I sort of chuckle and shake my head as I write that title. The fact that I teach (guide) yoga classes still seems so completely surreal to me. And I love it. Honestly. I know I know, even work we love at some point becomes tiresome, but in all truthfulness, I have never felt more alive, more in love with everything around me. Each and every morning I wake up with a joy to guide, to join a bunch of other incredibly amazing, inspiring human beings to explore, to discover, together. There are moments when the very breath of each and every person becomes this audible pulse, as if we shared one body, one soul. I would lie if I didn’t say that just being there in presence of all that breathing , of all that living, didn’t leave me sort of awestruck.

This month marks one full year of guiding for me, and I have done all the things wrong. I have said my incredibly fair share of stupid things, I have ripped my pants, I have slipped on sweat, I have confused right and left more than I can count, I have messed up. But for all of those bumps; we have laughed, cried, held each other, high-fived, but most importantly we have traveled together, to this other place, a place that doesn’t need words to describe, a place that can only be felt. We have slayed demons, we’ve opened our hearts, we’ve floated, we’ve dug deep into the corners of our selves, we’ve let the earth swallow us whole, we have learned to let go, and to hold on; we’ve shared stories. And every practice unlike the other, a new skin sheds, a new becoming. This is Yoga. A transformative yolking of the spirit, the soul, the energy. It is union and harmonizing of ourselves in the most splendid of ways, never easy, but completely amazing.

This blog isn’t a tell all to yoga and how to teach and what to do, haha… Because I really have no clue. What I can say is it is an art. An outpouring of life and love. It is an expression of the deepest compassion from the heart and soul, it is the lighthouse, the beacon on a very long, slow, winding trail. To teach is to guide in the purest way, to say openly and honestly I do not know everything, but I will help light your way. I will remind you it’s ok to fall, it’s ok to mess up, its ok to fail. I will applaud your success, I will root for you in all ways. I will remind you to listen to your body, to explore with your breath, to trust in yourself, to take it one breath at a time.

And isn’t this the art of teaching? To let our deepest passion, unlock our greatest compassion. It is the desire to help, to spread that feeling of self empowerment, self-enrichment. To maybe be fortunate enough to be someone’s hiking guide even if just for a moment.

I teach because I love you. Every single one of you. And in loving you all, I have learned to love life so much more. To bask in the sweetness of time. You have taught me to Live in Love; in love with myself, life, all of it. As I finish up this last day in January, there is a huge swelling in my chest and the biggest of smiles on my face. I have never felt so whole. I don’t quite think there will be enough gratitude to show, but I promise to try.

To the teachers in our lives, those that were people and those that were lessons.

XO

N