Stepping Into Our Higher Selves

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I lie in a dorm room in Canada before the second leg of a 160km bike ride for charity. On this restless evening I can’t sleep in anticipation of the journey ahead of me - so I walk over to the convenience store and pick up a yoga magazine. I’m struck by the yogi on the cover. She is beautiful. However, it's not her outer beauty that strikes me but rather the intensity in her eyes. There is fire and passion. She looks angelic and not of this world but yet so grounded in this world that it looks like she has roots growing down from her feet…

Three months later I find myself walking into her yoga studio by sheer coincidence a million miles away on the Gold Coast in Australia. 'She' being Michelle Merrifield of Essence of Living… and I having arrived at the feet of my first guru.

My yoga teacher talks to me about intuition. The discussion starts with the bindi. In India the women traditionally wear a bindi to remind themselves to stay conscious in everything they do. Every time they look in the mirror and see their own reflection they are reminded to be conscious and aware. Also, when men see them walking in the streets they are also reminded to stay conscious by the site of the bindi. The goal is to stay present in even the most monotonous of tasks whether it is drafting an affidavit or doing the washing.

It’s a Friday night and I sit in a yoga class breathing and stretching and opening. In between our discussion about intuition and consciousness Michelle mentions to the class that yoga teacher training commences that night. I have always dreamed of doing a yoga teacher training but had decided that I was going to wait a few years to do it. I would first deepen my practice and go overseas somewhere in Bali or India and then immerse myself in yoga for a month. However, in a heartbeat this dream changes. All of a sudden I can’t focus on the postures. All I can think about is yoga teacher training and how I want to do it so badly right here at this studio with this teacher. In the most un-yogic sense I become so attached to this notion of yoga teacher training under the pupilage of Michelle. My temperature goes up, I start daydreaming of weekends spent standing in asanas learning pranayama techniques, studying yoga philosophy and sitting hands-facing-up in meditation absorbing this great teacher's energy. I go up to Michelle and stutter… trying to muster the courage to sign up. Should I? Could I? Am I ready? Michelle smiles. Training starts in five minutes, she’ll see me there. I sign up, not knowing if I have enough money or enough time but knowing in my heart I'm doing the right thing. I’m right.

Great teachers like Michelle Merrifield are rare jewels. She's beautiful and strong yet so humble. She's driven to be the best yoga teacher she could possibly be - training in India, New York with Jivamukti and Dhamma Mitra and in Bali with some of the most world-reknowned yogis. Every aspect of her practice pushes boundaries. She's constantly learning and growing and becoming the best yogi and person she can be. She's a former sponsored surfer, national swimmer and flag football player who only in her 20s has also completed her masters in business. It is rare to find someone so young and yet so wise. Her intention in everything she does is calculated. She elevates everyone around her…

A guru is a great teacher who dispels darkness. Michelle does just that. She excels in her capacity to help elevate people to become their highest selves. As Michelle says, this life can be heaven on earth or hell on earth. It is we who decide. She truly creates a haven on earth wherever she goes. Her light shines to all those that she meets. Her philosophy and appreciation of the gifts of God are contagious. Yet she always insists that she is doing nothing more than passing on the wisdom and teachings of her gurus. Half way through the yoga course I find myself stretched and challenged… on all levels. I leave the studio with a lightness. My voice, my posture and my breath have changed. I float. I wonder what I would have done in the past five weeks if I had not taken on this challenge? I probably would have had a few drinks, procrastinated from my university assignments and slacked on my yoga practice. Yet instead, here I am instead taking one giant step towards my highest self.

The Essence of Living is creating your own practice. Creating your own life, your own beauty, your own reality. Whatever your goals are, show some courage and step towards them. If you don’t do it now, you may never. As my closing yoga prayer states:

Open your heart and extend your love to all those that you will meet. Stay aware in your intention. Your thoughts will become your actions. Be open to everything and attached to nothing. See the beauty that surrounds. Stretch yourself past the boundaries that don’t exist. Come into your light. Be your highest self. Vibrate with bliss. Namaste.

For more information on Michelle Merrifield or Essence of Living go to www.essenceofliving.com.au