Today, it was hard to be a yoga teacher.
I carefully craft each and every opening meditation and painstakingly create and tease out the themes for each class I teach. But every once in a while I struggle with that because I’m still processing, I don’t yet have the words, I don’t know what to say to my students.
On days like this, it feels like we’re a long way from being okay. That it would take something monumental to feel okay again.
But sitting here and letting the weight the of the world wash over me and letting my rage consume me or send me into a tailspin isn’t an option — I have to keep getting up and showing up in a way that aligns with my values.
In my teaching today I didn’t turn on the positivity full blast in an attempt to spiritually bypass the reality of what’s happening. I didn’t bright-side my way through. I didn’t preach acceptance and surrender to the way things are. I didn’t say anything particularly wise or thought-provoking. And I didn’t push away my personal feelings of rage — instead leaned into them and in doing so realized that, in moments like these, the simple basics of yoga still work.
If I can separate myself from the noise of the outer world, take a moment to just breathe, if I can find the ground beneath me again, move from a place of strength rather than fear, a place of steadiness rather than chaos, it becomes clear that although we have so far to go, in this moment right here I’m okay.
And today that was enough to feel like I can carry on and keep moving forward. I’m still angry but I can also now move through the world from my values and my heart.
Today’s livestream class was recorded and is now up on my member site. If you’re feeling unsteady and need space to breathe after the events here in DC yesterday or for any other reason, grab a day pass to the site and practice with the video recording. Sign up to practice here.
Take care of yourselves and each other.