Do you ever make it a point to get out of your comfort zone?
I made it a point to get out of mine last week. I taught my boyfriend yoga for the first time at one of my group classes.
We had talked about him coming early on when we first started dating and then I think as more time passed I kind of secretly maybe didn’t want him to anymore. Probably because he’s done yoga for years and has had the privilege of taking from some pretty amazing teachers, so I believe a bit of my perfectionism I’ve tried to put to rest was trying to awake from a nap when the time came. I found myself quite anxious and a little nauseous all day until it was time for us to drive over to the studio.
Instead of pretending all was good and possibly having my voice shake for an hour, I just called it out for what it was at the beginning of class and let everyone know how nervous I was and why and invited them to join me during class to get out of their comfort zones as well. I did things we’d never done before with this particular group and had everyone play around with different versions of hopping on their feet as a prep for handstands and the option to do handstands later in the class against the wall.
After about 10 minutes, I loosened up a bit and stopped sounding like a drill sergeant with zero personality and started bringing some lightness into the class. I have to admit though, I didn’t look at him too much knowing I could possibly get a little distracted.
At the end of class, I thanked everyone and told him I loved him and how happy I was to have him in class and was pretty thankful that first time was over. Despite being out of my comfort zone, I made it through and I didn’t die. In fact, I know I will be a better teacher because of it. Funny how you could put me in a room full of hundreds of people easier than doing it in front of one particular person. Amazing how silly we can be at times, isn’t it? And now I’d be totally cool with him coming anytime!
What would get you out of your comfort zone? I think we all have many things we could put on that list.
What would it take to make you willing to do one of those things and make a point to get out of your comfort zone?
Guess what?! I’m pretty sure if you commit to doing one of those things that you won’t die either. And it will probably make you a little stronger in that area, have more confidence or possibly even cause you to experience a little magic!
Wishing you all the strength, confidence and magic one can muster…
Oh, and p.s. everyone said it was the best class I’ve taught so far. Go figure 😉