The Good Wolf and The Bad Wolf
Grandfather sat with his two grandchildren begging him for a story at the fireside. His stories contained the lore of generations and he shared them with the two young ones. He told of the good wolf who provided for the pack, was a diligent hunter and scavneger, who cared for the cubs and who knew his place within the pack and also of the bad wolf who was the loner. The bad wolf gorged on the food he found without sharing, killed the cubs that weren't his own and brought discord to the pack. Grandfather was telling of the confrontation between the two when the young ones asked,"Who wins?" The Grandfather answered. "The one that you feed."
This teaching point was delivered from Ana during on of the morning ceremonies of the Advanced Forrest Teacher Training last week. It really resonated with me (shocker, a story about wolves connecting with me, right?). The intent for the day was to bring in the kind of energy that you wanted into your cell tissue in every pose and this parable really brought it to life for me in a way I hadn't considered before. All too often I find myself financing the negative and self-destructive tendencies with my energy and life, engaging in behaviours that keep me stuck and rooted in my misery. This is something that had so much power over me in my early 20's that it almost claimed my life. The power that these thoughts had meant that I was 99% bad wolf, causing damage and harm to my pack and generally being a bit of a shit, all my energy tied up into bringing me down. I feel that Forrest Yoga has given me the tools to be more perceptive in the ways that I entertain such thoughts and that I now have new neurological pathways to follow to new behaviours at these times. It has also given me the ability to see when some of my students are choosing to stay stuck and when they could run a different energy.
Assisting on the advanced training has given me an intensive look at the way I connect to the people we are working with and they way that an intent needs to be honoured throughout the practice, not just when hearing it at the start of the class. I was able to bring many out of suffering by sitting with them, seeing them and speaking for them to come away from the suffering and move towards the life that they most desired. In doing so, I felt like I could see the life I most desired even clearer too. As always, there is something to take away from the hard work that there is when assisting. I have connected with lots of new people. I have seen the development of experienced teachers into exceptional teachers with tools that will help their people. I have been vulnerable to a group of people that I felt intimidated by and I have made some dear friends in the process. Through ceremony, the grasp I have on choosing the life I want to live versus the life that keeps me miserable and stuck is stronger. I just needed some wolves to help me choose.
When people take action to make something happen, that something becomes more likely.
