Have you ever almost given up?
Hi, ${contact.name.first},
I trust you are having a wonderful week! Happy spring to all my down under friends and happy fall to all the Northern hemispherers! A change of season always feels refreshing, doesn’t it?
As I’ve been getting everything ready for the upcoming training, which is happening next weekend (!), I’ve been thinking about all the different people who have come through my Chair Yoga world over the years, and the different journeys that they’ve had.
And I want to tell you about one of them. Her name is Naomi, or Nomes for short!
Nomes has been part of my Chair Yoga world for quite a few years now. She regularly joins me for my Friday online classes, for her own practice and because she’s always curious and wanting to learn new things that might help her with her own Chair Yoga teaching.
Naomi first signed up to do my online Chair Yoga Teacher Training back in early 2022, and at one point during the training, she was going through a challenging time and was finding it difficult to continue. There was a lot going on in her world, along with some health challenges and self-doubt, and she began to lose confidence in herself and wonder whether she was really capable of finishing the training.
She felt overwhelmed, considered giving up and even emailed me to say she didn’t think she could keep going.
So instead of trying to push through and complete everything in the same way or at the same pace as everyone else, we had a chat about what she needed and how I could help her, and together we worked out a way forward that felt right for her.
Sometimes that meant taking a break. Sometimes it meant trying something, realising she wasn’t quite ready and coming back to it later. Sometimes it meant practicing, making videos, asking questions and building her confidence one little step at a time.
There were definitely a few wobbles along the way, but Naomi kept finding her way back. And she didn’t give up. Naomi did the work and kept learning, but she was able to do it in her own time and in a way that worked for her. Somewhere along the way, she worked through some of that fear and self-doubt and started believing in herself again.
Eventually, she completed the training and became a (wonderful!) Chair Yoga teacher. I always knew she could do it, and I was SO proud of her.
But that’s not where the story ends.
Not only has Naomi been slowly building her Chair Yoga business, Chair Yoga Your Way, and teaching Chair Yoga, but last year she came along to one of my live Chair Yoga Teacher Trainings and stood up in front of the group to share her story and teach a Chair Yoga class for them. She wanted to inspire and encourage the participants at the training and give something back.
And because Nomes has been doing Chair Yoga regularly and experimenting with props to help her with her own practice, she has become quite experienced with finding different ways to make things work for her. Recently, she sent me a video of herself teaching Chair Yoga with blocks…and that video is now going to become an additional resource inside my training for future students.
How cool is that?!
This is someone who once seriously wondered whether she could finish the training or ever be good enough to teach, and now she’s teaching Chair Yoga, sharing what she has learned with other people and contributing her own ideas and knowledge back into the training.
She sent me a message last weekend saying that she’ll never forget when I told her I would help her by letting her tell me what she needed, and together we would find a way to get there. She also told me that Chair Yoga has helped her so much personally, that it helps her brain and body work together and helps calm her nervous system. She said she has gained so much self-belief and still has more to go! But now she gets to help other people discover their own love for Chair Yoga too.
From wondering whether she could finish…to helping other people fall in love with Chair Yoga.
THIS is why I do what I do, and I love teaching teachers so much. If that isn’t a mini miracle success story, personally and professionally, I don’t know what is!
I wanted to share this story because maybe it will inspire you too. Maybe you’re sitting there thinking about doing something that you’ve wanted to do, or something that you’re passionate about, but you’re thinking, “I’m not sure if I’m ready…”
Well, that is OK!
Sometimes, we only find out how ready we are once we begin, or once we’re actually on the journey itself. Taking that first step is often the key.
And I think Nomes’ story is also a beautiful reminder that there isn’t always one perfect way to get somewhere. Sometimes things take longer than we expected. Sometimes life throws things at us that we didn’t plan for. Sometimes we need to stop, take a breath, change direction or find a completely different way forward.
That doesn’t mean we’ve failed or that we aren’t capable. And it doesn’t mean we have to give up on the things that are important to us.
So…if there is something you really want to do, don’t let the idea that you need to have everything worked out before you begin stop you from taking that first step. And if you’ve already started something and you’re finding the journey harder than you expected, remember that you’re allowed to take your time and find your own way through it.
You might not take the conventional path, but that’s okay. You can still get there in your own unique way. And maybe that will end up being an even better and more nourishing path than the one you originally thought you were going to take.
So don’t wait forever to start something you’ve always wanted to do, and don’t give up on something that’s important to you just because the journey gets a little wobbly along the way.
Just keep on keeping on and like Naomi, you might surprise yourself with what you’re capable of.
Love Claire x
P.S. If some of this story feels familiar to you and you’d like to take the step to become a Chair Yoga teacher in a training where you can come as you are, start wherever you’re at and be fully supported along the way, then I’d love to welcome you to our Chair Yoga Teacher Training next weekend in Sydney and online. Click the link below to join us!
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