Cat From The Mat

Sculpt Your Own Path

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Created on Wednesday, 13 February 2013 16:12

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

This February 14 will mark one year since I resigned my licensing agreement with Anusara, Inc.  It was an empowering and clear day in the middle of the mayhem in Miami when I made my choice to no longer promote my offerings under the brand of Anusara Yoga.  In fact, it was the best Valentine's Day gift I have ever given myself!  (Second runner-up was when I graduated to a big girl bed in my 30's after a decade of an aging futon.)

Thinking that I was operating within an egalitarian horizontal model (where the seat of the teacher shifts from person to person), I found myself practicing deference, however still within a vertical hierarchy.  The guru-based top-down model is antiquated at best.  I define the term "guru" as a principle, not as a person.  A guru is anything that helps you recognize your inherent greatness.  Listening to my dignified teacher within, I chose to resign from old-school Anusara Yoga (to which I had been committed for over a decade) and to honor my own path.
 
This though begs the question: if you are surrounded by so many guiding voices, then what does YOUR inner teacher truly sound like?  Extrinsic voices are only effective if they guide you back home to listen and believe in yourself, especially if it differs from the status quo.  The tools you need already reside within.  Intrinsic experiential wisdom is the loudest and clearest voice of all.
 
As we segue from the Chinese Year of the Water Dragon to that of the Water Snake, we shift from the tumultuous properties of water to a more reflective, fluid nature of the serpent.  A snake sheds its skin, letting go of that which is no longer needed to prepare for the newest version of itself.  Every time we practice yoga, we are shedding light on that which needs to shift and be healed so that we evolve in every moment.  This year offers immense potential of creative expression and subtle gestation that may take some time to unveil.  Trust in your intuitive abilities, as a way to honor your discerning inner guru.
 
Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Mardi Gras, and Happy Valentine's Day!
 
Cheers,
Cat McCarthy
NOLA YOGA
February 2013