My favorite Yoga teacher Charley was not your typical Yoga teacher. He drank, smoked, and got into bar fights. Despite this, his voice was smooth as honey as he guided us through meditation, and we imagined ourselves melting into the ground.
What I liked most about Charley is that sometimes, he failed when demonstrating poses to us. Not only did he fail, but he showed no signs of embarrassment about it. While I think he could really do the poses, he was trying to teach us something else by showing us it was okay to fail.
When I did headstand, he asked, “Why are you doing it against the wall, Bill?” He urged me to learn it in the middle of the class, and stood by me with his arm out, so I felt safe from falling over. Now I don’t need the wall.
These lessons apply outside of Yoga practice. Life is falling down. And getting up.
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Categories: Errata
Bill Pearse 
Amen! There is a real problem in society to me that does not allow for failure. I think we should always give chances to do better, but folks need to realize that they need to grow. It is when one trys again and has a helping hand like your instructor to help and guide you to success or at least shows you that you can do it on your own with just the right amount of encouragement. good post.
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Right on…thanks Alesia. I couldn’t agree more. Seth Godin has been a great inspiration to me on this front; check him out some time if you are interested. I bought three books from him that he published recently, all set to arrive tomorrow. Enjoy your day! – Bill
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I love this. What a great lesson!!
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Thanks for reading, Jennifer and I’m glad you liked the sentiment! Smile…best to you and yours, – Bill
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