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9/1/2011Dear Friends on the Path of Light: I hope this email finds you all well and healthy enjoying summers' beauty, abundance and grace. Lately I've become a fan of the law of continuous improvement. It states that each of us can dedicate ourselves to getting better at everything we do, every day, all the time. In fact, I truly believe that the key to long term success is to dedicate yourself to continuous improvement. Continuous improvement means that you are committed to refining your skills, improving your communications, increasing your knowledge, cultivating the great qualities of the heart, challenging yourself with healthy physical goals, basically deepening in every dimension of your life. I am always surprised when, in assessing certification candidates, they tell me that receiving feedback on their teaching has worn them down and they just want the process to be over. I try to convince them that this is the one golden opportunity they have for someone to literally hand them the missing piece that will allow them to blossom in their teaching and their ability to guide others. They insist that they just want the process to be over. But I"m a big fan of continuous improvement and am always impressed when other certification candidates invite me to "tell them everything because they want to be the best they can be". I know that they will be great teachers because they are dedicated to continuously improving themselves in the deepest ways. When I speak with these candidates, the conversation is often very lively and we take time together on the phone and brainstorm about ways to make teaching more effective. I usually walk away from these conversations inspired and excited myself, having learned at least as much as the person I was supposed to be training! I know it's not that easy for any of us to be open to feedback that pushes us to grow. But, what is our choice really? Life is going to hand us feedback anyway so why not be open to it and use it to become the best? Recently I watched classes I had videotaped for the on line production company Yoga Vibes. I was amazed at how much I learned about myself both positive and negative, from watching myself teach. I got so many ideas for ways I could improve in my teaching and improve at what I do. I remember many years ago John Friend telling us at a teachers' event that "It is your dharma as a student of yoga to get brighter every day!" I believe we should take this message to heart. And that is what the law of continuous improvement also tells us to do. Dedicating yourself to continuous improvement does not negate self acceptance. In fact, I believe that the more healthy our self-esteem the more able we will be to embrace this message of continuous improvement and dedicate ourselves to this vision. When you are able to see your unique talents and gifts, when you are able to recognize your unique skills and all the ways you are truly excellent, you will feel more inspired to dedicate yourself to getting even better, brighter, more articulate, more knowledgeable, more giving, more loving, you name it, just better in every conceivable way. Lately I've subscribed to a man named Brain Tracy's e-newsletter. In one of his latest newsletters, he took the time to measure how much better and more productive each of us could become if: "If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to 1/1000th improvement per working day. Is that possible? Of course it is! I think these statistics are pretty staggering! That's why I've dedicated myself to becoming not only "more productive and efficient" but to getting better in every way. Please join me this fall in reflecting the highest quality of studentship and commitment to excellence in everything you do! Increase your knowledge base; deepen your studies with the highest quality teachers; implement their teachings in your life; share the teachings with your friends and families; apply yourself in your practices; dedicate yourself to overcoming tendencies that diminish your brightness, in short, dedicate yourself to continuous improvement. I'll be kicking off my fall season in New London, CT., where we'll be shooting two more video classes for Yoga Vibes on Saturday September 24th! Please come on out and join us. New London is a great little town, right on the water with the sound of the ferry boats singing in the air. And Blissworks is a beautiful studio in the heart of downtown. The theme for all the classes will be in alignment with the UN International Day of Peace so all the classes will focus on heart qualities associated with inner peace. To find out more about these classes and to register, please visit: www.blissworksyoga.org. From there, I'll be in Saratoga Springs, NY where I'll be offering the 100 hour immersion. This year we're calling it the "Magic Happens When You Align With Your Heart" Immersion, a term coined by my sponsors Suzanne Lynch. The Immersion will take place from September - June of 2012. To apply for the Immersion, please visit: www.saratogaspringsyoga.com. I'll also be offering some week day classes at a brand new studio, Shiva Shakti Yoga in Waltham, MA. And, I'll be ending the fall with Level 3 of the Immersion in Geneseo, NY, as well as a weekend workshop in Atlanta, GA. 2012 begins with weekend workshops, the continued Saratoga Springs Immersion, a 100 hour Teacher Training that I'll be co-teaching with Ellen Saltonstall in Geneseo, NY, and the month of April in Europe! To see my full schedule, please visit my website at www.anahatayogacenter.com. To take my classes online, please go to: www.yogavibes.com. To add into my facebook page: please friend me at the address below. I truly look forward to seeing each of you this fall in classes. |