trust & gratitude

It’s a great honour as an instructor to take the seat of a guide and be gifted the opportunity to be a part of someone’s day. I remind myself frequently that when people come to practice with me, they trust me.

Self-trust doesn’t organically happen for me; it’s not without effort. I am challenged to believe that I will offer an experience that is good enough or what people expect. Each time I take a seat at the front of a room, the internal chatter begins. The skill of self-sabotage second-guesses every word and movement I offer. Sometimes the downward spiral is so fast, my mind convinces me that I’ve messed up the opportunity to have led an inspiring practice.

Then, there’s a pause and a breath.

And another deep breath in and out.

I breathe with the class in front of me in these moments of trust and gratitude.

I acknowledge that I too, have arrived for a practice; that I too, need to work on self-compassion; and I too, need to be kind and non-judgmental of myself. I trust that the ideations, images and emotions that I have will evolve into words and phrases that are spoken from my heart. I trust that they will be heard or connect with whomever needs it.

An ethereal sense of gratitude washes over me as I feel the room breathing together, moving together, and trusting together. Gratitude fills me ~ I am as steeped in that moment as the others.

At the end of each practice, you’ll hear me weaving TRUST and GRATITUDE into my final words of the practice:

Thank you for trusting me to guide you through your practice.