I currently teach yoga to men at an alcohol and drug recovery program. I teach physical yoga and then I teach a guided meditation for about 45 minutes. Most are happy because they don’t feel like I’m torturing them and they can lie down during the meditation.
This last weeks session I focused on Joy and asked them to feel the emotion of Joy and Bliss. Teaching is sometimes difficult because I just don’t know if they’re “getting it”. Am I making a difference? Do they feel better after our class? Feedback from my group is not always transparent.
After this session on Joy a new male to the group said to me quietly, “I forgot what Joy felt like, thank you.” I thought, “That was brave of him to say that.” Then while driving home, thinking about what he said to me, I realized it wasn’t bravery, it was him being vulnerable. He was vulnerable in that moment to say that to me.
About a year ago I read a book, Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. For the past couple days I went back through her book, and looked at the pages I marked and highlighted. It reminded me how we all need to be more vulnerable in our lives. To be courageous, we need vulnerability. To be open to new things, vulnerability. To implement changes in our lives, vulnerability. So if you want a better relationship, a better job, get to the gym more, lose weight, be a better parent, whatever it is you’re trying to get to in your life, you need to be more vulnerable.
I highly suggest you look at Brene Brown’s Ted Talks, on www.ted.com. The Power of Vulnerability has 17 million views.
YOU CAN’T GET TO COURAGE WITHOUT WALKING THROUGH VULNERABILITY, PERIOD. – Brene Brown
Try to be vulnerable and see what happens. I guarantee that male saw that moment to say something to me as just words he was saying, but in reality it was him being open to change in his life.
With Gratitude,
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