When you start a new course or new project it is easy to be in "doing" mode - ticking of what needs to be done, what you want to learn, what you are learning, rushing in your mind ahead to the end and the "end result" or outcome when you are "finished".
So it has been a breath of fresh air and welcome reminder on my own self kindness journey to start my Mindful Self Compassion Teacher training journey and find that the emphasis is as much on who we are and what we bring to both our OWN practice, and our learning as a student, and eventually to those we teach who have their own interest and reasons for choosing self compassion and self kindness.
Coming from an often anxious mindset, starting something new like this can feel like a jump in to the deep end with a whole host of ruminations and overthinking about how you compare to other teachers, what they may think about you and worrying about doing the practices yourself for the first time as a teacher in training.
Yet self compassion and self kindness is embodied right through this course, something which seem when you think of it, of course, it must be like that, and at the same time so unusual to other courses I have done that it has felt like a gift to suddenly discover this to be true.
Indeed one of my big takeaways was from something one of the teacher trainers said early on, that we come to teacher training already with what we need to teach - our own hearts, our own lived experience and our own practice, all something that we can bring and share with our students with a long exhale and relief we can show up just as we are in this moment.
It feels so spacious this gift shared, the thought that we already have what it takes where it matters - in our hearts and intentions. It allows me to cling a little less tightly to my thoughts of "but how did I DO?" which can often be my default. It allows me room to slow down and trust myself as my teachers trust me and allow me to look with wonder and curiosity at what it is that they see, in order I may remember it and claim it for myself as that welcome gift. How will this gift to myself unwrap into the teaching I offer and the way I embody self kindness for myself? A little at a time, unknown to me now maybe, just happy to be here, exploring spaciously and with curiosity for what I may already have in me for this work and what is arising when I truly connect with my own dear heart.
How does it feel for you to connect with your own heart this way? To slow down and listen to what you already have, and appreciate what you already bring?