Teaching Insight

These are my thoughts, and this is something I feel I must share. A good friend of mine came to my yoga class this evening. Afterwards, she expressed that it was just what she needed, especially after attending a disappointing all-levels class and crying about it in the studio parking lot afterwards. It seemed to me that the teacher was 1)being ridiculously hard on them, 2) choosing to begin the class by talking about something negative, and 3) not giving adequate instruction for a class that sounded {more intermediate/advanced}

Most people, if not all, come to yoga seeking a positive experience...or maybe just a tough workout. But I don't believe that anyone comes to yoga to have a negative experience.

The instructor may not have been aware of the negativity that was surrounding that class, and the students are always responsible for the way that they feel...but I do feel that as a yoga instructor, or as anyone in any leadership roll, it is important to be gentle with our students. They are delicate...physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a student, I want my boundaries to be respected, and to be given adequate information and cues throughout the class.

Yoga is an intimate practice. A chance to become introspective. Teaching a hard class is not just about kicking everyone's asses - it's about bringing them to their threshold, making them sweat a lot by building heat through core training, surya namaskara, balancing poses, and maybe a couple of arm balances here and there...not making the whole all levels class arm balances (unless it's a workshop intended to be that way), and showing them what is possible, but remembering to instruct and give them the tools they need in order to advance. Without that instruction, the student becomes lost, and maybe upset because they don't understand.

I'm not bashing anyone, but I am only sharing the insight I received when I heard my friend's story. Yoga is about balance. We can't be too firey, too watery, or to airy...we need all three elements in order to make it feel good. You know? 

Give Only Your Best

The lesson has been to remain attentive, as all around me there are lessons, or opportunities for learning, growth, expansion into a better version of myself. I was just talking with my co-worker this afternoon of how we often times look outside of ourselves for something or someone to be our greatest teacher, or greatest friend, or greatest lover – when…if we only learn to pay attention to the world around us, we will notice how much life mirrors our inner world – and we can then turn inward and see ourselves as our greatest teacher, our greatest friend, and our greatest lover. I’ve learned that we are much more powerful that we give ourselves credit for being. I’ve also learned that the less I judge myself, the less I feel judged by others around me…the more compassion, understanding, and love that is reciprocated…amazing, isn’t it?

The above paragraph is a comment I posted on a dear friend's blog, which is in perfect alignment with my thoughts and contemplations this evening. Life is never not a struggle; there will always be suffering; but it is what we make of our suffering that determines the outcome of ...well, the outcome.

The year 2013 came and went, and I have again grown tremendously from all the experiences I've endured. Endure...such a great word. To endure is "to suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently; to remain in existence." as quoted by the Google search dictionary. We endure to become stronger, more able and capable people. We endure, and where we were once broken, we become more steady and more 'durable' than before. Durable is derived from the word Endure...and that makes a whole lot of sense now.

At the end of 2012, I remember being in a dark and broken place...a place that I thought at the time was unhealthy, and a place that shouldn't be visited...now, I no longer feel that way. The broken place...rock bottom, is a place which we should visit, if not one, but multiple times in our lives. I find that when I'm in this place, I become more open to what the universe has to offer. I become more open and receiving to God. My heart is cracked wide open, and my mind is looking for peace. 2012 was a year of breaking...2013 was a year of healing and dreaming...and 2014? It's too soon to tell, but I feel deep down that it is a year of blossoming...manifesting...becoming...It is a golden year...one which I feel will be big and beautiful.

I am in the process of signing up for a teacher training this summer. I have said over and over again for the past two years that I would become certified by the end of 2014...and that has manifested, I know. I feel. I have gained much insight and wisdom just by paying attention to my life...the omens...the experiences...the people around me...and really hearing, seeing, and understanding what they were all trying to tell me. My journey has only just begun...but a remarkable journey it will be. I'm almost finished reading a book called "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. It is a beautiful work, filled with much wisdom. He writes,

 "We are travelers on a cosmic journey,stardust,swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity."

The journey is what makes everything worth it. The journey is more important than the treasure we are longing and searching for. The journey is the experience...the beautiful experience. The longing for the treasure...the suffering...is what keeps us living and keeps us motivated to keep on going.
Stephani Lindsey  my teacher, friend, and sister of my heart read a quote from D.R. Butler that I must also share; because it is too beautiful and wise not to:

"We are always relating to our own Self. We are always relating to the mirror of the Universe. Therefore send only good energy and good feelings. Give only your best; give only blessings. Don't worry about having to be anyone or do anything or respond to someone in any certain way. Simply give others your best, wish them your best, be an uplifting energy in their lives."

Namaste.

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success in common hours...in proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness." Henry David Thoreau