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The 10 Most Life-Changing Things Yoga Teachers Have Ever Said to Me

Sometimes, your yoga teacher gets it completely right.

GINA TOMAINE

MAY 3, 2018

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I’m going to tell it to you straight: Some days in yoga class, whatever the instructor is spouting off can sound like complete mumbo jumbo, despite his or her best intentions (for example, I still have no idea what my third eye center is). Other times, my teacher might be telling me something brilliant, but I’m not in the right headspace—and I tune it out and focus on whatever I've decided is more important at the time (like a run down of my to-do list, or the million ways I could have done a project better).

But then there are times when not only am I completely attuned to my practice, but also to what the instructor is trying to share. And sometimes, the teacher says exactly what I need to hear, at exactly the right time for me to hear it. The stars are aligned, and I feel that thing you're supposed to feel when you're seeking out a meditative practice: peace, understanding, and acceptance. These are the moments when it really does feel like my yoga practice allows the kind of transcendence I crave when I roll out my mat. 

Looking for inspiration? Here are the 10 most powerful, life-changing things yoga teachers have ever said to me. 

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The 10 Most Life-Changing Things Yoga Teachers Have Ever Said to Me

1. Reach higher. It will steady you.

One day in class, many of us were struggling with Vrksasana (Tree Pose) and falling out of it. A teacher said to simply reach higher. Of course, she meant to push just a little further and harder than was immediately accessible, and it would make the rest of the pose work. She was right. Now, whenever I’m struggling with work, or having a particularly bad week, I remind myself to reach higher and further than what’s immediately in front of me. And inevitably, little things start to line up.

See also Colleen Saidman Yee's 7 Poses for Enoughness

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 GINA TOMAINE