Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be an Academy Award winning Actress. One of those powerful actresses that spoke to my heart when I was growing up…Natalie Wood, Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, and later in life…Meryl Streep and Julia Robertson. I loved the deep sense of emotional release I felt at the end of a great movie.
I later realized through my acting studies, that what I really craved was the essence – the experience of intense involvement, the experience of being fully present in each and every moment – raw and honest – compassionate and vulnerable – naked and yet completely comforted and assured. That emotional release was actually a form of cleansing, realization and awakening to my samskaras and vasanas. This set the stage for my yoga career.
We cannot be our highest self when we are cloaked in false perception, masks and habit patterns that are ingrained in us and rooted in ego, attachment, aversion or fear. We become our highest self and discover our true calling – our purpose – our dharma when we experience intense involvement of presence: raw, honest, compassionate and vulnerable. That’s what yoga does for us. Yoga not only trains our minds for this intense involvement, its very nature puts us in a place of receiving it. The authenticity of this intense involvement – the purity of this state of being is filled with such grace that I cannot imagine living any other way. And, for some reason, God has bestowed on me the gifts of teaching yoga, giving me insight as to how to use the tools of yoga for living in our highest state of being.
Cultivating presence is something that must be done full out! No holding back – no attachment – all in! One-Yoga’s Yoga Teacher Training is about discovering your dharma and living your highest life – right now. Each soul has a specific purpose and so do you; you may just need a bit of help in clearing, cleansing and finding your way.
I think that’s why One-Yoga’s 200 Hour YTT training is so powerful and beloved. Ask anyone of our students; the training is way more than learning to teach yoga. It’s about finding your purpose – your dharma. We take the wisdom of ancient text and apply it in practical, understandable, positive ways to our modern day daily life. This is done on and off the mat, inside ourselves and outside in service to the world.
When we understand something in the context in which it was written, it jumps off the page and comes to life. Come and join One-Yoga’s YTT and experience your life jumping off the page – discover your joyful, enriched life’s purpose – discover your dharma.
Susan Smith, April 14, 2016
