We rolled into Northern Vermont one year ago today. So surreal that arrival. Everything that led up to it, and everything that has unfolded since. It very much feels like we just arrived and that we’ve never not been here. Funny how that works.
A long, long, time ago, Christina said to me that I need to give it a year to have arrived anywhere. It takes a bit. Especially the older you get. That has held up here to be sure. And it is only after this first cycle of becoming in this new chapter that I am beginning to get a sense of who, and how, I am here.
During the years that we lived in Mount Horeb Wisconsin, I piece mealed a supplemental income together teaching public classes, the occasional workshop, and offering one-on-one private yoga instruction in my home. It was at times clunky, at other times incredibly joyful, and generally authentic throughout. When we were preparing to make this move, I was anxious about what was going to happen not just to the helpful amount of cash I brought in each month, but also to my identity and sense of purpose, and in turn, fulfillment, that I generate through a life relatively immersed in the practice and teaching of yoga.
Stepping away from public classes, in particular, was a big driver in my decision to get involved with the business and mission of Beautycounter, which of course has unfolded into so much more than that first desire- but that is another topic for another day. At the time, I felt most concerned about the loss of my private instruction, from a financial standpoint for sure, but mostly because I believe in that form of contact and offering and really did not want to see it disappear. It was as early as January of last year that I began to dream up the Life Of Practice Mentorship as a way of standing in for the private connection and instruction. And then the program launched in October, just under 2 months after the arrival of Wilfred.
Over the course of the last 9 months, I have gotten to know the Mentorship, how it works, and where it falls short. It definitely helped to replace some of my lost income, and it felt great to stay connected to a large part of my student body. I am so incredibly thankful for everyone who trusted me enough to jump into this project with me, even as I was quite clearly figuring it out. However, as time went on, it became clear to me that I was missing the mark in terms of what I wanted the Mentorship to really be serving. I also found myself spending so much time in the work of it that it wasn’t quite adding up to how I envisioned my best use of time or my presence in other areas of my life. It is called Life of Practice after all. And as I was finding less and less time for my actual life of practice, I knew that I needed to shift some things.
Also, in this same window of time, Rachel Peters, Sam Rice, and I have been beginning to make on-line offerings through our collaborative project, Practice Wellness Community. This work has been wonderfully inspiring and educational for me and also feels like another point of clarity in terms of how and where I want to be directing my energy.
It bears mentioning- maybe back at the beginning of this-(did I mention it?) that my top priority is my family and presence-ing myself with each of them. I know how fast this whole thing goes and I really want to stay in the now with these very little and not-so-little-at-all loves of mine. Especially, in this COVID-time where the option to leave and work for a few hours a week is off the table and I hate being a mom who is half paying attention to her kids and half trying to bang out some work. Even though I have always said that practice happens right in the muck of everything else- that is not quite what I mean. I want to be a bit less diffuse in how I show up.
Ugh, my goodness, are you still even reading?
Incredibly long preamble to simply say, at the end of June I am pressing pause on Life of Practice Mentorship through the rest of this year. I had originally thought about just taking a break until September, but I want the Mentorship to come back as something different and in order for me to get there, it will take some time.
However, I can give you a sense of what I am thinking about right now.
First of all, I want the mentorship to be 12 months long. And I want it to be much more community-based. In fact, I am playing with naming it Life Of Practice Community Mentorship. This is in part because I am realizing that replacing privates with an on-line version doesn’t really work. At least not for me in the way that I would like it to. I love connecting with folks one-on-one, but I think what we crave as home practitioners is contact and connection and I believe that has more possibility in a group. (I am scheming as to what personal support looks like right now, and I think something along the lines of Home Practice Consults. A separate offering. Something that serves as more of a touchstone for people’s practice depending on where they are at. Think, co-creating a practice plan.)
But I digress! So, as of right now, I am thinking 12-months with content looking like 2 group practices per month and 2 group meetings per month- both via Zoom. Think a few hours one day a week and that is mostly it. Everything will be recorded of course, but I am thinking that being there live for 50% of the time is a good aim if not a requirement. I am also planning on making a cut in the monthly tuition, with tiered options and different payment schedules for greater savings. There is a way in which I want this to have the cohesion and connection and consistency of a membership model, but with a more collective intention and vibe. Lol. You feel me? I am decidedly all done planning one sequence every week and hoping that it works for everyone. At this level, my hope is that less spoon-feeding of weekly practices is necessary. Which brings me to the next thing:
I am planning to create some pre-requisites for Mentorship. A year, after all, is a long time, and I would like for folks to have a baseline of home practice rhythm, if not fluency, before jumping in. One possible pre-requisite is the 6-week course PWC is offering beginning in July, Grow hOME. Y’all, I haven’t’ been this pumped about a course since I don’t know when. You can read more about it on the site, but basically this is the HOW TO of creating a personal home practice. From the very beginning. I am pumped I tell you.
There will also be one or two pre-requisite offerings available from me in the fall. Either live or hopefully- if I can get it together- an evergreen option that lives as an onboarding course for Mentorship. Not each thing is a prereq! They will just each count for it so that when we begin together in January 2021, we are starting from a place of connection and common foundation.
Before I wrap it up entirely, two more things. Those of you that know me well most likely share with me a deep love for words. Their meanings, their potency, their power. I have spent a good amount of time recently considering the particular words chosen for these programs: Life Of Practice, and Practice Wellness Community. The common thread of course is the word Practice. Which, to be sure, means a good deal many things and in connection to the work in the sphere of yoga I really interpret it as: Meditation (with the inclusion of Mantra and Pranayama), Movement (of all sorts but with an emphasis and commitment to yoga asana), and Contemplation. This last piece gives attention to studentship and the ways in which we are in consideration of the teachings and the study and the practices of Yoga as they apply to our lives, and hopefully as they inform a well lived life rooted in ethics, equity, advocacy, and humility.
Practice Wellness Community embodies the pillar of practice and then adds to it two more in the form of how we are caring for the whole of ourselves through conscious choice and action, in addition to reminding us that we are not alone in our efforts, nor should we be. I love considering these names. Why we chose them. How their significance unfolds and evolves over time. I’d love to hear what they mean to you as well.
Alright! Now, go register for Grow hOME.
xxx,m