I’m writing from Sydney — where I’m leading a weekend workshop exploring how yoga supports us in getting clearer about both our purpose and our shadow, helps us cultivate the compassion to meet all of ourselves with kindness and develop the courage and creativity to express our unique purpose in the world in a way that serves our well-being and the well-being of others.
Does that sound like a lot to claim for a few minutes spent on a yoga mat every day?
It is a lot. But what I love about teaching this workshop is that I get to hear from people about the ways yoga has changed their lives. So yesterday I sat out under the trees in a park and listened to 20 beautiful, brave people tell the story of how yoga has changed their lives. I heard from people:
- who came to yoga through the doorway of injury — and, to their surprise, discovered a new way of being in relationship with themselves
- who were doing things in their lives that weren’t making them happy, or even making them unwell — and found yoga revealed that truth while also giving them the courage to do something about it
- people who had practiced yoga for years as a way to fix their broken selves — and then discovered, through their own practice, that yoga could instead be a way to uncover and embrace their whole selves
- people who couldn’t articulate exactly what it was that yoga had changed for them — but were very clear that they preferred their lives with yoga in it
At the end of the circle, and at the end of the day, I was clearer than ever about why I practice and teach yoga.
I practice and teach yoga because it’s an ancient, accessible, affordable system that uses the most miraculous and accessible technology I’ve ever come across – the technology of the body – to bring us back to balance, well-being and wholeness. Once you’ve discovered something like that, there’s nothing you want more than to share it with people.
So whether you’ve been practicing yoga for years and feel like you’ve never quite found the pathway to make your yoga practice your ally, or to customise yoga to suit your specific well-being needs — OR you are completely new to yoga and looking for a kind, reliable and accessible guide for your first venture into yogic territory, I hope you’ll consider joining me for the 30 Days of Yoga program beginning Monday.
It’s a program that will give you everything you need to build, and then sustain, your own home yoga practice. It’s a program grounded in the belief that kindness is more motivating over the long-haul than criticism, and that self-trust is the most potent teacher and guide you have.
*illustration by Kristin Noelle
If you’d like to register or find out more about 30 Days of Yoga, click here.
If you have any technical questions about registration or payment or how the course is delivered, please don’t hesitate to email the support team at support@marianne-elliott.com.
If you have any questions at all about the yoga course itself, please don’t hesitate to email me at marianne@marianne-elliott.com.
And here is a gorgeous poem for the beginning of your week:
WALK SLOWLY- by Dana Faulds
It only takes a reminder to breathe,
a moment to be still, and just like that,
something in me settles, softens, makes
space for imperfection. The harsh voice
of judgement drops to a whisper and I
remember again that life isn’t a relay
race; that we all will cross the finish
line; that waking up to life is what we
were born for. As many times as I
forget, to catch myself charging forward
without even knowing where I am
going,
that many times I can make the choice
to stop, to breathe, and be, and walk
slowly into the mystery.