L
et’s face it life is busy. We
all have a million things to
do, classes to get to, kids to
organise and whatever else
lies within our commitments.
Often it is our own needs that are not
met and our personal practice can
easily become buried, as we fall victim
to the land of the overworked. We pile
on the pressure to be our best and can
forget the foundation of the teachings;
balance has gone out the window.
When we get caught up in our outer
world, with no time for inner truth,
our teaching becomes inconsistent,
incongruent and out of alignment
with who we really are. This is when
resistance to teach rears its ugly head
and it can be difficult to get on the
mat altogether. We become resentful
of those that find teaching and their
practice effortless, and we wonder
where did it all go wrong?It’s time to go back to basics.
It’s time to slow down.
We must begin to put ourselves, not our
students, family or friends, first again;
something that us empaths find very
difficult indeed.“Ensure you put your own oxygen mask
on first, before you tend to children”We take this instruction for granted
when travelling around the globe on
a plane, but take the same advice for
everyday life and it is like a language
we can’t comprehend. ‘Put myself
first?’, ‘Look after my own needs before
those of others?’; these deeds seem
preposterous, yet it is vital to do if we
are to guide others to wellbeing. After
all, who are we to teach if we are not
living ourselves by our own rules?
So rather than living from the outside
in and being dictated to by our outer
environment, we must reverse this
tendency of putting everyone else first
and honour our own needs. This is when
even just ten minutes on our mat can
make all the difference to our day.Do you prioritise your own practice? By Jo De Rosa
Taking care of number one
Te acher zone
Think about how your day goes with and
without practice:Without
You oversleep because you’re not
getting good quality sleep, groggy,
chasing your tail to get ready, late,
feeling totally overwhelmed.With
You get great sleep, are alert, ready
for the day, enough time for morning
practice, feeling in control and priorities
are clear.It literally is a no brainer, and of course
we know this on a deep level but still our
conditioned beliefs rise to the surface
now and again. And this time of year as
the days get shorter it’s crucial that we
practice more; when the pressure mounts
rather than shy away from time on the
mat with the burden of ‘I haven’t got
time’, it is exactly these moments that we
need extra practice.
And it is this development of time and
self that ultimately can be one of the
important gifts we can give our students.
For we all remember when our practice
flipped over from attending classes
to having the discipline for our own
practice; it’s a big step, and one that can
falter along the way. But it is imperative
that we dig deep and put ourselves
first, for there are many relying on and
looking to us for answers to their own
conflicting and disconnected lives.
So why not hop onto your mat now
for a quick Adho Mukha Svanasana.
Connect to your breath, drop down into
your heart and open up the door to
freedom. As teachers our own practice is
our self-care and should be something
that we bestow on ourselves daily to
keep the tank topped up. Is your practice
at the top of your priority list? And if not,
why not?Jo De Rosa is the founder and director of
Inner Guidance Retreat Centre in Lavenham,
Suffolk (innerguidance.co.uk)Pregnancy Yoga
Teacher Training
with Sally Parkes BSc
Author of ‘The Students
Manual of Yoga Anatomy’http://www.sallyparkesyoga.com
[email protected]
+44 (0)7983 508018Certified by FEDANT and
Yoga Alliance US & UK6 day course includes:
- Pregnancy Yoga
- Post-Natal Yoga
- Mother and Baby Yoga
Residential and Weekend Courses
in the UK and Dubai from £650Retreats | Teacher Training | CPD Days‘This is the best
course I have
ever done’
Luisa, MidwifeNEW 2018 DATES ON THE WEBSITE
PREGNANCY-Sally-Parkes-Yoga-Om-Yoga-third-page-advert.pdf 1 24/10/2017 23:17