Behind the Serenity.

We are a privileged society.

Whether you make a comfortable living teaching yoga or maybe your class size determines your ability to pay your rent—we’re very fortunate. Somewhere along the path we made the decision to take a yoga teacher training—a decision that was allowed in our society.

We are granted the opportunity to come together from various backgrounds with food in our bellies and clean water to drink. We took the time to listen, discuss and question. Eventually, we’re presented with the conflict of teaching yoga to other people. Our fears take hold of us: What if I’m not good enough? What if I say the wrong thing?

We all have our stories and I believe the majority of us have the same result: we didn’t let the fear of embarrassment or failure takeover.

Life presents you with these challenges over and over again at an ever increasing difficulty. Once you’ve mastered teaching a class, you’re asked to teach a workshop and find yourself in front of a very large crowd of students and then you start all over again. Like your asana practice, letting go of our fear and having faith in yourself is a constant practice.

It’s easy to get caught up in the self-pity and insecurity rhetoric that is so often a part of our thought processes. Old, comfortable feelings of inevitable embarrassment and failure come over us like a warm blanket. This place isn’t particularly nice, but it’s familiar, therefore it’s comfortable to be in this space.

As my fears begin to takeover, I begin to remember what it’s like in other places outside of the studio doors and how absolutely fortunate I am to be able to do what I love. How dare I give into my fears? How dare I not do everything I can to be the best at what I do and give every inch of my being to making this world a better place to live?

Even if that means I only reach one person. That one person can turn around and reach hundreds and those hundreds can reach thousands. Being a part of this privileged society is nothing to be ashamed of, but something to recognize and not take for granted.

Sometimes I come home filled with the drama of the day. My husband calls it: Yoga Reality Series: Behind the Serenity (he’s from a family that has endured six deployments to third-world countries, with wit and a high level of sarcasm typically accompanying his words).

We’ll always have some sort of drama, we’re privileged human beings who have been given this amazing opportunity for self-discovery through yoga. Our basic needs of food, safety and shelter are under control to some degree and perspectives can easily shift. I live in a world where I’m safe, healthy, happy and free, and all of a sudden the yoga reality series drama doesn’t seem so grandiose. My fears that were creating the drama don’t have the same hold over me they once did. While I would never wish for anyone to experience the atrocities that exist in our world, we must acknowledge the dark to see the light.

 Editor: James Carpenter

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