Integrity and Actions

Every Sunday you can find me at CrossFit Sacrifice teaching a yoga class to the awesome athletes, service members, and civilians from the area. Though my class is only 60-90 minutes long, a lot of time goes into preparing for my classes. I put a lot of time not only into the routine that I will teach, but also into the key takeaways that I want to share with the students.

This past weekend my key takeaway was mainly surrounding the topic  of ‘Integrity.’ Of course I was teaching about the integrity of a pose, putting effort into it, watching the form, making small adjustments as needed, etc., but my bigger goal, or intention, was to help people actively think about how they incorporate integrity into their own lives, whatever that may mean to them. 

It’s one thing to talk about having integrity of a pose, but it’s a whole other story teaching with integrity and being able to do whatever it is you are asking of others better. In my case, I could not really ask a group of people to do something that I couldn't, so I had to make sure I perfected that movement, or at least could demonstrate it as flawlessly as possible, but with humility and grace. 

A wonderful story is told about Mahatma Gandhi; One day, a distraught mother came to him with her rebellious son. She explained to him that the boy's behavior was erratic and troubling, and that this was certainly due to the enormous amounts of sugar he consumed regularly. She pleaded with Gandhi to tell her boy to stop eating sugar immediately saying “he won't listen to me, but you are the great Mahatma of the nation. He will listen to you.” Much to the disappointment of the mother, Gandhi merely replied, “Come back with your son after one week.”

A week later, the mother and the son returned. Without any formalities, Gandhi announced to the boy, “you must stop eating sugar immediately.” The mother, much relieved, couldn't hold in her curiosity and asked Mahatma, “please forgive me for asking, but why didn't you tell him that last week?” Gandhi slowly lifted his head and said, “First I had to stop eating sugar myself before I advised your son to do the same.” 

As simple as this story may be, there is a great takeaway here, which is to remember that our own words must also be in our actions. For me, it's living, being, and doing what I am asking of others, not just sometimes, but in my daily actions as if someone were always watching. This hasn’t always been the case, as I am certainly not perfect and haven't always been the perfect picture of health. However, I try to be conscious of leading by example and having the same kind of integrity of my actions that I’m suggesting to others through intention and effort, lifestyle and actions.

“What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.” -Margaret Mead (1901-1978)

~Sarah