‘We teach what we most need to learn.’ – Richard Bach
This aphorism has proven quite true in my own life. Knowing this has helped me make peace with the part of me that is still, and I imagine always will be, learning what I teach.
Learning to love unconditionally, with clarity and wisdom, not sentimentality, has been my spiritual path, and the driving motivation in my life.
This is why I teach Partner Yoga.
Partner Yoga is not about the postures. Yes, we play with form and energy practices that open us and support our well-being but what we are doing is much simpler, and much more profound than that.
We are, in the theme of one training, ‘learning to play nice.’ Learning to play nice sounds like something we learn in kindergarten but very few of us actually learn that it is safe, and much more fun to play nice.
Instead we learn lessons like: ‘If I act the way I believe you want me to act, then you will love me’ or ‘it’s not safe to be vulnerable because others will take advantage of me or the biggest fallacy ‘it is safer to stay separate than to open to Love.’
Our capacity to play nice with others is intimately connected to our ability to be with ourselves. We are not generally taught how to be with ourselves, in particular how to trust our discomfort.
Instead, we are taught that self-sacrifice or control, is the way to have safe, secure and harmonious relationships.
Being with our discomfort is obviously not an easy lesson to learn, which is why we are drawn to Yoga. It is a practice of consciously being with our discomfort and learning what it means to support ourselves.
What I teach, and practice, is that ‘it is only through taking care of ourselves first (our own alignment) that we can truly and unconditionally love and support others.
Life and relationships are not an either / or situation. Being of service to others brings meaning and purpose to our lives. And we all need the presence and support of others in order to learn to love and accept ourselves.
And so we seek, and hopefully find, safe and sacred spaces to learn the lessons of love.
Experiencing a Level I Partner Yoga training is a gift for everyone, whether you’re a teacher or even a Yoga practitioner. It is an experience that changes us and helps us realize it is safe to love.
We all need support and practice in the art of relationship -and we all, myself included, have resistance to showing up for the very thing we want most.
It takes courage – a potent quality of a heart – to show up, to reveal ourselves and to learn one of life’s greatest lessons – what it means to truly love.
I remember in particular, one women who came to a training literally quaking with fear, tears streaming down her face. She choose love over her fear and stayed, and by the end of the training she was experiencing great bliss and joy and continues, ten years later, to incorporate these practices into her own healing modality.
We are about to begin a three month Immersion, an extended container, that includes three, in-person or virtual weekends of practice, all of which will be recorded for later viewing. There is also plenty of digital materials for home study and self-inquiry. It is a container that will support you to grow in the most important ways.
To learn more or to register visit our site. Or feel free to email me with any questions or concerns. I am very happy to support you in any way I can.