In a terrific yoga class last night in Boulder, Colorado, the teacher
\ntalked about taking leaps–moving into the next level of our
\n“greatness,” expanding how we share our gifts with the world. It was
\nfunny, I immediately wished I could tape record this talk for a friend
\nwho’s grappling with exactly this–how to find and follow her dharma
\n(life’s work). And then, duh, I realized I should be asking myself this
\nquestion: What’s the next step in my evolution? What’s in the way of my
\nnext step?<\/p>\n
And then, as life usually works, I got an answer. We had to partner up for a couple of poses, helping each other
\ngently go deeper, so I turned to the yogi to the right of me who happened to be an adorable guy with radiant blue eyes. As we scrabbled into place I got all flustered. In the process of figuring
\nout who should go first and whether first meant give or receive and
\nthen actually doing the adjusting of each others backs, I apologized at least six times. For
\nnot being in the right place, for maybe pressing too hard on him, for
\ngetting into the pose backward. I was a blushing, stuttering,
\napologizing mess. The kind that only gets worse the more you realize
\nhow bad it is. Oy.<\/p>\n
Then we thanked each other, went back to our own mats and after a few minutes, I felt so
\nstrong, confident, capable in the poses. And it hit me that one of the
\nmajor things in the way of expanding into my greatness and sharing my
\ngifts is constantly apologizing–for who I am, how I take up space, what
\nI need–especially with bright-eyed male yogis, but also scores of people I interact with throughout my life. <\/p>\n
So I made a new promise: No more apologizing. For one week. No
\napologies unless I actually physically harm someone. I have this
\nfeeling it’s going to be really difficult–I use apologies to be
\ncharming, to seem nice, to show I care. Over-apologizing is a sure sign
\nof shame. What I’m really saying when I say “sorry” six times in five
\nminutes is “I’m sorry I exist.” So, what greatness emerges when we cease apologizing for being here? I’m excited to find out. <\/p>\n
How are you expanding into your greatness? What’s in your way? <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a terrific yoga class last night in Boulder, Colorado, the teacher talked about taking leaps–moving into the next level of our “greatness,” expanding how we share our gifts with the world. It was funny, I immediately wished I could tape record this talk for a friend who’s grappling with exactly this–how to find and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-valerie-reiss","category-holistic-living"],"yoast_head":"\n