Hiking is a great way to get your mind out of your way

You are capable of doing far more than you think you can do. So stop thinking.

You brain will take you out of the game if you let it, so don’t! I spent the past week as an assistant at a yoga teacher training. I was witness to literally dozens of transformations during the program. I saw people get into poses they didn’t think they could do, find deep stillness and happiness and uproot lifelong bad habits.

Most of the magic happened halfway through the program. By that time, the marathon yoga classes, lectures, meditations and disconnection from distration (like phones and computers) had created an environment where people could let go, stop thinking and just be. Like magic, once the mind was put to bed, the real work began and people lit up and really found their personal power.

Our minds are wonderful tools and knowledge is valuable, but finding your own truth and personal power is not a journey of thinking by the mind, it is a journey of your being. So put your mind to bed – go for a run, practice yoga, meditate, play with your kids, go for a hike – do whatever it takes, and let your journey begin.

During one of my many daily practices at the 2008 Level 1 training

I’m headed back to Level 1 Teacher Training for Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga. I attended last year as a student, and this time I will be an assistant, supporting the other students and teachers in the program.

I’m looking forward to spending another 8 days in the Catskills at Menla Mountain Retreat Center, disconnecting from technology for a while, helping others to learn and grow and I’m sure I’ll also pick a few things up myself. I am always amazed at how the act of teaching others can help you to learn so much.

See you in a week or so!

Since I am already teaching I’ve had several folks ask me why I would sit on a training session that I’ve already done and progressed beyond. My response has simply been that even if the training is a repeat, I am bound to learn something new. It is like going out on your favorite hike for the fifth time or walking into your favorite restaurant for the second time in a week. Just because it isn’t new doesn’t mean your experience the same as it always has been.

There is always a new experience to be had and new lessons to be learned.

In this training, we spent time doing personal introductions and getting feedback on them. I realized how my body language and tone and filler words (and, but) were keeping me from connecting with people in a powerful way. I’ve done literally thousands of introductions at work, in social settings and to begin yoga classes, but never really thought about how important those first few words I say about myself can really shape others impressions of me. Boy am I glad decided to do this workshop again!

Tomorrow evening I head off to start my Level 1 Teacher Training in Baptiste Power Yoga. I’ll be away for about 9 days, in the Catskills (upstate New York, near Albany) with no access to a computer. This means no blogging.

I’m looking forward to this training and whatever may come from it.

Talk to everyone when I return!

Namaste,

Ravi