INSPIRED...again!

As a yoga teacher, there’s a lot asked of me during my class. Stay calm, be present, lead, guide, breath, help, teach and DO yoga!

I was blessed yesterday with an amazing class by my friend and fellow teacher Sophie. I hadn’t been to a HOT yoga class since my “incident” in the summer and didn’t even realize until I was lying on the floor in the heated room...enjoying the warmth. I was really nervous to get back into it, and didn’t want to step foot in a HOT yoga room for a while. It was funny how life brought me right back to where I belong as well as erased all fears. I was excited to see Sophie again, learn some new flows and sequences and ultimately be LEAD by someone. Although I practice everyday, whether it is with a class or on my own, personally I don’t push myself as FAR as I know I can. When you have a more experienced teacher “picking” on you throughout the entire class, you and your body work HARD!

I should clear up the term “picking on” I use this term in the most endearing way possible. I LOVE being helped and guided. She knows what she’s talking about and does her best to show me the before and after and helps me reach my optimal blueprint so I can learn and from there be a better teacher myself.

I noticed it most in my downward dog. “See how that part of your back is like a trampoline” *mouth noises* along with simple adjustments...no more trampoline back. I was secure, strong and WOW was I feeling it too. Have I gotten lazy? During the next 20-30 downward dogs we did I tried to adjust myself in the same way so I was able to feel what she helped me feel in the first place. I know now what I was missing, but WHY have I been missing this?

Have I gotten *GASP* Lazy?

When I’m teaching my class it’s multitasking at its best...to say the least. I’m posing, teaching, adjusting, calming, centering, leading, walking, and talking. As a teacher do we find ourselves only doing the pose on the outside rather both inside and out?
I remember my roommate Lindsey and I were discussing this. We have to go quickly into a posture, and then out to help lead others in the pose. We’re walking around, and sometimes I’m not even doing the pose on my mat, obviously affecting the way I do the pose too.

I am very grateful I was able to attend Sophie’s class yesterday as it opened my eyes to the kind of teacher I want to be again. A gentle reminder of what I value in my class, in my students and most of all in myself.