Seeking + Our Humanness
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Hi Reader, Happy Monday everyone. Yesterday I led my Sunday morning pranayama and meditation class out of my home studio. (I do have drop-ins available for the next two Sunday’s if you want to join us.) My power was out from the storm, and so with that came that really sweet blanket of quiet from the absence of all the things. We opened the windows to hear the rain, lit the room by candlelight, and spent 45 minutes slowing down. Sometimes for pranayama, I offer up an intention for our meditation. Something that we can ground in, come back to, uncover its layers breath by breath. Sometimes I don’t, and we focus on the physiological experience and its ripple effects in our minds. Yesterday, I chose to offer the following quote from Judith Lasater. Her writing always finds a way of unearthing something for me. In the excerpt I was reading, she was teaching about seeking. ”Whether we seek something called spirituality, holiness, or enlightenment, the route to it is through our humanness, complete with our strengths and our weaknesses, our successes and our failures. You might say that we use ourselves to discover ourselves.” If I’ve learned anything about the path we call yoga, it’s this. That the practice is an invitation, a vehicle to befriend ourselves. It’s a route to discover and re-discover our aliveness. This is something that all the great texts point to. And oh how I needed that reminder yesterday. Teachers are often conceptualized as masters — we’ve spent time and energy mastering a body of knowledge, a specific skill, a craft. But I’m here to boldly admit that I am far from mastering acceptance of my own humanness. My offering this morning to the students in front of me was also an intimate offering to myself as well. And so in whatever ways you can come alongside yourself this week – over even facilitating space for your students – may you rest in the truth that the path to wherever it is you want to go, is through your own humanness. Your body, your breath, and your inner landscape are part of that path. And here in this very moment, they are waiting for you. If you’ve read this far (kudos to you), what would it feel like to pause and spend the next 5 breaths with closed eyes, tuning inward, and using our attention, your body, and your breath to discover yourself in this moment. And when you do, when you feel that subtle shift, offer up a gentle “Ah. There I am.” Have a lovely week, // Kate Yoga for Yoga TeachersI've mapped out some monthly Yoga for Yoga Teachers classes. These are free! Mark your calendars for:
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