I consider myself lucky to be training with some of the greatest and most inspirational yoga teachers in the world. Last week, I returned home from Level Two training with Baron Baptiste, and I am a changed person.
At our Level One training, we really focused on finding our true personal power as teachers, so that we could come back and share what we love so much about our practice with others. This time, at Level Two, we focused more on being with others, getting down in the trenches with our students and experiencing things with them – as a community.
Most of my life, I have projected an air of confidence. The truth is, I have always faced self-confidence issues and insecurity. Many times, no matter how hard I tried, I felt that I did not belong, did not fit in, or that I simply wasn’t good enough. I have lived with the lie that I wasn’t smart enough, pretty enough, or ENOUGH for a very long time.
My training with Baron Baptiste is helping me let go of that lie. I AM good enough. I DO belong. I am ENOUGH. All I have to do is look at the thriving community around me, and that truth trumps my old lie.
But the lie is sneaky. It likes to creep in on those days when I am feeling a little low or fragile. I have to constantly work to stamp out the lie, so that truth can shine through. Training with Baron has given me the tools to keep the lie quieter, and allow the truth to speak.
Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga focuses on physicality by getting the student into their body, empowerment by giving the student the focus and encouragement that they are good enough, and possibility by offering the chance to let everything SHINE. Every day, we come together on our mats to work together towards a goal. Our goals may differ slightly, but really we are all looking to find empowerment in possibility on our mats and in our lives. This is how we cultivate community.
I do not have to find a group to fit in with— I fit in right where I am. I can cultivate community around me. The seed is the desire for connection. We fertilize the seed with our yoga and meditation practice. We water it with our efforts and our dreams, and then we watch it bloom.
Thank you, Baron for reminding me that I ever feel that I do not belong, or that I am not good enough, I only have to remove the shades and open my eyes. Community is all around me. If I show up authentically and with heart, I can cultivate that community and watch it grow.
