’t practiced my own yoga sequence yet in the day, I will choose to practice whatever my form of yoga is instead of watching an extra video on my computer, facebooking, sending out another email, going out to a restaurant/cafe, taking a nap, or whatever else I do to procrastinate my own practice. I will have balance in this adventure. I will practice at least 30 minutes every day. Yoga is a constant happening, i will not intervene in its natural flow. I promise this to myself.
Congrats! 🙂 Welcome aboard!
Oh, this is great! thx for doing this. Great blog “)
“I, Jesica Munoz, promise to choose my health and happiness first. I can only truly serve others as a yoga teacher if I serve myself as well. I promise to have fun with this process and look forward to practicing every day. If I haven’t practiced my asana/pranayama/meditation/whatever my yoga is yet in the day, I will choose to practice whatever my form of yoga is instead of watching an extra video on my computer, facebooking,sending out another email, watching another TV episode/movie, going out to a bar/restaurant/cafe, taking a nap, or whatever else I do to procrastinate my own practice. I will have balance in this adventure.I will practice at least 30 minutes every day. I promise this to myself.”