I’m really excited for today – this afternoon I’m meeting with some of the folks who did the Off the Mat – Into the World Intensive with me last week. It’s been a really interesting time, the Intensive really defined itself! And, it’s SXSW here in ATX, so I was just thinking how interesting it’s going to be trying to meet up with my Tribe in the midst of the insanity – energetically, audibly, parking-ly!
Austin is an excellent place to live (please don’t move here). I don’t know about your town, but my town is a yoga town. I mean, really – a yoga town. Now, I know our claim to fame is Live Music Capital of the World, but we’ve got, they say, more Yoga Teachers per capita here in Austin than anywhere else in the nation. We’re blessed to have this in our community, and we annually make lists of the Top Ten Healthiest or Most Active cities. That’s all great, and we love to live in this kind of community.
But, truth be told, yogis are people, too. As we’ve seen in the recent events around “guru-status” and abuses of power, we must recognize that simply saying you’re a yogi or working in that service doesn’t elevate us, doesn’t take away our faults and failings, doesn’t ameliorate bad judgment or choices. We’re just some folks who are choosing to be more engaged in the process of experiencing what is happening, and frankly, sometimes that sucks. Sometimes it’s shady, and sorrowful.
So, to be honest, we play real nice down here, but there’s still a lot of separation in a community that is about Unity. There is still a lot of ‘that yoga’ and ‘my yoga’ and ‘I wouldn’t go there…’ mentality. And I don’t leave myself out of this, we are all players. It’s sad, and retro, as in last-millennium… we, who teach people to let go and allow, who believe in abundance and good works, we get so concerned over who’s getting the students - if they get them, I don’t; if they don’t like me, I don’t make as much. The poverty mentality we have is staggering! There are less than 10% of all the folks in this town doing yoga and we’d like to pull them apart dragging them our way. Our work is to keep expanding the community, not spiraling in on ourselves and each other!
So, one of the greatest lessons I - and it seems like many of my co-participants, my new Tribe - are taking away from OTM is the effort of collaboration, inclusion, expansion and service. We want to come together in the intention of supporting each other, eliminating the mindset of what has been the predominant status quo, and getting to the point where it is considered a collaborative victory when any new student comes to any mat, anywhere, or even to sit and consciously breathe.
We all teach the same concepts, we all share the same vision on the horizon, we all share the practice because it was so important and vital to us when we first received it that we are called to serve and share. Let’s do it together… stay tuned for more updates from Tribe OTM-ATX!
Give thanks and praise!
Austin is an excellent place to live (please don’t move here). I don’t know about your town, but my town is a yoga town. I mean, really – a yoga town. Now, I know our claim to fame is Live Music Capital of the World, but we’ve got, they say, more Yoga Teachers per capita here in Austin than anywhere else in the nation. We’re blessed to have this in our community, and we annually make lists of the Top Ten Healthiest or Most Active cities. That’s all great, and we love to live in this kind of community.
But, truth be told, yogis are people, too. As we’ve seen in the recent events around “guru-status” and abuses of power, we must recognize that simply saying you’re a yogi or working in that service doesn’t elevate us, doesn’t take away our faults and failings, doesn’t ameliorate bad judgment or choices. We’re just some folks who are choosing to be more engaged in the process of experiencing what is happening, and frankly, sometimes that sucks. Sometimes it’s shady, and sorrowful.
So, to be honest, we play real nice down here, but there’s still a lot of separation in a community that is about Unity. There is still a lot of ‘that yoga’ and ‘my yoga’ and ‘I wouldn’t go there…’ mentality. And I don’t leave myself out of this, we are all players. It’s sad, and retro, as in last-millennium… we, who teach people to let go and allow, who believe in abundance and good works, we get so concerned over who’s getting the students - if they get them, I don’t; if they don’t like me, I don’t make as much. The poverty mentality we have is staggering! There are less than 10% of all the folks in this town doing yoga and we’d like to pull them apart dragging them our way. Our work is to keep expanding the community, not spiraling in on ourselves and each other!
So, one of the greatest lessons I - and it seems like many of my co-participants, my new Tribe - are taking away from OTM is the effort of collaboration, inclusion, expansion and service. We want to come together in the intention of supporting each other, eliminating the mindset of what has been the predominant status quo, and getting to the point where it is considered a collaborative victory when any new student comes to any mat, anywhere, or even to sit and consciously breathe.
We all teach the same concepts, we all share the same vision on the horizon, we all share the practice because it was so important and vital to us when we first received it that we are called to serve and share. Let’s do it together… stay tuned for more updates from Tribe OTM-ATX!
Give thanks and praise!
