I wrote this blog last month but have been so busy since that I never got to publish it... What have I been doing, you might wonder?
My "real" work took a big slice of my time in January, and because I love my job, I gave it all I got.
I have been teaching nearly every weekend, as a cover teacher for some parts and bringing my Workshop to life. I am so proud of myself for this, and looking forward to bring it to many more studios.
I took a week off for a Yin Yoga Teacher training, which was intense but so good! I always sign up to trainings with a bit of fear and asking myself questions like: What if I don't like the teacher? What if I don't like other students? What if they don't like me...? I have been lucky though, because every time, I had a great experience and everything went really well.
So, with no further ado, here are my belated best wishes for 2023. Have a nice read :)

I just can't believe we're already in 2023, it feels like summer was only yesterday.
Contrarily to the tradition, I have decided not to take any resolutions or intentions for this new year. I always feel like these are putting me under pressure to succeed at something and making me feel so bad when I did not succeed (which was the case for many years).
Instead, this year, I have decided to identify three things I would like to start doing, keep on doing or try and three things I would like to do less and eventually stop.
And here they are, starting by the three I would like to stop:
Stop doubting myself. I don't know if all yoga teachers feel like that but when I see what other teachers are doing, I feel like I am so far behind them and that I might not be that good of a teacher. I do think a lot of us feel this in our daily job, I actually feel it in my main daily job as well as yoga. However, after giving a couple of classes in the new year already, my students gave me great feedback and said they liked my classes, so I seriously have to stop doubting and keep on doing what I do, putting as much love and attention to it as I have been until now.
Stop letting external stuff having so big of an impact on me. I tend to focus on the negative a lot. When something bad happens, I just feel so down, so fast. I spent some time with my family over Christmas, and there was a good deal of drama and comments on what I do and my lifestyle in general, that is so alien to them, and that took a big toll on my mental state. I went there feeling balanced and happy, came back feeling guilty and overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong though, I love my family, we just have lives that are so different that we struggle to understand each other and hurt each other without even noticing it.
Stop rushing into things and putting pressure on myself for something that is not capital. A couple of months before Christmas, I wanted to expand my offering in yoga. However, I was also teaching nearly every weekend or, when I was not teaching, I had stuff planned. I started pushing myself and setting deadlines, when in fact, I should have slowed down and analysed things a bit, what was feasible in a short amount of time and if I would be satisfied with the results. Ultimately, I ended up doing that during my holiday and realised that, for the quality I wanted to achieve, I needed more time and less pressure. So this new project has been pushed back and I hope to tell you more about it in the next couple of months.

Onto the positive side now, what do I want to start or keep doing:
Meditating. It took me a long time to reconcile my pragmatic brain with meditation. I always have something on my mind, my brain never stops, so the idea to sit down and meditate seemed, for me, as waste of time. I have been now meditating nearly every night now, for the past year, and I can say that I completely changed my mind on this! It helped me seeing things a bit more clearly by taking a step back, it calms me and helps put things in a different perspective. During my time off, I meditated much less than on normal weeks and I felt the difference. I felt more overwhelmed, anxious and even annoyed sometimes. I am glad to be back to a regular practice now.
Practicing yoga. OK, that one sounds quite obvious, but what I mean by it is practicing by-myself and for myself. As a yoga teacher, preparing my classes requires time and energy and leaves little to no space for my personal practice, especially because being a teacher is not my main job. What I would like for this year is to take more regular classes, as a student, or allocate some time for myself, without the goal of building a class in the back of my head.
Starting new projects. I do get frustrated with the limited time I have to dedicate to this, but I really want to try and bring new offerings, whether it is workshops, new places to teach, free classes, maybe a retreat. I love building connexions with my students and meeting new people. I already started on that point because I have been teaching a Headstand workshop, and trying to bring it to other places. I also took the Yin teacher training to extend my own practice but also teach this style with more confidence. Stay tuned for more!
And with all that being said, maybe you'll be inspired to draw up a similar list and if you do, remember to be gentle to yourself, changing something in your life might take time, effort and dedication.
Wishing each and everyone of you a happy and healthy new year!

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