Yogic Community
Yogic Community
When I first qualified as a Yoga teacher I landed back in Ashburton having been immersed in a neighbourhood of Yogis, and felt totally alone. I spent a month living and breathing my dream of becoming a teacher, sharing everything Yogic with fellow students who understood the alternative ways Yoga works.
I searched for Yoga teachers working in Ashburton endlessly, and found a few, but not really anyone I could really connect with, who shared my Yogic beliefs, my alignment thoughts, my search for authentic Eastern Yoga.
So when I embarked on the journey to open a Yoga studio in Ashburton it was quite a lonely, solitary journey. What I wasn’t expecting to be quite so ready for me when I had opened was this community ready to commit to coming to practise; again and again. It has been a very humbling experience.
According to the Self Determination Theory as human beings we have 3 basic needs to be filled in order for us to feel fulfilled; autonomy, competence and relatedness. In essence; feeling in control, feeling good at what you do and being able to connect with others that share your interests.
Teaching Yoga ticks all three boxes for me, but that connectedness to others has been the largest box to fill. The proof has been in the teachers coming forward when I needed more support, new teachers when I needed them and being able to leave the studio for 2 whole weeks wasn’t something I had envisioned a few short months ago. A lot of gratitude to these ladies.
I took quite a full class not so long ago filled with familiar faces, but only people that I have met by opening the studio, and as our first Aum chant vibrated around the room I got chills. By the third I was choking back tears. For those who don’t know what the sole purpose of chanting Aum is- it is essentially just a vibration. It’s an opening of yourself and the 3 sounds connect with 3 different parts of your body, and your sounds connect with other sounds and pretty soon the whole room is buzzing- literally!
They say your vibe attracts your tribe, and I feel so incredibly lucky to have embarked on this adventure, meeting you all along the way. I hope that at some stage you can connect with others. Maybe glancing around the room before we melt into Shvanasana to see another face reciprocating your mutual eagerness for relaxation, or a giggle in the changing rooms or coffee after class. Finding a community of Yogis to share your journey with.
Hari Aum