One of the reasons I feel like I belong as a yoga teacher...

...is because in the beginning, I was not such an amazing yoga teacher.

And, please, don't misunderstand, I am still in the very beginning stages of my teacherhood, I will forever be in the early stages of my teacherhood, and I hope to remain teachable... and I have had many teachable moments.

I am clumsy, awkward, shy, and often forget to filter my thoughts from brain to mouth. I have dropped chimes during savasana, butchered the aums in the beginning of class, am constantly terrified I will hurt someone in my class, and can't seem to make it through one class without mixing up words, transposing letters, or dropping an "oh shit" inexplicably.

Over the last 6 months I've taught over 80 hours of yoga. In those 80 hours I've learned how to be kind to myself, how to laugh at myself, and how to have confidence that I can lead a yoga class. I've learned that I have a voice, how to use my voice, and how to guide others to find and use their bodies. In no other realm of my life have a felt this sense of empowerment, a sense of belonging and love, not only for others but in my own skin, in my own brain and in my own heart. I teach yoga because I care about spreading this love. I teach yoga because I have found no other place where I have been so fully challenged and comfortable in my own skin at the same time. I teach so I can continue to learn and evolve my own life and practice and hopefully impart some of that love, excitement, and confidence in others.