Stumbling blocks become stepping stones
When facing adversity Eileen found a way to transform her experience.
‘Yoga teacher’ doesn’t feel big enough for everything that Eileen is to her students, but I get the feeling that she loves the simplicity of it.
Listen to Eileen Hall on A Better World Blueprint on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
When I first started practicing with Eileen I was a little scared of her. Well, let’s be honest, I’m still a little scared of her. She’s fierce! But her fierceness comes from an uncompromising belief in the value of yoga. She believes that if you follow the path of yoga - not just in the practice on the mat, but in the philosophical principals of yoga -like ‘ahimsa’ (non-violence), you will grow and develop and walk a path that will ground your feet and fill your heart.
She believes that “The teacher’s role is to hold the student steady in the midst of all the turmoil happening to them”.
As the student you do the work and Eileen will guide you and hold you steady no matter what.
Her guiding mantra is from her guru Pattabhi Jois.
“Practice, practice … All is coming.”
And practice can be hard. It doesn’t look like that bronzed Amazonian with flowing locks sun saluting the crashing waves at the beach. It can be monotonous. It can mean waking up in the cold and dark while everyone’s asleep and your body is begging you to stay in bed. It can mean spending an hour on the matt, thoughts racing through your head without finding the peace you crave. It can be tight ham strings and sore ankles.
But, Eileen would argue, turn up on the mat and it will come.
One day that pose you couldn’t hold is held. One day your thoughts will settle and your breath will fill you. One day you will let her firm hands hold you as you drop back into a backbend or rise up into a headstand and you’ll feel what it means to break through mental and physical barriers.
And I find that no matter what happens in class, by the end I feel like I am home. Home in my body and my mind.
Eileen’s Blueprint:
Some ideas from Eileen on how she has lived her life of purpose:
Who is the person who most inspires you?
“Even though she's passed my mother. She was a great woman. Even to her last few days where she was unwell, she was still trying to help people and serve. She was a real giver, my mother. And I think that's where I got a lot of that from, was just her ability to serve others.”
Do you have a saying that helps guide you in your life?
“I would have to go back to Pattabhi Jois. He's been a big influence in my life. And his saying was, ‘Practice, practice, all is coming.’ What he was saying was, practice when you don't want to. Practice when you feel absolutely rotten. Just get on the mat. Practice some spiritual method that supports you, that holds you, that can guide you. And it doesn't require too much more than a small space, sitting still, breathing, moving the body mindfully.”
Is there a book, movie or piece of art that has had an impact on your life?
“The book would have to be the Bhagavad Gita for sure. It's a story about a man in a crisis. And he calls in an avatar to help him get through this crisis. And the crisis is about a battle, but it's not the external battle, it's the battle within. And about not having any doubt and fear and follow your Dharma, follow your calling.
“And probably a movie, About Time. It's about a family that has a secret, and the secret is there's a cupboard where they can step into, they can go back in time and they can fix up mistakes that might have happened. And of course, the end of the story is to never miss a moment. Life is short. Even though they had this opportunity to go in and out of time and they could change time, they realised that that wasn't an important factor. The important factor was don't waste that time. Use it mindfully.”
What’s your favourite thing in the world to do?
“Yoga. When you go yoga, people often would think that's warrior one (the yoga posture) … No, no, no. Yoga is the eight limbs. So it's applying those eight limbs to all areas of my life. From waking up to the end of the day, how can I practice better? How can I serve better? How can I learn more? How can I gather more wisdom and devotion? So yes, that's what makes me happy that I've maintained that through a day. And at the time I go to sleep at night, before I go to sleep I just go through my day and how could I have done it in a kinder way, not necessarily in a better way, but a kinder way. There's no good, there's no bad, we're not judging that, but we're just being kinder to each other and serving more.”
Specific practices from yoga (referenced in Eileen’s episode of A Better World Blueprint):
Watch the ABC’s Compass program on Eileen here.
Listen to Eileen Hall on A Better World Blueprint on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.