....and here you are.

I received my diploma for the 200 hour program this past weekend. I didn't feel like it was a huge event for me, because I kept thinking about how I still have the 500 hour to complete. I wouldn't let myself enjoy the milestone and celebration as much as I could have, because I was thinking about the work that has yet to be done. I wasn't worried about the work, I just didn't want to let myself receive the joy and congratulations that were pouring all around me. I did not want to feel the sadness of ending the time spent learning with 50 of the most beautiful souls I have ever seen. I robbed myself of the fullness of that experience, because I convinced myself of the words "not yet".
But something did happen when I received my diploma. I was given permission to be a teacher. I realized this after I taught my class on Wednesday. I was no longer "practice teaching." I was actually creating a class that people were growing their yoga practice in. How cool! That 200 hour milestone seemed to grow larger, in hindsight. Taking a lesson from this experience, I will continue to practice the mantra "here I am," so that wherever I may be, I will know that it is exactly the right place. I have arrived.