Who are your teachers?

This questions begs some introspection on my part.  I've been exploring recently the internal definition of a teacher, and it has caused me to review those that I think of as teachers and those that I never considered.  This dichotomy has been quite eye opening.  I am a certified yoga teacher, but I do not consider myself a yoga teacher.  I am a yoga instructor, and practice is the teacher.  I work to share the beauty of yoga and meditation as well as share my personal experiences, but only through practice and introspection can you "learn" and gain insights that the practice is meant to unveil.
All that having been said, I believe that there are reflections of innate wisdom and infinite connection expressing themselves in individuated form. Through these person-reflections, we can tap into the insight that exists in the center of ourselves and experience the universal connection to all. I like to use a paraphrasing from Ram Das's classic, Be Here Now when describing his first encounter with Bhagavan Das, that when he looked into his eyes he knew that he "got it." Bhagavan Das knew what Ram Das longed to know.  With this being said, here is a list of my teachers:

..Lydhia Ometto
..Erich Schiffman
..Rod Stryker
..Bhagavan Das
..SS Satchidananda
..Swami Rama

I am sure there are many, many more right now, and even more that I have yet to encounter. 

many blessings, kelly

Sometimes I question my place. Where am I really? Right now I am sitting at the computer in the living room of what, on most days, feels like my home. The man with whom I have chosen to spend my “ever after,” is lying quietly in the room with the two miracles of my womb. Is this it, am I here now? I can dress up a moment with some elevated words and phrases, but is it my true experience of here. When I wake in the morning, make a pot of coffee and drag myself to my mat, have I succeeded in making it here then? I do it every morning. I struggle, displace myself from the moment with myriad alternatives to my practice, but there I am, every morning. And somewhere between the stiff shoulders, the heavy eyelids, and the feeling of sleep surrounding me as I lie with my forehead resting in balasana, I get it. For a moment, I am here. This is what it feels like. That quiet yet very present vibration eminating from the depths of this body. For a moment, there is nothing but the steady rhythmic sound of inhale and exhale, and the feeling that the world around me is growing increasingly large and safe as I shrink into the womb of truth within me. From this experience of here, I begin to move my body. Following that intuition guided by sensation and breath. If I am lucky, I manage three or four sun salutation series before the soft sound of my name is whispered, and I find myself sitting upon the very same mat with my arms wrapped around my five year old, who seeks my lap, large and safe, as she shrinks into the truth of my love. Now I am here again. Picked up from my solitary practice, and placed gently into the shared experience of love. So what is here? Where is my place? Fully immersed in every moment, aware of every distraction, surfing the wave of my breath, and living not through it all, but in it. With practice, here feels like wherever I am right now.

My beliefs are steadfast, in a vast sort of way.  So, why do I have such difficulty translating them into life.  Why do I constantly experience the same patterns of karma rearing their ugly heads over and over and over again?  I can talk the talk but when the fan is on full blast in my life, something disgusting is usually splattering around all over the place.  Translating belief into action, that's what it's all about, right.  Not just the heart belief, but the mind translation.  Every day I try to work it out.  Any advice?

As today is the first of my twenty-ninth year in this incarnation, I will begin the day by doing something I have never done before...blogging.  So this blogging thing seems to be about ranting, raving, philosophizing, journaling, journeying, and sharing.  All of these thing I have a basic familiarity with, so here goes.  I have been in the practice of releasing some heavy karma over the course of the last three decades, and I vow that the last year of the three will be the year of manifestation.  No more fear, no more running.  This year all of the work will produce the results.  I keep reading everywhere I look that the only obstacle to happiness is our belief that we are suffering and unhappy.  So to achieve the pure bliss that inherently exists in all of us, we simply have to shift the paradigm of our personal beliefs.  I woke today with neutral feelings for myself and the world, thinking of work and the things to be done.  The fact that it is the anniversary of my journey from the comfort of the womb into the light of the world did not cross my mind until after my hot shower.  So what?  Another day, just like any other.  Sure, if that is what I choose to make it, or I could choose to make it the most beautiful, loving, blissful day and celebrate the fact that I chose to enter this body and dance this dance.  Happy Birthday to me!