Keep It Awkward 😬

Last week, I put on my big girl high-waisted yoga flares and asked you for feedback on Nin Yoga.

(also, don't ever look up GIFS for yoga pants; they are much more sinister than I was expecting )

Many of your responses to our feedback form were soothing to the soul, offering us valuable insights, suggestions, and even a few laughs.

However, as I delved into this feedback, I grappled with what Brene Brown famously once called a "vulnerability hangover."

"It's the feeling that sweeps over us after we feel the need to connect and share something deeply meaningful. Minutes, hours, or days later, we begin to feel regret sweep over us like a warm wave of nausea."

I hadn't asked for feedback in ages, and I realized that I was possibly avoiding this feeling; it took me a solid moment to sit with myself after reading both good and not-so-good feedback to acknowledge this.

And when we receive less-than-good feedback, the easy option is to go straight into defense mode and explain ourselves in full detail, right? We have all seen the 3 paragraphs too long reply of a business answering back to a one-star Google review 

We are also starting to assess our current teacher trainees too, and vulnerability hangovers are something that we can often find in this course.

The students constantly put themselves out there, inviting feedback, and sitting with whatever comes up. We self-reflect on it. It's like group therapy that sometimes breaks out in Surya Namaskar and often has cake served during break time.

That's the beauty of this thing called life, though. Any time we are learning something new, vulnerability hangovers become part of the process. They remind us that growth can come hand in hand with a healthy dose of humility.

Your feedback is not just helpful; it's like a GPS for our studio, guiding us on how to continue to touch as many lives in Western Sydney as possible.

So please, keep those insights coming, good or bad. We all need to hear them to continue to serve and grow to the best of our ability (just like these sunflowers, which, by the way, we sent out to members in the mail on Christmas, and a couple of you have shown me pictures of how big they are now—SO DARN COOL!).

And if you missed out on giving us feedback, you can do that by clicking the button below. The system asks for your email, but we don't ask for any more personal information, and we will keep you anonymous when assessing the data.

Keep us feeling awkward, we have learned to love it 

I hope you are staying cool today and that your bird baths are full (even though it's autumn, welcome to Penrith, right?).

Annika xx

P.S. Teacher training starts in under 6 weeks, and we are editing version two of our manual as we speak. You can learn more by clicking here.

P.P.S. We are open for the Easter Long Weekend. Another email reminder coming your way Thursday.