A few days ago I taught part of a yoga class with a small group of individuals from my yoga teacher training. Soul School is a program led by Sean Johnson and Mitchel Bleier. I met Sean through his beautiful musical gifts with Wild Lotus Band and took my first class with him at a yoga festival in Pensacola. Later, I traveled to Ireland to attend a Celtic spirituality retreat with Sean and Mary Meighan. I’ve practiced yoga for decades and have taken classes with some amazing instructors but knew that if I ever participated in a teacher training course it would be with Sean and Soul School. 

Bhakti yoga is Sean’s touchstone…the yoga of loving devotion. The genuine love and heartfelt practice called deeply to me but I could never work out logistics to go to New Orleans to take the course. And then….the pandemic arrived and Soul School became an online offering. I had no more excuses. It was available to me if I dared follow the path.

My intention in participating was to find my Voice. Even though I’ve been super-blessed through the years to have the space and time to develop my skills and talents, I felt there was something missing in my ability to translate what is in my heart to the world and to share the love I have for the world in a way that was helpful and of service. I didn’t really expect to want to teach yoga. I just wanted to participate in the transformational process that I knew would take place.

As a musician and vocalist, Sean offered many teachings on opening the voice. As I worked with the exercises, layers of blocks to creativity began to drop away and I found myself in a creative flow that seemed effortless, as if it was pouring from my soul.

This past Saturday morning I awoke and did my morning meditation. During that quiet time I felt a strong resonance with the archetype of Teacher and heard that my work in the world is that of Teacher. I’ve been a massage therapy instructor, Reiki teacher, Polarity Therapy teacher, scuba instructor, photography instructor, piano teacher, meditation teacher…so it wasn’t a stretch to grasp that truth. But it wasn’t until I was in the teaching role last Saturday that I felt it…deeply felt the Teacher in me awaken to full potential.

In the preparation for teaching part of the class, everything flowed effortlessly. During the class, as I was teaching, I felt all of who I am present. My skills from various pursuits were there lending sparks of wisdom. There was no anxiety or fear. There was only flow. And after I finished I knew I had found the way forward in life.

I’ve been dreaming about teaching yoga outdoors, incorporating my skills as a body-centered psychotherapist from years ago, the body awareness from my days as a massage therapist and energy work practitioner, nature leader, training in various spiritual traditions, musician and poet/writer/mystic. Paying attention to that dream is easy because I’ve never felt so perfectly aligned with myself and Spirit as I did during that segment of class I taught. 

Maybe that’s how we know we are doing the work of the soul…effortless alignment and full engagement of all parts of ourselves resulting in pure bliss and joy. 

I’m so grateful to Sean and Mitchel for holding space for us during this training. Sean brings the mystical, spiritual to life in the training and Mitchel brings teaching of asanas to beautiful expression. I entered the program wanting to find my voice, not really expecting to become a yoga instructor and I finish the program with a stronger voice, increased creative flow and clarity of path that I’ve longed for…for such a long time.