Life often presents us with little moments to learn something about ourselves. If you are mindful of each moment and open to seeing things in a different way then each moment has the potential to teach you something.
I had one of those moments this week. Each Friday at 7:30am I lead yoga at Mobify. I am honoured by the opportunity to be of service to the team and teaching deepens my own practice.
This past week I had what I thought would be a yogi’s worst case scenario … an empty class. Turns out it wasn’t that big a deal. As the time ticked toward the start of class I decided that I would simply proceed alone. I would lead myself through the class and focus on how I could further enhance it in the future.
I was surprised to experience no anxiety, as this type of situation would have created significant anxiety in the past. I just recognized that people were busy, in need of some extra sleep or dealing a myriad of other things.
Then a really ironic thing happened. As I settled on the mat to (silently) read the poem I had selected to open the class, people showed up!
I felt excited and energized but not necessarily relieved. I think there was a time where I would have taken things personally and had a different story about the experience. Through people being late I gained tangible evidence of my own progress. I was inspired to teach!
As the latecomers arrived, they were apologetic.
I said “thanks for being late! I just learned something about myself!”
(originally posted at ChiefYogaOfficer.com)