I Quit. How to Rediscover Yourself | By Juli Rathke

Last Updated: December 4, 2017By

Being a yoga teacher requires a lot of commitment and dedication to getting up and trying to walk the walk and talk the talk each and every day. But what if you find this isn’t happening quite the way you expected and you realize your own personal practice is nearly non-existent but you still seem to show up to “punch the clock” at your local studio for a few classes each week? This is more a norm than you may think. Teaching becomes a paycheck for many but are you truly taking care of you and offering the best of yourself to those around you and to the ones that you love?

Too many people value what they’ve become over what they have not.

Life happens. I get it. Kids, family, work, and travel for me is never-ending too. Some of us thrive at that level more than others. But even the “crazy magazine-business mentor-entrepreneur lady” needs to check in once and awhile to maintain the balance I need. So after teaching for over twenty years, I have discovered there is a time in your life where you just need to take a break from teaching to regain the perspective you need in your own life to be able to continue to give as a teacher in the authentic way you intend. Too many people value what they’ve become over what they have not and stop expanding. I don’t know about you, but striving to be better tomorrow than I am today is part of walking the walk.

This summer marks the fifth year in which I have taken the entire summer off from teaching.What, how can I know the immediate thoughts that may come up when considering this very thing for your life: “What if people forget me? What if I can’t get my job back? What will people think is wrong?”

But the better question to ask is, “What if I do and I love what happens to me?”

WELL HERE ARE 5 REASONS FOR YOU TO DO JUST THAT. QUIT TEACHING.

  1. You will spend the time you use to teach rediscovering your own practice and gain all the perspectives for yourself that you help create for others.
  2. You will begin to practice what you preach and will become more grounded, centered and clear as a teacher once more.
  3. You never know what will present itself when you remove something else from your life – new teachers, new spaces, new places, and new experiences!
  4. Just because you quit, doesn’t mean you take away your relationships. Attend more classes at your studio, go out for coffee and meet new friends.
  5. Taking a step back in life is always a good thing. You know, you’ve even said it a million times in your own classes. Time to take your own advice and reconnect with purpose and what makes you true to you.

Taking a break from anything has always readied me for more and to show up in a much bigger way in life, family, and business. I’ve contemplated not teaching at all anymore in the traditional way and will make that decision as it presents itself after my time off this summer. As for you, if you seek more clarity perhaps it may be time for you to “quit” as well. See how it feels and begin to expand as a human once again.

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