Live, Run, Grow

Today I’m taking my yoga certification practical test, I honestly can’t believe how quickly this training has gone!

As I mentioned the other day, I am teaching the beginning 15 minutes of my group’s 1 hour class and I need to be prepared to talk and center the class and set an intention.  I immediately knew what passage I wanted to use, which is sort of “cut and pasted” from the chapter called “Starting Lines” in The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life:

“Until you begin a new venture, you never know what awaits you.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Nothing started, nothing experienced, nothing learned, nothing finished.  Starting lines are one of the most important stations in life.  We need to do more than just avoid them.  We need to actively seek them out.  Otherwise, we grow stagnant.  Remember that if you don’t go to the starting line, you will never view the whole course with all its possibilities.  And you will certainly never see the glories of the finish line.”

– Amby Burfoot, Author of The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life, Executive Editor of Runner’s World Magazine and 1968 Boston Marathon Winner

I think this passage is perfect for my class today because even though taking our practical test signifies the finish line of our journey together through yoga teacher training, it’s also the start of us going out and sharing our yoga practice with others.

For me personally taking this yoga teacher training really was the starting line of a much bigger journey to go back to school and pursue a completely different career.  I was nervous to leave my job and start down this path, but almost 3 months later I’m excited about the decisions I made and looking forward to what the next few year will bring.  Going back to school is scary (especially for 5 years!), but sometimes we need to take these leaps and show up at the starting line and see where the course takes us.

“You may not win the race.  You may not even finish the race.  But did not finish is still better than did not start.”