Community and connection
Community and how we connect have been front of mind topics ever since we first began to feel the impact of the pandemic. Freedom to go and see who we wanted when we wished became something that moved outside of our control and we began to draw inwards, shrinking our circles and connections and for a small period, existing in very small spaces with the same people (or cats in my case) and reaching others only through remote online means.
Of all the expectations I had going into yoga teacher training, one that I hadn’t spent much time considering was the community I would be entering into. Both my 200 hour and 150 hour advanced training were conducted online as a result of the pandemic and all of my learning and practice took place in my small spare room with my bright yellow chair, where I often sat for my meditation. In a world that had felt as though it was shrinking I was suddenly expanding my horizons, my community and through this, my friendship group.
Because how could you spend 350 hours training with like minded people on the same journey as you and not form a community? My yoga training truly showed me that connection knows no bounds. We were all learning, growing and transforming together; sharing our thoughts on the various philosophies we were reading about, doing our first ever practice at taking other people through a sequence in breakout groups together. This group was who I had to teach for my four assessments to qualify as a teacher. They saw me nervously cue my first ever surya namaskar, sun salutation, and were on the other end of the zoom call for my final assessment guiding my fellow yogis through an elemental flow. The most important factor to me was that in order to truly learn and grow, we had to open ourselves up and let our vulnerabilities sit in the group. I remember clearly in one of our anatomy days with our incredible teacher Kathy Richardson we went into groups to practice cueing moves with anatomical cues. It was a real struggle for me to switch into this mode of cueing and I had to say outloud to my group that I just wasn't getting it. I could have dismissed the activity as irrelevant or come up with any number of excuses why I was struggling but it was important for me to be honest and own up that this wasn't something I was picking up easily.
Connecting in this way, being open and vulnerable, allowing ourselves to reach out and touch and be touched by others (even if not in the physical sense!) was an expression of our heart chakras, known in sanskrit as anahata chakra. This is the place where we find acceptance, self-love, compassion and can be emotionally empowered. When this chakra is balanced we easily reach out to others, can hold space for unconditional love and can easily connect with others. It’s a true pathway to playing an authentic role in your community.
When I first passed my assessment I was a yoga teacher by name but still finding my way in the yoga world. The studio I had trained with became a huge part of the next stages of my journey, bringing me into their teaching community. They opened opportunities for teaching classes, both online and in studio. Once I had 350 hours of training hours I was able to join their emergency cover list, then their cover list, and finally audition to become a teacher in studio with a regular class.
All of these were important milestones but my biggest memory for me at this time was the image that accompanies this blog and really made me value the community I now felt I belonged to - a small green heart left on my mat one day during savasana. My teacher in class had been following my journey to becoming a teacher of my own, asking, encouraging and giving me tidbits of advice. I had been practicing with her for around four years; moving from shy attendee at the back of class to someone able to chat and open up a little, allowing yoga to be something more in my life. She left the heart shaped stone on my mat and when I messaged her afterwards to say thank you she asked whether it resonated. It had instantly struck me as a symbol to reflect my journey and the community I was playing a role in. A symbol of the heart chakra, its green colour matching the green of this energy centre, I saw it as a talisman for my teaching journey - something to remind me to keep my heart open as a teacher, to hold space for the community of students that would be guided in my classes, to remain open in my own learning journey. To be a student first and to hold responsibility for the gift of being able to share yoga. So if you join one of my classes and spot me wearing my green heart, you will know at that moment I am working hard on bringing my anahata chakra energy into balance to offer you an open class filled with loving kindness.
This month I’m reading… Yoga Nidra Scripts, by Tamara Verma - yoga nidra is one of the things I have learned through my teacher training that has the most impact on me personally. When I’ve been guided through this in training it has really helped me to connect inwards and enter a deeper state of relaxation. Really enjoying reading these scripts and thinking about how I can learn more about this area to incorporate it into future classes.
This month I'm listening to… Dr Chatterjee’s feel better live more podcast. In particular the recent episode featuring Dr WIlliam Li was incredibly informative about the power of food to heal.
