The Beginner's Mind

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." -Shunryu Suzuki

You'd think that teaching yoga all day, sometimes all evening, would be enough as a yoga teacher. All that time spent in the studio, under the same roof, constantly guiding students through sun salutations, warriors, lengthening, grounding, all the inhaling, and ALL the exhaling... would make a yoga teacher want to immediately run outside, head home, and NOT THINK about another downward facing dog! You'd think that.... But most often the thing I truly want and actually need: yoga class.

I will forever be a student. Never will I regret rolling my mat out on the studio floor. To share space and breathe with those I teach. There is something so magical about coming together, all these bodies lined up mat to mat, breathing, moving, sweating, maybe even crying together! You all know the feeling when Alee has the music on full blast, our legs are shaking, you want to drop into a puddle of mush, but the energy of the room is electric! We use each other's energy to flow and build our practice. And that doesn't mean we're looking around the room at each other, it's something we FEEL. We know without speaking. We may not know the person's name next to us, we don't know their birthday, their favorite food, what their Facebook profile pic is- but we know their effort. We know their heart. We know their strength. What a beautiful thing to recognize, that I may not know your name, but I know your character. I know what kind of person you are through your yoga practice. I know that we are students in this space together. I know that we are each doing our best on this mat and when we head back outside into the world. I know that we are doing the work to better our lives and the lives around us.

I pray that we all are forever students. May I ALWAYS have a beginner's mind. May I never stop flowing and sharing energy with the beautiful humans around me. May we stay curious, keep listening, and keep flowing!

See you on the mat yogis. Namaste.

Toni