Tools for Transformation Tuesday: Share Your Heart

One of the most rewarding experiences of my teaching career has been learning that a woman who participated in one of my fertility yoga workshops has become pregnant. I received just such a note last week from someone who had been trying to start a family for several years, and I was over the moon!

As I was letting her know about the upcoming small group prenatal yoga workshop I am offering next month, I started thinking about how the different pieces of my teaching practice have come about. When I began teaching, I focused on runners and athletes. I knew all too well the challenges that come from hours of repetitive motion and the therapeutic benefits yoga could provide, and I was eager to share that knowledge with others.

When my husband and I found ourselves struggling with infertility, I dove into researching how yoga could help us, and I subsequently created an offering to share with others who were experiencing the same challenges. A few years later, at the insistence of a small, but vocal, group of my fertility yoga students who had become pregnant, I began offering a small group prenatal workshop to provide a similarly safe and intimate community with whom they could share the ups and downs of the road to motherhood.

At every twist and turn of life (on and off the mat), there has been something to learn - and someone with whom to share the lesson. The same is true for everyone - whether we are struggling to stay afloat or have reached the shore. We all have a unique perspective derived from our life experiences, and we can discover opportunities to share what we are learning if we keep our eyes open to the needs of those around us.

What challenges have you overcome? What are you going through right now? What are you learning? Look around to see who else might be in a similar position. You might be able to offer the very encouragement they need...