I’m happy and it’s happiness that leads to success. Not the other way around. I’m not happy because I’m successful. The field of positive psychology has turned the paradigm on its head. Your mind, not your circumstances determines your success and happiness.
I’m lucky because I get to live my dream. Despite the hours spent creating content, sending invoices and understanding SEO, I can create my own schedule, share what I love, I teach a wonderful group of students and I’m successful.
I live, breathe and dream Yoga. Literally. That’s not an exaggeration. I remember studying German and started to feel fluent when I spoke German in my dreams, now I find Sanskrit slip into my subconscious!
The Yoga teacher dream can easily turn into a nightmare, and this is something that is covered in mentoring sessions, both ones I host and in mentoring sessions I attended. Although they were the nightmare. -More on those in a future blog...!
When you’re passionate, there’s real potential to burn out; You have so much to share, you prepare your class and no one turns up to hear your heart felt offerings. It’s pretty gutting and that’s when you start to focus on class size, pre booking and assessing your worth based on those things.
So how do you manage the lows; the poor attendance of students, how do you teach when you’re feeling down about that… Have you developed the psychological and spiritual tools to release the grip of suffering. To avoid the trappings of ‘when I get 10 regular students I’ll be happy.’ Because the real issue dear Yoga teacher is you. (I didn’t say being mentored would be easy).
We’re too busy struggling to get ahead we don’t even think why we’re doing it.
So my question to teachers feeling stuck and unhappy isn’t ‘what are your numbers’ it’s ‘how are you handling what’s coming your way?’
I have a practice that helps me navigate the physical and emotional challenges of my life, do you? Or has that been lost because of a need for external validation? One of the techniques I share in mentoring sessions is the lifeboat. Where we identify people and systems to help you move through challenging times. We expect the best in life, we work hard and have high hopes, but know there are things in place when we hit choppy waters. Because it's an engaged life, with community and purpose that makes us happy.
Make happiness your goal, because this precedes success.
I invite you to take 10 minutes out of your day to join me for this Mind Full Of Fireflies Meditation. Enjoy!
Are you a Yoga teacher looking for the guidance of a mentor?
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Photo by Jonathan Jones.
Rosie Pose x