When I first started to get to know my yoga teacher I
learned that she had recently adopted a practice that prevented her from
offering advice. She explained
that she loved giving advice but was backing off and instead focusing on honoring
the feelings those in need were having in order to support them in meeting
those needs.
This made me feel like I had just missed out on learning the
secret to life… or to my life anyway.
At that time I felt directionless and unsure and I longed for someone to
tell me what to do. I was pretty
sure that, given an hour and a half and a fair amount of chocolate, my yoga
teacher could examine my life and point me in the direction of certain
prosperity and happiness and had I only come to her a year earlier it would
have made her happy to do so. So for
the four years I have known her instead of advice I’ve received the gift of
being in the presence of my teacher as she handed off one habit that made her
feel good in the moment for one that, by virtue of the practice, sometimes
creates very uncomfortable moments but ultimately (I believe) leaves her truly
contented because she is constantly uncovering and honoring the truth.
In the time since I met my yoga teacher I have noticed in
myself the desire to be given advice has fallen away. I have learned to recognize the signs that point to the fact
I am on my right path and understand that when things are going right it isn’t
a fluke, but a result of the way I have been tending to all levels of my
existence. I had nearly forgotten
my desire for an advisor when a few months ago my yoga teacher offered me
advice.
At the time I was sort of crushed. I was setting out on a difficult journey but had begun to
set up systems that could put me on cruse control. My teacher suggested that taking the scenic rout would not
only be more beautiful but also offer benefits that I would be glad for later. The last thing I wanted to do was follow
the path she was sending me down, but I trusted that she had my best interests
in heart & she had already been down the road I was traveling at the time
so I made following her advice a priority.
As hard as it was to do as I was told, when I would feel
like giving up I would remind myself of who had told me to do it and was able
to stick with it (and its likely that had I taken the shortcuts I originally
thought of I would have abandoned the trip all together).
As hard as the act of following the advice had been, I found
accepting the fact that it had been offered even more difficult. I though about my long forgotten wish
and it soon occurred to me that as I released the desire for someone to tell me
how to live my life I had developed the need to be told I was living my life
was right… I’m currently working on just living my life, and it’s the most
difficult thing since slicing bread.
It turns out that receiving advice from my teacher was
exactly what I needed. In the end
I needed to hear what my teacher told me and my teacher is the only person to
make me listen to what she had to say.
And though in the grander scheme I’m at a loss for how to live my
authenticity and be fulfilled, I still have my teacher and shed bound to come
up with something good to help me find my way.
