Readying Yourself to Learn

Are you ready to learn to be Love?

Well, before we move into the Love Curriculum – actually before you move into committing yourself to learn anything that you desire to learn – there is a process of readying yourself to learn.  What I mean is that all of us, regardless of how enlightened we may feel that we are, take into any new learning situation our past conditioning.  Our past conditioning influences how we see, hear, and feel in the present moment.

Some of you, no doubt, have learned a process where you practice releasing yourself from your past conditioning so that you can show up fresh and new in every present moment.  And such freshness and newness allows you to create joy, peace, and love from all possibilities in the present moment.  Pretty powerful stuff – huh?

Well, if you haven’t learned those strategies to practice this cool way of showing up in the world, we will be teaching you some of those strategies in the Love Curriculum.  But first, I’ll share a story.

I learned a powerful quote from Baron Baptiste that I want to share with you.  When I began my yoga teacher training process with him, he told all of us that, “You are a success.  Everything you have brought to this yoga training camp has made you successful.  It has given you everything you have and everything you have not.  You are here to discover what you have not.”  He went on to teach us that in discovering that which you have not, you must choose to be a “yes.” His point was that in order to discover that which we have not or to discover how to move closer toward that which we have not, we needed to make ourselves open to new experiences and new learning.  We needed to show up as a “YES.”

In preparing to engage in the Love Curriculum or in anything you desire to learn, be, experience, or explore, setting the intention to be a “yes” opens you to discovery. Being a “yes” means that you are open to inquiry rather than judgment; that you are willing to embrace the state of ambiguity as you inquire into your thoughts, feelings, and body sensations; and that you are committed to releasing any rigidity or message that what you are inquiring into is… well… “stupid.”  The reason that it is so important to be a “yes” in the moment of your learning is not because we want you to stop using your brain or turn your back on what you value.  It is important to commit to being a “yes” because in order to make space to discover that which you have not, you need to be willing to entertain questions, as well as explore feelings and possibilities that you may not have previously considered. That which you have not, cannot be found in past conditioning; it can only be found in inquiry.

So, in order to get ready for fun inquiry into that which you have not, consider journaling on the following questions so that you can show up as a “yes” as you engage in the Love Curriculum:

1. What is it about whom I understand myself to be that makes me feel like a “success”?
2. What is it about “being successful” that I like about myself?
3. Even though I consider myself successful, what is it that I do not feel I have?
4. What am I willing to explore in order to “get” what I do not have or to discover what I do not have?
5. What am I not willing to explore in order to “get” what I do not have or to discover what I do not have?

After you have read through your answers to the aforementioned questions, consider the following:

1. Is there something in that which I am unwilling to explore that illustrates to me what I do not have?
2. Am I ready to be a “yes” in this learning journey and therefore be open to discovering that which I do not see in this moment?

As Baron Baptiste invites, be a “yes.” Embrace the ambiguity. And enjoy the journey to discovering what you have not.

Namaste!

Please click here to read more articles by Marilee Bresciani.

Marilee J. Bresciani, Ph.D., is a professor of higher education and the Founder of Rushing to Yoga Foundation. Her now more than 24 years of professional work has been committed to changing the way that America talks about quality of higher education. In order to keep from going crazy about trying to get the American public to care about what students are actually learning and how they are developing, rather than other indicators that have nothing to do with that, she has engaged in yoga, meditation, and self-referral. Marilee’s mantra is “I teach what I need to learn.”