The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.  I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or if you have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.  I want to know if you can sit with pain ~ mine or your own ~ without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.  I want to know if you can be with joy ~ mine or your own ~ if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes, without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations  of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself.  If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.  If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.  I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day.  And if you can source your own life from its presence.  I want to know if you can live with failure ~ yours and mine ~ and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, YES!

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.  I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.  I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back. 

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.  I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else fails away.  I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.


by Oriah from her book THE INVITATION © Mountain Dreaming, published by HarperONE, San Francisco, 1999

 

 

What's the word on the street about the
Yoga New Hampshire Teacher Training Program?

From students currently in the Teacher Training Program:

Just wanted to thank you….I have been processing the weekend in my thoughts for the past few days and I have been thinking of you a lot.  I just want to thank you for giving so much of you to all of us in your yoga classes and your teacher training and off the mat. I am learning so much from you personally, and I realized I am learning so much from the people you have taught. I took Susie’s yoga class last night and there were a lot of new people and she was so awesome explaining yoga and all of the modifications and I realized how lucky we all are to have been influenced by you and your love of yoga.  I realize that we all bring ourselves into it, but everyone needs a good teacher and I feel blessed.  ~SG

A BIG THANK YOU for a great (first) teacher training session this past weekend.  I researched many teacher training programs around the state and feel I have made the right decision choosing yours.   Feels like home to me! ~  ND

 Thank you again for such a wonderful weekend.  I have felt so grounded and peaceful the past few days
-it is such a great feeling. ~AL

From graduates of the program:

Thank you for an amazing 4 days.  It was a life-changing experience for me ~ far beyond anything I expected.  The community you have created is warm and inviting.  I am so grateful to have found your program.  Peace." ~MB

 I am so blessed to have a teacher like you, Maureen.  You have taught me lessons that I will treasure for the rest of my life, on and off the mat.  You helped me to realize that confident, authentic voice has been inside of me all along, I just needed a friend/teacher like you to help me find it.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your love for yoga with me.  I am going to spread the word for as long as the universe allows me.  ~SM

Maureen, I wanted to say thank you for this past weekend.  As always, I learned a great deal.  I am grateful for the opportunity to take your teacher training and for all the knowledge that you share.  You are an inspiration, a role model and a true teacher in every sense of the word.  You told us last February that teacher training leads to life changes.  I love the way that my life has transformed since that time and all the beautiful changes that continue to unfold.  ~AD

The way you present the information always seems to fit into place so beautifully - the philosophy, the postures.  I can always tell how much preparation you put into your lessons.  Thanks for being such a great teacher.  You have taught me so much this past year and I am so grateful.  I thank you for your knowledge.

Exploring the path of yoga thru the Yoga New Hampshire Develop Your Practice program has been tremendous. I have to admit, I wasn't sure why I was drawn to it initially. I think it was a question for me more than anything. What IS this mysterious magic that happens through the practice of yoga? I am very happy to say that I still don't know the answer to the question. In the last year and a half, I've seen that living this practice called yoga is an answer of sorts, an answer which never concludes or completes something the way you might initially expect. Great! If you have this same sense of sincere curiosity about yoga, I invite you to consider joining the group, to connect with others who will share this interest with you, to actively explore this wonderful tradition, and perhaps to even hear the call to teach someday! ~MF

 

Gayatri Mantra

photo courtesy of Govinda Kai - thank you!
www.lunaticmonk.com

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