I had a wonderful time yesterday presenting, meeting other teachers (yoga and other kinds).  I also got to be a participant.  But one of the most special moments was the end of the conference were we all convened together for a wrap up.  The last keynote was led by some well known yogis, hailing from New York and Baltimore.  Such warm-hearted, tell it like it is, let’s make yoga accessible to everyone kind of people.  My kind of people.  One of the activities we did in this large group of 300 people was so personal yet so profound that I really just felt it in my heart.

It’s basically a loving-kindness meditation or metta meditation:

Close your eyes or soften your gaze, place your hand on your heart and try to locate it’s beat.  Pay attention to your breath.  Notice how you don’t have to ask your body to breathe.  It just does.  Tell yourself, I love you.

Find someone next you.  Can be anyone.  Look at their faces, look into their eyes.  Notice them.  Now, tell them “I love you”. (you can imagine the laughter, and playfulness off of that one).

Again, look at your partner, and know that the person next to you is there, with you in this moment.  Look into their eyes, and tell them, “I love you”.  (again you can imagine, the lightness of people, the laughter)

Now, look around the room and try to see as many people in the room as you can see and say,” I love you”.

You can imagine the smiles filling the room, the laughter, the joy.  After a whole day of yoga, presentations, and complete mind overload, this was what the room needed.  And I can’t tell you how happy I was that I decided to end the day with my students right next to me.  I got to tell my student “I love you”.  A strange thing to come from a teacher to a student, or from a student to a teacher.  But we both did it, and at that moment it really mattered for us both to hear that from each other.  Sure, uncomfortable, surely a strange way to say it, but I know that I couldn’t have been a better time to say it or hear it.