The gift of creating and birthing out into the world

I was chatting to my friend, Al, earlier, who has recently qualified as a yoga teacher, hoorah, and will soon be teaching her own classes, hoorah again, beginners and yoga for surfers, see more below. I was saying how not one single person turned up to my first class, which I held in what was (I think) Jan’s fitness studio in Amherst. I remember returning home and crying on my Dad’s shoulder. Still, I didn’t give up. The next class there were 3 people, one of whom was definitely a friend. I still wouldn’t give up, even though I was effectively paying to teach.

And while maybe another 3 turned up next time, and 5 the time after that, and I quickly realised that I would still need to keep the day job, I still kept going, because I knew in my heart that I wanted to teach yoga and something was telling me to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

That was almost 17 years ago now and it took me until I’d been going for 14 years to give up the day job. I did try back in 2010 but my boundaries were rubbish and I soon ended up exhausted and depleted rushing around the island teaching private yoga, giving endless sessions of Reiki at home and in the Castel Day' Patient’s unit as it was known at the time, and teaching class after class to school children and the general public. It was too much and the joy went out of it, I felt as if I was churning out yoga and it became about the money, rather than the love of it.

And this is my advice to those of you starting out. Do it for the love of it. Do it because something is telling you to do it. And remember one of the main teachings from the Bhagavad Gita, do not be attached to the fruits of your labour. Which is very similar to the other spiritual advice, of not being attached to outcome. The minute you focus on the notion of an end ‘result’ or achievement, then you effectively set yourself up for a fall.

Expect to fall along the way too. There’s an awful to learn when you begin a new venture, and the universe will bring in its obstacles and challenges to help you grow and realise more of your soul and therefore true potential in this lifetime. So don’t give up. You might need to let go, but that is not the same as giving up, or indeed collapsing. This is more about flowing, of knowing when it is time to make changes and not letting your mental idea of how it should be or your pride or stubbornness or your insecurity get in the way.

Because that’s the other thing - we often externalise our value to the extent that we seek validation of worth from outside ourself. If we’re basing our sense of worth and our inner security on the number of people who attend our yoga clases/workshops or approach us for private Reiki etc then we’re up against it and the universe will keep challenging us with it to the extent that people literally send themselves mad because of it You have to find your sense of value and security within yourself and this comes with working on yourself and healing from any wounding that tells you otherwise.

One of my inspirations in running Beinspired has always been and continues to be Carol Champion, a nutritionist based here on Guernsey. Not only is she a fabulous nutritionist but she has very clear boundaries and a strong sense of respect for self. I have learned a lot from Carol our the years and often find myself consulting not least for dietary advice but for life advice too! Boundaries are so important and as I mentioned in a recent log post, these arise, not because you are riding about it, but because you value and love yourself and your time and energy.

I wrote the ‘Setting up in Practice’ guide to help those of you who want to set out as Reiki practitioners but don’t know where too start. I had to figure it all out for myself too, because it is all part of the process, I certainly didn't learn the business die on my yoga teacher training course either, but it certainly supports one personal and spiritual development! This document, however, hopefully makes it a little easier and can be helpful even if you are starting out in other modalities, such as yoga, reflexology etc. You can invest in it here for a mere £20 https://www.beinspiredby.co.uk/shop/online-courses/setting-up-in-practice

What it probably doesn’t emphasis enough though is the hard work involved in running your own venture. From the moment the idea is born to the moment you get going, there’s a lot to get done, and it doesn’t stop there - ongoing admin and finances and tax etc. etc. So if your heart isn’t in it, it’s going to be even harder work. If your heart’s in it, sometimes you won’t know when to stop because it can be all consuming, which is why I find myself writing about this on a Saturday night when I promised myself I would give myself the night off…oh well!

Anyway, I’m all excited that Al’s all set up now. Like me with Beinspired she didn’t know that Aissance was about to be born, but she came along and did her Master Reiki attunement and spirit came in and within two weeks it had come through and after a whirlwind of a few weeks and lots of hard work she’s all set up with her fabulous website and her first offerings of a six week beginner’s course and yoga for surfing classes, more details/to book please go here https://www.aissanceyoga.com/sessions Please do tell others. Al’s heart is very much in it and she teaches in a very real and authentic way based on what she has learned from year’s of practice and going through the mill, as well as the various courses she has attended/trainings completed.

It just goes to show that we never do know, we just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, heed the call and find the courage to overcome our often self imposed limitation about not being good enough, or not possibly being able to make it work. You can. While the birthing process can be messy - and the incubation process for that matter too, with spirit supporting you who have no choice really, but to keep on keeping on and bringing whatever is inside you, out into the world.

I came across this lovely poem ahead of the Spring Equinox which seemed apt because with the new moon in Aries and the beginning of the Zodiac cycle coming in next week too, it really is all about new beginnings and following the spring horny energy, to create, even if you’re not sure where the path is headed or what you are creating, because inevitably it changes along the way, but it is a gift whatever it is, from your heart out to the world…

The Gift

Lift one foot. Surrender

Place the other. Claim

Step by step life unfolds behind me

The future beckons me forward

The path wasn’t clear until I chose it.

It will be gone once I have passed.

The gift is in this choice to surrender and claim

This choice to create my life one step at a time.

The gift is right here where I am.

Sending love, enjoy the energy shifting these next few days!

xx