March 31, 2011

A Whisper to a Scream

When people find out that I am in a yoga teacher training program the question I am most often asked is "What makes you want to teach yoga?" (followed by "Oh you must be very bendy?"). That's a big question. How do you tell someone you may not know very well how profoundly yoga has impacted your life without over sharing or scaring them with the amount of passion you have?

Eventually I found the most concise and neutral way to describe that.

"Yoga helps me stay mindful of the connection between by mind, body, soul and the universe. With that awareness I am able to take my cues from the Universe and it has made my life a lot easier. I want to share that with other people."
So what does that mean? It means my life is really a lot easier because of the awareness yoga awards me.When the universe has a suggestion for you it starts out with a whisper. If you don't hear it, it will raise it's voice until the point that it's getting your attention like a two-year-old stamping it's feet, red-faced and in tears.

I now see the subtle messages, I hear the whisper that the Universe is sending to me. I rarely make the same mistakes over and over again hoping to get different results, I used to do this all the time. The best part, the Universe's messages aren't always telling you what not to do. Yeah, sure you get the "You'll regret that 9pm Chai when you try to sleep tonight" but you also get some amazing encouragement.

I began reaching out to people on a whim, a whisper, and then I see the doors of mutually beneficial opportunity fly open. I became more daring, more willing to go outside my comfort zone and the rewards have been amazing.

Do you have to practice yoga to hear the Universe's whisper? I don't think so. It's what has worked best for me but I have had similar experiences in hiking, climbing, and cycling. Anything that brings movement, thought, and a level of meditation or awareness with the universal connection will work.

I would love to hear from people with similar experiences. Have you heard the Universe whisper? What did it say?


13 comments:

snarkybumbler said...

Love your post!

I'm slowly - ever so slowly - learning to hear the whispers. Usually the universe has to break down the door, bang pots and pans next to my ears, and dump a cold bucket of water over my head before I hear it.

Sometimes it seems I might actually deaf, other times I'm simply afraid of what I might hear. But I'm learning to trust that whisper - its always right, after all.

Like you, I've found I can hear it better through yoga practice. I have an incredible instructor - he calls himself our "teachers assistant" - who is helping me find and nurture my inner teacher. I also find incredible clarity when hiking, climbing, and cycling. But its less about the activity and more about the place. Open, natural, quiet, peaceful, beautiful... mountains, The Mountain (Rainier), the ocean, the desert.... Quiet, solo time in those places let me hear the whispers most clearly. The challenge is finding and making the time to get into them.

Tali said...

YES! Thank you! That is a wonderful example and I love hearing your story and perspective.

Anonymous said...

Lovely, Tali! Even though I have several favorite outdoor pursuits, the universe mostly speaks to me when I'm hiking. I really believe that it comes from being connected to the Earth in a physical way, with feet on the ground. It is during these times when ideas, feelings, realizations come to me. I try not to get distracted and simply allow the energy to flow - and hope that I'll remember all of the good stuff when I sit down to write...

Tali said...

I do agree, the universe has a very special dialect when you're out hiking. It's like a hot Italian guy reading poetry to you. You could just listen for hours and bask in the language.

Andria B. Davis said...

Awesome! Isn't it funny that people think that you must be bendy if you teach or practice yoga? That's like saying you must be tall if you like to play basketball. It drives me crazy! It's not about being flexible, it's about learning to be mindful and more present in our bodies and minds--but you already know that! Yoga has turned my life around over and over again by teaching me to look at myself and learn to be more present and kind. After 20 years of practice, sometimes I'm flexible, but sometimes not at all! Thanks Tali--you will be a wonderful teacher--you already are!

HD said...

That's how climbing is for me :) I love my yoga but it doesn't connect me to the universe like climbing does.

Tali said...

Awe, thank you Andria!

And thanks Haley! I am so glad you found your connection. When I climbed more it did it for me but lack of partner reliability took me to a different path. Another example of the Universe shouting when I should have heard the whisper.

Audrey Price said...

I didn't think I would be into so much hiking when i came to AZ. Thought id get right back into climbing, which i have, but I love hiking. I love being in the mountains, listening to the wind blow through the life (plants) of the mountains. One time I did a small few yoga moves on top of a mountain. I have never felt so small, so big, so powerful, lucky, aspired, i can go on.. Something about the mountains calls me, soothes me in my deepest troubles, reminds me life is beautiful and enjoy it.

The ocean also does this for me. I spent many days after work jumping right in, eyes wide open, ready to be cleansed and refreshed. It has never failed me.

I never thought the universe was speaking to me until I read this but i realized, it is. It always is.

Tali said...

That is beautiful Audrey! The beauty even though they're such different environments they are still one and they speak and nourish as one.

Wonderful!

J said...

I am a relative newcomer to yoga, and I don't think I'll ever be bendy! But I don't care! Yoga has been helping me stay calm (or calm down, at least) during a stressful year of transition. The whisper? Just stop. Be still. Don't panic. A friend lent me a book about the same time I started practicing regularly, and it's as though the universe conspired to have me learn these things in two different ways at the same time.

I love that when I try a pose for the first time and fall over and laugh at myself, it makes me feel like a kid. And I can practice when I'm too busy to make it outdoors or when the weather is unforgiving.

-Julie

Tali said...

I love that insight Julie! It is so wonderful how yoga can make you feel like a kid and yet feel so in tune with the ancient Earth. Awesome!

Meredith LeBlanc said...

I always ask to be open & willing to whatever the Universe throws at me & to accept whatever that may be whether I think I want it or not.

As a teacher I always ask to be a channel for the Universe, simply a messenger.

Anonymous said...

Lovely post. I have become more and more in tune with my intuition and the universe over the years as my yoga and meditation practice has deepened. I think the openness that yoga encourages and the increased trust I have been able to develop in myself and in life have allowed for this. Other activities though like writing and running definitely had these qualities to them but they haven't been to as high of a degree for me as yoga.