Picture Credit: Unsplash/Angelo Pantazis
My teacher, Baron Baptiste came down last month to lead the first Baptiste Teachers Certification Course in Singapore.
You know how I always say in class (or could be Baron’s voice in my head) - "Be a Beginner Again.”
Coming to this course was just like that.
I always try to have a mindset of dropping what I know - so I can be an open vessel to receive knowledge and grow. Sometimes it’s easy to tune out the “I already know this” voices, but it’s more than that.
It’s my fear that I may say or do something wrong.
It’s my fear of looking bad.
It’s my fear of being seen.
I was excited to go and at the same time I was nervous. I remember waking in the morning, and not wanting to wake up.
These are the exact words I said to myself - “Voices in my head - STOP TALKING”
And I got out of bed.
In typical Baptiste-style, the first question we were asked was not What makes a good teacher, but the moment we stepped in, we were asked -
What are our Edges?
We all have edges every where. It’s really our fears, concerns and worries that stops us from leaping over the edge. Or it could be something we didn’t know how to do or it’s a situation we can’t control.
And we armour up by procrastinating, making assumptions, telling ourselves stories; we judge, we hide, we blame others……… and we avoid, we run.
We know it’s time to make the change, but we keep making excuse after excuse. We keep putting off doing what we need to do today for tomorrow. But, tomorrow never comes.
Guess what? We MISS OUT! We have regrets. We are resigned to our fate. We get anxious. We get sick.
What will it take to leap off the edge?
On my bed, I was at my Edge. I leapt off because I’m standing up for something bigger than myself. I need to show up big for myself so I can show up big for others.
On my mat, my Edge was to show up broken. My story was I’ve not practised in a long time due to health reasons and I wasn’t as strong as I was before. I jumped off, I didn't hold back and it was sweaty, freaking, liberatingly fun.
When asked to share, I raised my hands even though I was afraid. Afraid that I’ll be picked and that I won’t get picked. Speaking up with and especially without a script is my Edge. I mean why raise my hands at all, if I don’t know the answer. Right? But in higher level Baptiste trainings, you have to trust that speaking from the heart is all the answer that they need. There’s no right or wrong answer; it’s a space for you to be vulnerable and speak the truth.
And I discovered that after the fact, my sharing no matter insignificant I may think it is, will be a contribution to others.
Being a No is also my Edge, because I want to be a Yes for so many things, but my no is more important so when I’m a Yes, I can show up authentically and whole.
Was I afraid? Yes! But I was more afraid of not having the courage to stand up for myself.
My Edge is standing up for myself.
That scares the shitz out of me.
It’s a bit juztaposition but in my last post, I wrote that Courage is about being "vulnerable and sharing and showing up from the heart." I want to walk the walk. I want to practise standing up against my wandering mind, so that I can get flat with what trips me up, and so I can be courageous for my family and my community.
That is what is possible for me on the other side of my fears. My WHY gets me over the edge.
What is possible on the other side of fear?
This Baptiste Yoga weekend was a reminder of why Baptiste Yoga works, why I keep coming back to the practice.
I could give you a long word document of what was “taught”, but if you’ve been to any Baptiste Training, the real content is not in the teaching but in the inquiry sessions. The content is valuable too but what makes us an awesome teacher, is showing up as the awesome human being we are, unafraid to to get messy.
And to do that we have to be willing to sit uncomfortably with ourselves and do the Inner Work.
Whether you are teacher or not, what do you really want, in your teaching, practice and life?
Do you want to inspire others?
Do you want people to like you?
Do you want to be confident?
Do you want to be authentic?
Do you want to get unstuck?
“what you want is on the other side of fear.”
Then stop doing the thing you’re doing because so far, it’s not working.
You don't inspire by knowledge and “faking it”.
You inspire by showing up as your messy imperfect selves. Disrupt the drift. Do something different. Jump off the edge - and you keep jumping off, until it doesn’t get scary anymore.
You don’t create change by expecting others to change. Change starts from you.
As a human being, our deepest desire is to be happy. And the icing on the cake is to make others around us happy too. And there is a certain element of Safety involved - most of the time if not all the time, when we feel safe, we feel happy and free.
The edge is dangerous. Beyond the comfort zone is not safe.
In Baron’s “40 Days to Personal Revolution book” - Law 3, he asked:
WILL WE SURVIVE OUR COMFORT ZONE, OUR EDGE?
I really want to say - I don’t know the answer.
But I do.
We all do.
We will survive.
It’s not going to be easy. It’s risky. It’s mildly dangerous.
And anything is possible, if you make the possibilities on the other side of the fears more important than the fears.
The Truth Will Set you Free!
“Live a little
You’d die little deaths
And it’ll make you feel more alive”
Journal this:
What gets you up in the morning?
What is your passion? What lights you up? What is your Why?
What is it that you KNOW, that needs to be done to move you forward, to make your BIGGEST shift this year or wherever you are in your life? If it scares you, write it down.
What do you need to do to go past your edge? What do you need to give up?
Take 3 action steps that will bring you closer to the edge.
The only thing standing in the way of you having it NOW is your own thoughts, beliefs and actions (or lack there of)
IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
Get it done!
Get out of your head
Get off the bed
Get on your life-mat.
Baptiste Teacher Certification Course | Jan 19-20th, 2019 | Yoga Lab East, Singapore
My Interview with the Baptiste Institute post-program.