1. Truth: Knowing what you want is just the first step. You can be so clear about what your destination is, about it being right for you, but that alone doesn’t get you there. It’s simply a good place to start, a beginning.

2. Truth: Even if you know where you intend to land, there are many tiny steps on the path to getting there. I know there’s a lot of encouragement to lean in, play big, take the leap, with the promise that you’ll magically land where you want, but I don’t think it happens just like that for most people. In fact, I’ve found that many who try to sell their story like it was that easy simply skip the middle, leave out the messy bits.

3. Truth: Patience is essential. Especially when you can see exactly where you want to go, it can be frustrating to wait, to do the small work of getting there, and yet it’s the only way to travel, the only way to get from here to there. And just know that even when it seems like you aren’t getting anywhere, more than likely something is shifting.

One wish: May we relax into the time and effort it takes, resting when we need to, taking it as slow as we need to go, working out one thing at a time, one step and then another, patient with the process and gentle with ourselves, trusting in our own knowing.

image from Unsplash, by Chris Ensey

1. Truth: Yesterday was my two year anniversary of becoming a yoga teacher. I sent an email to all the people I trained with and then posted a message my teachers would see, marking the anniversary and sending my gratitude and love. As I told them, just like yoga isn’t just about asana (the physical poses), teacher training is about so much more than learning to teach yoga.

2. Truth: I’m not sure where I’m going with my teaching, or even my practice. I gave up my regular class because we were gone over the summer and I haven’t felt inspired to try and get another on my schedule. I’m subbing some classes in the near future, but other than that I’m not teaching much. In fact, I haven’t been practicing much, at least not in a traditional way — going to a class, or getting out my mat and props and doing a full practice at home. Something is gestating, shifting around yoga for me, and I’m allowing it to happen.

3. Truth: Practice is always evolving. While I may not be doing much yoga, I’m practicing meditation and chanting like my hair is on fire. In a few weeks, I’ll start the certification process for meditation instruction through the Open Heart Project. I feel a shift around my writing too, as I enter into what feels like a season of both truth and healing. And my practice of dog has always felt like that old game, “the floor is hot lava.” And even when I get training to teach something I practice, it only reveals to me how little I know.

One wish: May our practice help us to navigate change, transform our confusion into wisdom, and liberate us from suffering.