The yoga teacher training program started up recently at Yoga Bliss Akron, and I got the opportunity to speak with quite a few of the trainees just before the program started. I wanted to wish them well and to tell them how excited I was for their journey. As I spoke to them, I could feel their sense of anticipation, and a few of them expressed that they were nervous about starting. That anxiousness is to be expected; anytime you start something new, there is always room for self-doubt and fear of the unknown. I asked each one of them to try to remember one word as they started their yoga teacher training journey, and that word was EASE.

Whenever you approach a situation from a place of fear, your heart closes off, and you are unable to learn. It is only when you open your heart and approach the situation from a place of ease that you can grow and blossom. Each time I told the trainees this one simple word, they all got a big smile on their face, and I could tell they picked up on the essence of approaching life from a place of ease.

I wish that I could say that those words of wisdom were my own idea, but I got the very same advice when I was starting out my advanced 300-hour yoga teacher training.

The very first day of training, Mary Pat Murphy – the goddess leading my training (and my very first yoga teacher!) – asked us to pick an intention card. The cards were spread out on the floor and we were to look at them for a moment and to pick one. Each card contained one word, and that word became our intention for the day. They say that if you really focus on the cards, that the one you are meant to have will be the one that you select. I know that can sound kind of hokey, but that day I did pick the exact card that I needed, and guess what it was?

Ease

Thank you universe, because “Ease” was just was the word I needed! As we went through that first day of training, my intention to take everything with a sense of ease came in very handy. When it was time to crack open the anatomy books, that is when the fear really started to kick in. Instead of telling myself, “Maria, you are horrible at anatomy. You’ll never get this stuff,” I started to deepen my breath and instead say to myself, “Ease, Maria, ease . . . approach this anatomy info from a place of love.” Now each time I pull out my anatomy book to study, my gluteus maximus no longer starts to clench, and my levator anguli oris, levator labii superioris, orbicularis oculi, risorius, and zygomaticus major muscles all start to flex to bring a big honking smile to my face.

Ease – it really does work. You can use it to destroy both self-doubt and fear.

Remember, yogis – on your yoga mats, off your yoga mats, right before a challenging situation, take a big breath, open your heart and tell yourself one word: ease!

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