“Don’t Take It Too Seriously”
This story was shared by one of New Leaf’s senior facilitators, Rochelle, who leads New Leaf programs at two high school sites, an elementary school, and one of our community drop-in classes.
I have such deep respect and gratitude for the young people I work with. They teach me more about yoga and mindfulness than I could have ever imagined.
The usual tone of my drop-in class is light, fun, chill vibes – filled with jokes and riddles. On this particular day, I was uncharacteristically serious. Though my youth were unfamiliar with me having this tone, they respected the change in pulse and met me there.
The class went on quietly, somberly even, until we reached our balancing postures. As I wobbled around incessantly in my demonstration, I commented, “Some days balancing is more challenging. Like me, you might have to…”
I was interrupted by a young man who said, “You can’t balance because you’re taking it too seriously.”
The whole class burst into laughter including myself. In that moment, I became the student to a wise, young, growing master of life. He was a teacher to all of us that day.