Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End...

Our ATT group after 8 hours of yoga, teaching, and test-taking...

On Saturday night at 7pm, I finally finished my Advanced Teacher Training "coursework." Along with ten of my fellow ATT-ers, I let out a big sigh of relief & exhaustion, shared a final group OM, and gave hugs all around--while reminding one other that we'd still be seeing each other at our thesis presentations and around the studio on a semi-regular basis. It was bittersweet, as I'll now have some of my weekends back (yay!) and won't have as much to prepare for each month, but I also won't have a built in system for ingesting tons of new information each month, a way to continue to learn and grow on a very regular basis (without much planning on my part)...

As I was reflecting on how I feel about the end of this journey, I was reminded of how we all feel at the end of any long haul--at the end of a school year, or at a graduation, or at the end of a really fun trip, retreat, or event that we've been looking forward to for almost a year (a wedding, perhaps?)--it's a very multi-dimensional type of feeling. On the one hand, it's amazing--that, "we're finally done, it's finally over!" type of feeling--and yet, on the other hand, it can be sad, as it's "the end of an era," an important marker, something that will be missed, and especially, people and relationships that will be missed. And then there's the "what's next?" feeling that often creeps in pretty quickly...

So this time, I'd like to hold on to this feeling for a little while. I'd like to revel in what I learned, in the experience, and in my newly-discovered free time. I'd like to focus on my thesis, my summer trips, my impending nuptials, and let the material that I learned over the past 10-months slowly soak in and make it's way into my teaching. I'd like to hold off before exploring the "what's next" of my teaching journey, and instead, just live in this place of celebration. 

For all of you who have recently graduated, gotten married, finished a big training, or crossed another big finish line in life, I encourage you to try and find a way to bask in the now this summer. Try and hold off the "what's next" for a bit, to just BE, and to let your past experiences take hold. We have all of our life to explore the next thing, so why not take some time to reflect on what we've just been through, and enjoy the place that lies in between an ending and a new beginning? 

And of course, celebrating with a trip to the pool, some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and a 9pm bedtime never hurt anyone, either ;) 

Because every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end...

Namaste,
Mary Catherine