Today marks the end of my 4-day trip to Xiamen, China. To be honest, I cannot say China is the most preferred country to teach in. I have had a preconception that Chinese students want only strong and fun asana (physical posture) and they have no interest in the spiritual side of yoga.

When I let go of my judgment, when I let go of the fear of not being accepted, I was able to deliver the teaching that I believe is important to the students. So guess what, I started to talk more about the essence of yoga, about the love within our hearts, about our inner child, about death and about the meaning of life. I was wrong. Because of my preconception, I was not able to be authentic with my teaching; I did not share my true vision of yoga and that set up an obstacle for me to be truly in touch with the students. Because of that, the teaching turned out a bit awkward and it did not flow.

I realized when I let go of my preconceptions and judgments to just teach from my heart, those who are ready are touched. I saw students with a content, and peaceful smile on their faces, I saw them having the first taste of peace in their lives, and I saw students shedding their tears of love.

I was deeply touched. I was deeply touched by how similar we all are as human beings. We might behave differently on the outside, but on the inside, we

are all made of love. Only true love, kindness, and compassion can lead us back to our true core – our nature of love. I realized we all have the same inspiration about life – we all want to be loved, we all want peace, we all want kindness.

I can feel the love and care from the event staff, local teachers, students, drivers, hotel cleaning ladies. When I put down the preconceptions and judgment, I was able to see only love in others; I was able to see our commonalities rather than our differences. And I could feel how love connects us all.

I am so thankful for this opportunity, I get to know more about the people, the culture, and the love in China. I am deeply humbled and loved, thank you thank you thank you.