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I haven't been writing much while I was in school at UNCA for the last few semesters, but with the new year comes a new resolution to jump back into writing on this site, herenowyoga.com and on a new website co-created with fellow Asheville yoga teacher, Kate Lundquist, called ExhaleAsheville. I will have a regular column at Exhale, one of many voices from our community. Here's my first article for Kim's column:
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To the Four Believers
by Kimberly Drye
Several years ago, I taught one class a week on Monday nights with 3-4 attendees at Lighten Up Yoga. I was a brand new teacher, and this was my start. The same four people showed up week after week, and at the time, it was enough for me-- these 4 people believe in me, I should keep doing this. Teaching was my hobby until recently.
I decided to plunge.
I now teach twelve classes a week, maintain my own blog (herenowyoga.com), contribute to exhaleasheville.com, teach workshops and special events, and more. It felt like the right decision then and it still does.
I now teach twelve classes a week, maintain my own blog (herenowyoga.com), contribute to exhaleasheville.com, teach workshops and special events, and more. It felt like the right decision then and it still does.
I returned to UNCA six years after my original degree in Literature because I was afraid. Afraid that teaching yoga wasn’t a real career, that I wouldn’t be able to support myself, afraid I wouldn’t be any good at it. The plan was to finish all the science classes I needed to apply to graduate school for Physical Therapy. Yoga taught me that I love the human body and it’s intricacies, and I thought Physical Therapy would be a more validated way to explore this love. I thought to myself, ‘It’s time to get a real job.” After all, I was 29, and I knew I wanted a family. It was now or never.
Four semesters of science later, I look back at my motivation. Fear. Sure, fear can be a healthy motivator and I know my concerns about being financially secure and supporting a family were and are valid. But I’m left with the feeling that those semesters of science were a waste of time and money. I almost forgot for a moment in those sciences that it’s not just the exploration of the body that I love about yoga.
It’s all of it. It’s the emphasis on consciousness, philosophy, the connection with my students, the dissection of each moment. I do my personal practice to develop some understanding of this world and this life. A lot of what I love about yoga is what I loved about Literature-- a search for understanding, an exploration of ideas.
I’m letting go of choosing fear.
Some of you reading this will cringe, and there’s a part of me cringing now-my forehead crinkled up in concern. I’m choosing to believe in myself and teaching yoga as a career despite the odds. I know this won’t be easy. It hasn’t been yet and it won’t be as I continue.
Four semesters of science later, I look back at my motivation. Fear. Sure, fear can be a healthy motivator and I know my concerns about being financially secure and supporting a family were and are valid. But I’m left with the feeling that those semesters of science were a waste of time and money. I almost forgot for a moment in those sciences that it’s not just the exploration of the body that I love about yoga.
It’s all of it. It’s the emphasis on consciousness, philosophy, the connection with my students, the dissection of each moment. I do my personal practice to develop some understanding of this world and this life. A lot of what I love about yoga is what I loved about Literature-- a search for understanding, an exploration of ideas.
I’m letting go of choosing fear.
Some of you reading this will cringe, and there’s a part of me cringing now-my forehead crinkled up in concern. I’m choosing to believe in myself and teaching yoga as a career despite the odds. I know this won’t be easy. It hasn’t been yet and it won’t be as I continue.
I expect challenges. As Michael Johnson of Clearlight Yoga said in his class the other day, “Every resolution comes with obstacles.” I’m overcoming one obstacle at a time-- the biggest in the last few years being a lack of confidence in myself and a lack of understanding of my place in the world. I need to claim my place. So here I am, professional yoga teacher and blogger. Thanks to those who believed in me for the years I wasn’t ready to believe in myself. I’m ready now.
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