What Happens when you spend 200 hours with 16 Strangers

Recently (literally yesterday) I just completed a 200 hour Yoga teacher training.

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YTT is an incredible experience. I felt my soul grow 10 times and I found something in myself that I think I ignored and disregarded for a long time. I found my voice, my passion, my zone of genius and something incredibly special that truly felt like my heart broke out and blossomed. I could talk for days about the experience, it was truly life changing. But I’m not going to do that. Instead I am going to talk about what happens when you speed 200 hours with 16 people who were only strangers weeks ago. What happens when you collectively invest into something bigger than yourself. The result is magic. The result is something that the world needs more of.

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I could talk about yogic philosophy and understanding throughout this post. But this post isn’t about that. This post is what makes those teachings and applications to life so potent. This is the post about the people. This is the post about the experience of expanding yourself just to the brink of expansion zone to the point where fear dabbles in for just a second before you realize how safe you are. How supported you are. Because walking into a yoga studio isn’t about doing yoga. Its about purposely expanding yourself to a point of expansion and taking the leap into it.

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I’ve talked before about comfort zones and growth. Yoga, and sports, is a safe space where that comes together. It isn’t about doing a handstand. It’s about the journey to the handstand. The failed attempts, the bailed attempts, and the hesitation to even do it. It’s about pushing yourself to a limit you didn’t even know you had and holding on for a second more, a breath more.

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This whole 200 hour experience was just that. It was a jump into the deep end of the pool and becoming part of something bigger. We don’t grow in isolation. I talked about this last week, we grow we change and we challenge when we reach out for the hand in front of us. Yoga and by an extension life requires us to be fully present, to be fully vulnerable and in order to do that we need to tap into ourselves. We can do all the SunAs in the world and attempt all the handstands we want, but if we aren’t connect to a why or an understanding of our own heart and own soul, we are just doing SunAs and handstands. And as much fun as that is, it doesn’t get us anywhere. It becomes synonymous and similar to taking out the trash, just another chore.

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However, when we spend time with 16 strangers and tell them about our deepest fear, insecurities and vulnerabilities and realize that they actually have our back, that SunA and handstand becomes something bigger than just a SunA or handstand. There is nothing enlightened about going through the motions, just to go through the motions. We only grow when we are challenged and pushed and forced to a place of discomfort. If we never venture into that arena we will never find our capabilities.

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The reality is we are capable of far more than our wildest dreams. Every single one of us has a list of accolades and achievements and accomplishments that were just a figment of a wild dream at some point in time. But at some point we stopped chasing the figment and glimmer of a spark. We did things because we were merely good at them and could do them, dimming and shading away from what we are truly capable of. But for the past 11 weeks I watched a bunch of strangers become family and shine out what they are truly capable of.

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The truth is, when we all end up pull in the same direction we all get stronger. Some carry more of a load than others, but eventually those who are not as strong get stronger and they start pulling and carrying more and everyone gets stronger and more things are moved. We move mountains as a unit. We grow together. We don’t just go through the motions, we take the lessons and stumbles and fails in life and we use them as building blocks for the next thing.

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The truth is yoga isn’t about movement and breath and bandas and handstands. It’s about bringing an intentional awareness to yourself. To sit in silence or move through struggle to raise your internal vibration. It’s about giving someone next to you that extra 1% support so they can get through a difficult pose. It’s about finding yourself in a sea of strangers and knowing you have a place to come home to.

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It’s finding your internal voice, confidence and personal power to own every aspect of yourself and story and then give others permission to do the same because you know how liberating and empowering it is. Yoga isn’t movement, it’s a commitment to unlock that version of yourself that the world needs.

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To my YTT, this post is more than just a thank you, its more than just gratitude for being with all of you through this experience, truly from the bottom of my heart I am so grateful for spending 200 hours with all of you. You each impacted my life in ways that you don't even know. Just the beginning, can’t wait to see what unfolds next.