I’ve just come back from a week of training.  I had the pleasure of helping guide yoga therapists-in-training on their journeys to becoming full professionals.  It was amazing to watch them as they developed their skills and learned new ways to approach something.  They jumped right in to try on new ways of doing something and when it didn’t work like they thought, they tried a different way.  It was inspiring to witness all of the changes being made  and their courage to change was what impressed me most.

This past week was all about change.  On the surface, sure these 10 brave souls were improving upon their skills as yoga therapists.  They learned new ways to work with their clients that will produce even better results than what they’ve been getting already.  Under the surface of the training though, this week was about deep personal change.  The type of change that is scary to look at because it means you can’t continue to do the things that you’ve been doing.  It means that it’s time to write a new story for yourself.  It means you are ready to do something different in your life.

This type of change is awe-inspiring for me.  I watch the proverbial “lights” go on and know that someone has just woken up to a truth that they’ve been hiding from for a long time.  I see connections being made and know that a realization has been uncovered.  I watch as eyes are opened and know that life cannot continue as it’s been going.

It takes courage to be open to this type of change.  It’s not always easy to acknowledge that your current course of action isn’t serving you anymore and that you need to change course in order to be true to yourself.  It takes courage to be willing to take action in order to change your habits and thoughts.  It takes a lot of courage to take just that first step in a different direction.

In many ways, it’s often easier to stay the course and continue doing what you’ve been doing for days, weeks or even years.  It’s easier to continue a habit, even if it’s not good for you, than it is to make the change needed to create a better habit.   It takes courage to change.

For the past week, I watched these 10 students confront themselves over and over again.  They examined their lives in ways that are just plain uncomfortable at times.  In doing so, they were able to discern changes that they need to make in their lives, but it wasn’t easy to do.  In fact, it was downright uncomfortable for them at times.

As hard as it can be to face yourself and acknowledge that you need to change something in your life, it’s also necessary at times.  We’ve all been in that place where we’re doing something that just isn’t good for us anymore.  Maybe it never was.  Or, maybe it was just what we needed for awhile, but it isn’t anymore.  Either way, we’ve all had those times when we needed to change, but we also needed support and the environment to make the change.

That’s what these students had over the past week.  They were given the chance to examine their lives and they were also given the support to make the necessary changes.

What I learned in the past week is that true change takes courage.  It’s courageous to simply acknowledge that you need to change.  It’s courageous to learn about yourself and decide on a different course of action.  It’s courageous to simply show up and be willing to explore what change might look like for you.   It’s courageous to be open to change rather than being stuck on the path that really isn’t taking you where you want to go.

This type of change is transformational.  It alters you from the inside out.  This is the type of change that I support in all of my individual and group sessions.  I provide the support and the environment for you to examine your own life and acknowledge that something isn’t working anymore.  I provide the support for you to uncover the changes that you need to make so that you can live a life that is true to your own nature.  I provide the support so that you too can have the courage to change.

If you’ve noticed that you have habits that just aren’t serving you anymore & would like support for change in your life, then schedule a session with me.  I’ll guide & support you as you make change happen in your life.  You don’t have to be stuck in habits that don’t serve you anymore.  Find your courage to change!