Tuesday, April 18: Give what you want to Receive

GIVE WHAT YOU WANT TO GET
Marlie did it! She pulled off a wonderful yoga class this morning, directly after moping about and telling me she wasn’t inspired, and didn’t want to teach and wasn’t in the mood. You know that feeling of not wanting to jump ahead and do something that you are slotted to do.

She’s a great yoga teacher and she’d let her mind tell her that this wasn’t what she wanted to do this morning. Trouble was: whether she wanted to or not, the class was coming up.

She teaches a style called Anusara Yoga, which is a connecting to heart as well as aligning the body. Different than many types of yoga, the teachers are supposed to have an ongoing theme to tie each class together, a heart theme, not a “this is a hip opener class” theme.

So I suggested to her to come up with a theme that she’d want to hear to cheer her up and get her in the mood to give a great class.

She did, picking Courage as her theme, courage as something always in us, always available, if we are willing to just reach inside and tap it. She tapped her courage to give the class and reminded us to tap ours when trying something a little difficult. Of course, I wouldn’t have minded a little Feldenkrais emphasis on exploration as well as courage, but she was the teacher and the class was great and she’d turned her moping into brilliance.

This is the principle: what we want to get, give. If we want attention, give attention. If we want to be listened to, listen. If we want to be supported, support others.

It’s a good one, eh?