Photo:  [bouddha]

Super Star Divine Goddess Teacher

You don’t need to be a super star divine goddess of perfection to teach yoga. You don’t need to be able to do a handstand effortlessly in the middle of the room for five minutes before you feel like you can teach. You don’t need to have every single skill or experience that is on the advertisement of your dream job before you apply for it. You are always good enough in every moment to go after and get what you want so long as you believe in yourself and your ability. Know that.

Most of my upbringing emphasized the need to be so outwardly fantastic and to hide all my flaws that I never wanted to try at anything because perfection isn’t something I’ve had for even one day. I’m clumsy. I’m quiet. I’m tall, black and nappy. I know these things are beautiful now but I certainly did not always know this.

Can you look at yourself differently? Can you see your weaknesses as strengths and teachers?

My clumsiness is a sign of my journey, never a sign of my lacking grace. It was only through the practice of yoga and bodywork that I realized that my balance issues had much to do with alignment issues deep in my muscle and fascia and the way I had stored energy and emotions in my body than anything to do with me.

My quietness is a sign of my power; never a sign of anything less. It has strengthened my ability to observe, my ability to listen to my intuition and has given me such a better understanding of others and myself.

My ethnicity is a sign of my uniqueness; never a sign of my not fitting in or not being welcome. It was only after going to countless non-diverse yoga classes that I realized that my ethnic differences from most of the students was not a hindrance but a gift. I could bring something new to my classes. I could reach out to a demographic that for so many reasons has not fully embraced yoga yet.

Never listen to outside sources who tell you that you are ready or not ready. Always look within and listen to yourself. Only you know when the time is right.

A year and a half ago when I was in my kundalini teacher training, I had a guest teacher who I had a private healing session with who told me that I was not ready to teach. He did not know me. He had not seen me teach. He had not seen me in my practice. He was seeing me during a bad break up and a bad financial and professional point in my life, and he was judging me and limiting me and I let him. He told me what I had been telling myself all along: I was too quiet and not good enough to teach. He told me the immense work I would need to do to become good enough as a person and a teacher instead of just telling me to believe in myself. That really was all I was missing.

I did not need to become perfect to teach. People don’t relate to perfection. They relate to realness and humanness. They relate to your strengths and your weaknesses lesser strengths. Why call them weaknesses when they’re not weak? They’re areas that we need to look at differently and place more emphasis and energy on. It’s the effort of embracing our strengths and lesser strengths that allow us to become whole and shine. What isn’t beautiful about people who can embrace every aspect of themselves and make things that are not as strong seem just so by the complete acceptance of who they are? That’s unconditional love. That’s absolute surrender.

If there’s something that you’ve been holding back from doing or trying, look within yourself and ask yourself: Am I truly not ready for this or am I holding myself back out of fear or shame? Sometimes, maybe we’re waiting for a supervisor or someone close to us to tell us we’re ready. We could be waiting for that validation forever. Have the courage to tell yourself what you need to hear. Believe in yourself and go after what you want right now. What’s the worst that can happen by you trying? Certainly, you’ll have a better outcome than when you don’t try at all.

Let the things you call weaknesses or mistakes be your teachers. Never let them hold you back. The only way to truly be a super star divine goddess teacher or person, is to be yourself, to teach from your experiences and your voice, to stay in the present and never allow yourself to be limited by the past—remove the layers and obstacles that you find limiting you from being you.

Lissa is a writer and yogini who after many years of living with depression, made a choice to create bliss in as many areas of her life as possible and to help others find their bliss. She is a certified kundalini and vinyasa yoga teacher as well as a psychiatric nurse. She can usually be found curled up with a book or on a yoga mat. She resides at http://lissabliss.com | Twitter @lissabliss