Real Life: Expectations of Dream Followers & Goal Getters

Welcome to another "real life" blog post! I try my best to keep it "real" both on my blog and social media. To me that means being a bit vulnerable sometimes and sharing my truth. You can check out my past real life posts about a week in my life as a yoga teacher, Yoga Practice, not Yoga Perfect, and what it takes to follow your dreams. 

Ever since I stepped on to the ledge and declared loudly (ie: in a moderate tone that only some people could hear)  that I was going to follow my dream, achieve my goals, make some changes, live my best life, etc etc... I have felt a level of expectation placed on me. Some of (maybe most of) these expectations are of course, self-imposed, but some of them are societal in ways. A lot of these expectations are simply unrealistic and seem to set people up for disappointment and discouragement. Most are meant to be empowering, but if not met can leave one feeling like a failure. I wanted to share some of the expectations I experience, in case some of them are being placed on you, by yourself or others, or maybe you are unknowingly placing them on people around you.

Expectation #1: As a dream follower/goal getter, you are going to make really bold choices like Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love.

AKA: "So you're going to quit your job to do this thing you love?" (or else you're not really doing it)

Photos that seem to spread the message of making bold moves found here, here and here

Reality: I have certainly placed this expectation on myself over and over. The reality is, if I quit my steady income job, I will struggle a lot paying bills and buying groceries, because I am just not making the funds to support myself doing what I love right now. I know this, so while I have changed my schedule around at my day job to allow for more time to start my Yoga Program and get it off it's feet (I have gone from having 1 person in a class to selling out my latest Beginner session in 6 months time!!!) I still need to go in for my 9-5. This doesn't mean that I am less committed to making this Yoga Program work - in fact I have to be super committed to fit it all in! The goal is that there will come a time that my Yoga career will edge out my 9-5 and then I will gladly hand in my walking papers and hit the yoga mat full time. Life is not like the movies and TV shows we love where the hero/heroine makes a bold gesture and still manages to live in their upscale apartment or travel the world. The boldness in real life is in the statement that we, dream followers, want more out of life and are working at getting that.

Expectation #2: Success comes faster when you do something you love and are good at.

AKA: "So how long are you going to give it??"

Photos that make success sound as a "natural" occurance if you're doing something you love found here and here

Again, some of these are self imposed or my interpretation of things based on the immense pressure I put myself under to achieve my goals. However, success is not EVER overnight. It's actually more like: attempt - fail - attempt - mini success - attempt - fail - attempt - bigger success - attempt - fail again - and on and on.... I can recall every high moment I have had so far in this journey, because that is what keeps me going. I can also remember exactly how each of those low moments felt, because I feel them very deeply. There is not a straight line to success, so if I give myself a timeline, and at the end of my timeline I am in a "fail" moment,  I may be giving up before my next big success! I'm certainly not saying to hold on to an unrealistic dream until you're 45, broke and have to go back to working in retail for the next 30 years to pay off your debt (again, see above expectation). I am saying that I don't know how long I will give this thing. I don't know how long I will give this because I don't know when all this hard ass work I am doing is going to pay off! I didn't know I would sell out a session in my first 6 months - that wasn't the goal. So, the answer is: I'm giving this my all. And really.....

Photo found here

Expectation #3: Success is measured in dollar signs.

AKA: "Is it worth it?"

The first 6 week session I ran, I lost money after paying my rental fee, buying yoga props, advertising and having very a low participant count. The second session, I think I broke even or came close, and the third I made some money, which all goes into my program and I personally do not see any of it.

BUT.

The first session, I had a brand new participant start my program and attend every week of the session and sign up for the second session (a returning participant means she loved it - success!)

The second session, I met a participant who ended up telling her friends about the program and 3 of them signed up for the next session (she must love it if she is telling her friends - success!)

The third session, I had people asking me to email them updates on Fall programming so they could be sure to sign up.

I am bringing yoga into the lives of people who maybe wouldn't have tried it otherwise. They are falling in love with the practice, how their bodies feel, and how they feel in their bodies. This is how I am measuring success. So, yes, It is worth it. 

I would love to hear from you! Are you experiencing pressure from expectations, self-imposed or otherwise? Are there others I have missed? Let me know in the comments :) 

My Yoga Journey (so far)

Photo found here

I actually started experimenting with Yoga when I was, 17 or 18 years old… and I think it was mostly because I was, at one point, a huge fan of the show Dharma and Greg and was obsessed with Dharma who was all flower child, free spirit and Yoga Instructor. I wanted to be like Dharma, so, I attended a Yoga class at a local women’s fitness centre near my home and was by far the youngest person there. I would say this was just before Yoga became as mainstream as it is now. 

Fast forward to being about 21-22 years old, and I started attending Hot Yoga classes with a couple of girlfriends as we heard it was a killer work out. I LOVED it! I went to a Bikram studio and would attend a couple times a week loving the feeling of being detoxed and “worked out” at the end of class. To me, this was about fitness and working out. I continued to practice Hot Yoga for a few years, eventually moving from Bikram to Moksha as I found that I liked the slightly cooler rooms and the way the teachers spoke during classes – in Moksha hot yoga classes the teachers don’t stick to the same rigid script and rules as they do in Bikram classes, which sometimes included yelling and telling students not to wipe their sweat or drink water. I guess I was starting to enjoy different elements of the practice aside from the physical work-out. After practising for a couple of years, I eventually stopped as I started going to the gym, and as Yoga was a “fitness class” to me, I didn't feel the need for both. 

Photo found here

This takes us up to when I was about 25-26 and I decided I wanted to get back into the Yoga world. I think my fire was re-ignited when a friend of mine who was pregnant enlisted my support at a prenatal yoga class – I was the only non-pregnant person there. I signed up for an intro membership at a new hot yoga studio and re-committed to attending regular classes. After re-introducing classes into my life, I knew that I loved Yoga enough that I wanted to try and become an instructor (just like Dharma! ;)). So, I looked up studio’s that offered Yoga Teacher Trainings, originally looking into hot yoga trainings, but was deterred by the high prices and long time commitments that I would have to take off work. I found a local yoga studio who offered a two year training that involved evening and weekend commitments and went to try a class out there. This class was my first real Hatha style yoga class and it was very different from what I was used to in the Bikram and Moksha studios. 

I signed up for my teacher training, which was Hatha and alignment focused, in 2011 and committed fully to it. I absolutely loved it. I was learning and growing in my personal practice and gaining the tools to actually teach this practice to others. Some people in the training were there without any intention of teaching after, just wanting to grow and learn as a practitioner. I was there with a goal - I would complete the training and start teaching! I was very lucky to be able to start teaching at the studio that was training me before I got my certificate. I was absolutely hooked after the first class I subbed.  

My practice now looks a lot different than it did when I was in my early twenties. I practice 1-2 times a week, but that isn't always attending a community class or even practising for a whole hour at a time. I have a home practice now and attend the classes that I really want to go to – but it isn't to reach a fitness goal. I am actually not someone who is interested in the “hard core” yoga classes that leave you dripping sweat anymore. My favourite style to practice and teach is more of a “yin and yang” where you are moving your body in a way that feels good, in gentle and active ways. There are weeks that I don’t practice asana (which is only one limb of Yoga), but I find a topic that I am interested to research and read about – currently Ayurveda – and dig into that. A few years ago this would never have happened as I was all about the physical practice. I feel like Yoga isn’t about a class for me at this point, but more of a way of life. That is not to say I am someone living a perfectly harmonious "Yogic life" – but Yoga is something that I think about more off my mat than when I am on it. It seems like another lifetime ago I was practising in that hot room – with carpet! Ew! – and sweating through my clothes, but that was the first step in my Yoga Journey. 

Photo found here

If you are wanting to start your Yoga Journey - why not come to the Your Best Yoga "Go with the Flow" class this Thursday?! With no expectation except to just show up on your mat and do YOUR best - whatever that may be - what do you have to lose? And just maybe, this will be the first step to your own Yoga journey :) 

When I am Doing my Best... with the creator of Mieroglyphs!

Something you may not know about me? I love quotes. Like, LOVE them. I have them posted on my corkboard in my office at work to inspire me throughout the day. The lock screen on my phone will display one I need to see on a regular basis – it’s currently the “our deepest fear” quote from Marianne Williamson. I have the word “Trust” tattooed on my ankle as a reminder to “trust the journey”. Basically, for me, when I am looking to be inspired/motivated/encouraged/lifted up or validated… I’m turning to words. 

I’m also a fan of bracelets. 

Think those two things don’t go together at all? Think again!

Mieroglyphs (like Hieroglyphs but with an "M") is a company started by Tyson Auer, who also finds inspiration from quotes. His company makes bracelets, which he then engraves by hand (seriously, I double checked and asked him if he REALLY does this himself by hand and he said he does) with the customers favorite and customized quote. The quotes are actually engraved on the INSIDE of the bracelet, so you can walk around completely inspired by something that no one else even needs to know about! Their tagline is “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” which I find quite charming and very fitting for their product. They also refer to the “Miero” as your own hidden tattoo – but you know, way less permanent ;). Check out their company vision here for more details on the bracelets. 

Photos from mieroglyphs.com

Naturally, I wanted to know what it looks like for Tyson when he is doing his best – and engraving bracelets by hand – and this is what he had to share:

“To me doing my best can probably be summed up by my favorite quote – “stay hungry, stay foolish”. As long as I follow these words I am always staying hungry to better myself and my surroundings and by staying foolish I am always following my heart. It’s the quote I wear inside my Miero.” 

I’m currently teaming up with Mieroglyphs to spread the word on their products AND if you want to get your very own Miero, you will get FREE SHIPPING on your orders with the coupon code SANDRAYOGA. That may not seem like a big deal, but when I ordered my bracelet, shipping was $10.00 so that’s a pretty good saving! I ordered the Aztec bracelet and have it engraved with “just do your best”.

Visit their page here: http://www.mieroglyphs.com/

As always, I would love to know what it looks like when you do your best and if you leave a comment before Oct. 31 you will be entered to win passes to the “Go with the Flow” class for you and a friend in November! 

* Disclosure: I am involved with Mieroglyphs Affiliate Program