At my Level One just over a month ago, I got that I am a leader in the Baptiste community. Before that program, I wasn’t sure I had a place. A couple of weeks later, at the Kids Yoga Teacher Training, I got clear on exactly what kind of leader I am, and how I wish to express my leadership in the world.
In the training, we used games and play to access new levels of our own self-expression. I saw new possibilities for myself as a leader in who I am for the Baptiste community and who I am for the world. I saw the possibility of being a full-time yoga instructor, whereas before I have been scared to teach. I got that I want to train teachers and what it will take to make that happen. I also got that I can expand the my local yoga studio’s kids program from a babysitting service to a full-on kids and teens program with yoga every day for kids, tweens, and teens!
One activity that stands out from the training was from a practice teaching session on the 3 Themes of Baptiste Yoga. We set our mats up in a circle, and each person picked a yoga card with a pose on it. We moved around the circle doing each pose and shouting a limiting belief we give up. I gave up something I had never given up before: the belief that I am not a team player. In giving that up, I got access to I Am Ready Now for connection and intimacy. Earlier in the training, we had discovered our core values, and one of my core values was co-creation. Any time I am “not a team player,” it’s inconsistent with my commitment to co-creation.
All the pieces seemed to be falling into place. When I said “Yes” to play, I got clarity.
The clarity that I am here to cause yoga teacher-leaders of all ages throughout the world. During my Kids Training, I looked at my work with the Olive Tree Yoga Foundation, a sister organization of Africa Yoga Project. I put my “Yes” into action and am bringing a Baptiste Yoga Kids Teacher Training to Palestine in 2016, with a fellow graduate of mine. What I’m present to now is I didn’t (and don’t ever) need to know how it’s all going to come together.
Play big to get yourself into action in the world. The world needs you in your fullest self-expression!
This post was written by Samantha Griggs, a graduate of the first ever Baptiste Kids Yoga Teacher Training Program!
