The Truth About Change, Part 1
As many of you know, TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania recently made a huge pivot to online offerings. The change has been massive – everything from moving out of our last physical studio, launching a new software platform, initiating a new payment processor, and redesigning the way we offer yoga to include replays and on-demand videos and courses. As I look back on the journey of getting the organization to this point, three truths appear. Over the next three weeks, I will share one truth each week and shine light on the process of making big shifts in life.
Truth #1
When you change, invitation to change rises for everyone around you.
Being afraid to shift because of what it will mean for the people around you can be debilitating. This likely has been the cause of many failing to take even one small step toward a change they know they need to manifest. However, when a knowing rises inside that you are growing and the old way will serve no longer, this truth must be honored. Sometimes the knowing rises as a little whisper. Sometimes it hits you like a crash of thunder. Either way, you step toward it. Denying your inner truth will slowly (or even quickly) create so much disconnect that you will at some point no longer feel at home in your own life.
When you make a change, a spectacular reality unfolds via the stream of clear energy you ride toward that change. You may not see the gifts immediately, but don’t take lack of visible confirmation as a sign that anything is wrong. The Universe loves resonance. When you align with your new realizations, pure energy has an opening to flow for everyone. Those around you are given opportunity to feel the flow, and they can ride that energy into their next invitation.
When I became aware of the changing call inside me - that it was time to create focused time and space for my own teaching and creating - I knew this would mean letting go of the final physical studio and releasing responsibilities of managing a large team of people. The first outward-going step was meeting individually with each of the people who would be most affected. One person at a time, I shared honestly about what had come to light for me. Then I left space to listen.
Over the course of many weeks, hours were spent talking about my shifts and what the transition would look like for the others involved. By the time the board made the decision in December 2022 to pivot the organization, the entire team knew the decision was coming. This gave everyone space to reorganize their own understandings and listen for what was now calling them.
In the emptiness of my stepping down from a role I played for decades, new pockets of life for TriYoga have emerged all over the county. Boalsburg Yoga and Wellness gained a place to land and grow, and other in-person classes have been established in communities connected with former TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania studios. Had I been paralyzed to act, afraid of what a big shift for TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania would mean for the other TriYoga teachers, my friends and fellow TriYoga teachers would not be spreading their wings and stepping into their new adventures.
Our small minds are so comfortable focusing on worries and difficulties, and change brings this on because we are looking at a future that is unknown. When the focused mind pulls back from that scary expanse and looks at the obvious path underfoot here and now, the way is visible. The world receives the gift of flowing energy that rises from honest presence and heartfelt truth, and this is the energy that fuels the Flow.
Author Theresa Shay is the Founding Director of TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania. She can be reached at theresa(at)PennsylvaniaYoga.com.