When I began my journey into the vastness of my yoga teacher training, I left with a feeling of uncertainty pertaining to the feeling that said, I am not a yoga teacher, yet. I re-oriented myself into my newly open world with so many diverse foundational teachings that society said, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. I felt the rush of excitement to utilize this wisdom, to enlighten others without pausing to recognize the wise don’t recite another fellows poetry at the front of class, they recite their own. It wasn’t until I took the knowledge upon and within myself, over time and with experience, that I became a yoga teacher. This happened two years later, my loves.

This is pretty dear and near to my heart and I’d love to stir the pot of those curious minds currently midway through or almost completing certifications whether it be yoga, nutrition, health & wellness, etc. For the purpose of this article, i’ll relate to yoga, however, this relates to all. Take what you need.

How many of you out there complete a one month 200 Hour YTT, a one year certification course, a two-four year degree and feel ready for the big world? Especially if this content was completely new to you. Some would say absolutely, there’s purpose for you all in this world, yet most would say no, I didn’t feel ready.

We often feel, as certified practitioners, that because there are others already doing it, we should be too. We often feel, that if we don’t pause to let the content absorb naturally, that we will fall behind or lose the information. What I’m here to tell you is that the medicine you wish to share from receiving the teachings begins within you.

To be of service to others (eventually) is to be the Medicine Mama to your own self first. To see her, to care for her darkest parts and tenderly build her back up to repeat, then not repeat, the same stories/patterns and honor her trauma so that it transcends into her divine life-giving nectar. It takes time to see the densest parts of ourselves and to alleviate them. Most of the times we get involved in these trainings because we do see but might not know how or where to begin. It’s a commonality in all healers, we wanna love but also need to learn to be love within ourselves.

This births authenticity from the heart.

If you’re getting out of a training and the mind is saying, okay I have to immediately come up with a name and open a practice and quite literally throw up the information I’ve received and have 100,000 followers by next month, and a full calendar of clients or classes– pause. You have clearly not digested the teachings.

What’s misconstrued in society's ideas around gaining certifications is that we learn from the class and books and all of a sudden should be projecting teachings out to the world and not our actual learnings from within. And sometimes, we feel convinced enough to begin before the training is even completed.

There’s a difference between teachings and learnings.

Healers have to heal themselves first.

I hope you begin to see that teachings become the practice and if authentic, translate into powerful insights to liberation. They are passed down from lineages of Gods, Buddhas, Guru’s, Monks, Yogi Masters, Grandmothers, Mothers, Fathers, Teachers, Mama Earth, The Elements, The Body, Energy, Mythology, and so on to guide you to your dharma or path. Teachings are the foundational soil that holds the seeds to your curiosity and calcified innate wisdom.

Now, learnings birth from doing the work within. In a mythological way, your learnings are digested teachings that form an authentic version of you based on your lifes karma and practice through what resonates within you. OOF. Your learnings take time to hold, to form, to shatter, to re-bound, to shape and become one again, time and time again. Your learnings are your unique medicine that’s ready, when you are, for the world.

The misconception is that we leave courses feeling like we have the knowledge to change the universe in our hands and have to do something with that to change the world immediately.

So, would you rather enjoy the sun and cloud cover that it takes for the lotus to bloom, or watch the flower quickly wilt away with pressure?

I’m not saying it’s one way or the other and that the path is linear. However, know that the “readiness” of being any certified title comes over time.

“In the heart of the heart, we must speak the truth.” (Source: Indu Arora)

Know that there is no need to rush these beautiful teachings and that your soul sought them out to learn over a lifetime.

Xx,

Ray of Light