Are you being honest with yourself?
Hi there,
I trust you’re healthy, happy & thriving! It’s getting warmer here in Sydney - I can definitely feel the spring vibes in the air! Can you believe it’s September next week? In a way, I’m happy about that as it means the training is in just 2 weeks and that I’m going overseas in 1 month! Yay! The countdowns are on! But wow, how fast time is going…
Anyway, I’ve talked a lot about the first Yama Ahimsa (non-harm) before and today I want to talk to you about another one of the Yoga teachings that is fundamental to how I teach and how I try to live. The 2nd Yama is called Satya, which means truthfulness.
Now, when we hear “truthfulness”, we probably think it’s just about being honest with other people, telling the truth and not lying. Which seems pretty simple on the surface doesn’t it? Yes, that is part of it... but the practice of Satya actually goes much deeper than that.
It’s about being willing to be really honest about what is actually true…with ourselves, with other people, and in the way we live our live. Satya means living in true integrity with your own values, while also considering the good of all.
And sometimes the hardest person to be truthful with is ourselves. I mean how often do we know something isn’t really right for us, but convince ourselves it is? (Like eating that whole block of dark chocolate coz you know…antioxidants are good for us! 🤣)
How often do we say we’re fine when we’re absolutely not fine or go along with something even though we know it’s wrong, just to fit in or keep the peace?
How often do we keep doing something because we think we “should” be able to, even though on the inside we already know it isn’t the right thing for us or partake in activities that don’t align with our values and how we want to live our lives?
We all do it. I certainly do! Like I said before - I’m a WIP (work in progress) too! Sometimes it’s not as easy to follow your own path than to follow the crowd…but this is the practice of Satya. So, more and more I’m implementing this in my life and it’s making a big difference!
Satya gets really interesting when we bring it into our Yoga classes & practice too because being truthful means being honest about where you actually are and practicing in the way that’s truly right for you?
This takes a bit of introspection to figure out. If you aren’t truly present in your practice and are just going through the motions or copying someone else then you won’t really know what the right thing is.
We need to practice that internal focus during yoga and then we can work out how what we are doing is affecting us…what is or isn’t working for our body today, what feels good, what doesn’t feel right, when to push on, when to rest.
Working out our own truth can be quite a skill and practice in itself. And it takes courage to stand up and say THIS is what is right for ME and not be swayed by anything or anyone else. But there is something really beautiful about giving ourselves permission to stop pretending.
I’ve had plenty of experiences in Yoga where I’ve had to do exactly that. My body changes, circumstances change, injuries happen, energy levels change…and I’ve had to practice with more honesty and integrity.
That’s also one of the reasons I will always teach options in my Chair Yoga classes, in every pose, every time - even when I’ve known someone for ten years and they come every week.
Because I might know them really well, but I can never assume I know exactly where they are today. I don’t know what happened in the space between when we saw each other last. And I should never assume what they will need for their own unique body, mind and spirit today!
That’s really important to think about as Chair Yoga teachers…we can use our knowledge and experience to offer guidance. We can suggest an option, explain why it might be useful, demonstrate something differently, give people ideas and help them understand their choices.
But ultimately, we have to give the choice back to the person sitting in front of us. Because they are the ones living in their bodies - and ultimately, they are the ones who get to decide what feels right for them.
So, we can help them learn to listen and become more curious about their own experience. But we shouldn’t be trying to make them do something simply because WE think they should be able to.
If someone says, “My shoulder doesn’t move like that today”, Satya says…okay. That’s the truth. We don’t need to force anyone to do anything that isn’t right for them or make them feel like they’re doing Yoga incorrectly. We don’t need to push them towards some imaginary version of where they (or we!) think they “should” be.
That’s the kind of Yoga I want to teach. And that’s the kind of Chair Yoga teacher I would like to have teaching me! Someone who knows their stuff, absolutely…but also the person who can look at the human sitting in front of them and working with them, with what’s actually true for them.
You know, there’s something incredibly freeing about that because when we stop pretending, we can actually start making choices that are right for us.
And, we can stop wearing our masks, our old programs and learned behaviours or habits that aren’t really us. We can stop trying to prove something and stop apologising for our bodies, minds, energy levels or any part of us. We can just be who we are.
Perhaps that’s part of what Yoga is really teaching us? Not how to become someone else, but how to become more honest about who we already are. Our true Self.
This is why I love Yoga so much. The teachings aren’t just things we learn and then put away in a book somewhere. They’re things we get to practice, every single day, in all the messy, imperfect, very human situations that this ‘life school’ throws at us.
Love Claire x
PS. If you’ve been following along with me over these past few months and you’ve been thinking that learning more about Chair Yoga to teach others or for your own practice might be the next step for you, I would love to have you join me in our training!
We’re going to spend the weekend learning Chair Yoga, yes…but also exploring what it really means to teach it in a way that is thoughtful, inclusive, practical and truly helpful to the individuals we are there to serve.
If that sounds like the kind of Yoga teacher you’d like to be then click the link below and come and join us.
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