Mindfulness
in action
N
o matter how much we teach
or practice yoga, mindfulness
and meditation, chances
are life is going to throw
something into the mix which
challenges our hard-earned equilibrium. We
all get those days or weeks when we just feel
off-kilter, for no obvious reason. At these
times it can feel challenging to motivate
ourselves to step onto our yoga mat or sit
on our meditation cushion.
I’d like to share with you a personal story
of one of those times. And to share with
you why it’s so important to fall back onto
the support of your yoga and meditation
practice to help get through it.
So, a couple of months ago, I experienced
a weird, wobbly week.
It started off great. I’d graduated from my
two-year Dru meditation teacher training. I
felt refreshed after a week off on a retreat.
I was looking forward to getting back to
my yoga teaching. I’d got new classes and
workplace yoga and mindfulness initiatives
coming up.
But then I found myself not sleeping very
well. My mind wouldn’t shut up. A Facebook
post irritated me and I let it get under
my skin.
I felt the ‘not good enough’ button well
and truly pressed.
I got the fear that I won’t ‘make it’ as a
yoga teacher. That people want to feel like
they’ve worked out from a yoga session
(which I’m not interested in teaching). That
all the nice rooms and halls in my area are
already taken. It’s not fair. Why aren’t all my
classes full?
Hello self-pity and self-doubt and self-
judgement. Hello tight throat, tight chest.
Tension. Disconnection from the ground.
Feeling lost in a whirlwind of what ifs and
shouldn’ts.Being human, mindfully
Why am I telling you this? Probably like
many other teachers, it would be very easyStella Tomlinson describes
how her yoga practice has
helped her navigate the
wobbly times in life and
how yoga teachers (yes,
even yoga teachers!) are
only human too
Te acher zone