WORDS CHANGE US: WHEN THINGS FALL APART by Pema Chodron

“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.”

This quote from Pema Chodron is today’s WORDS CHANGE US.

Pema’s words feel true to me. They reflect my own experience.

Where there’s fear, there’s heat, and something to look at.

I was 51 years old and,admittedly, stricken by both doubt and fear when I did my 200-hour yoga teacher training. Weird, since by this point in my life, I had tons of real-world experience. I had been practicing yoga, on and off, for 25 years, since Nirvana was still a band. I had worked as a magazine journalist and had traveled the world. I’d been an editor at a major national magazine and I’d taught writing as a professor at a university.

So why was I so scared?

Looking back, I understand. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t think my way through or out of the situation. In order to serve my students, I had to be present with myself. And that scared the shit out of me.

Becoming a part-time yoga teacher remains the best thing I’ve done for myself as an adult. Teaching yoga led me into my heart. And that, my friends, is where it’s at.

What scares you? What truths lie in hiding underneath the fear, waiting to be discovered?

Photo by Stephen Collector