I have been thinking all day about what it is that connects people through yoga. My new personal yoga page is up and running and while it is still in the skeleton/development stage I am getting lots of input. I asked some fellow yoga teachers about it (what it needed, what was missing, etc) and I got amazing suggestions. People showed me their passion for their practice and for what I was doing. I was stunned by and thankful for the folks whom I had never met and how much time they took to let me know what they thought.
Your practice is not limited by location but by intention. – Judith Hansen Lasater
Yoga connects across the world, the internet and across the room when you are practicing with a group. My students form this community with each other, my fellow tweeters are a tribe and yoga teachers speak each other’s language. We are all intertwined by this magical practice. Our intentions are to grow and breathe, to feel space and openness and to just exist in our bodies. In sharing this intention, even if it is slightly different for each person, we have a connection that is like family.
My youngest elf went to a birthday party today and those girls all became buddies within a few moments. Most did not know each other, and the few that did met new friends. They were connected through their love of sparkles and princesses and cake. Their intentions to have the best time ever removed all barriers to the new faces and it was like they had always been friends.
I feel the same way about the yogis I have met since developing my personal practice and becoming a teacher. Some are here with me at studios and gyms, some are in Europe and Australia, some are in the cyber sangha, most I have never met in real life. But I feel connected to them all and it is our yoga that links us.
So the next time you feel that pause in your practice, set your intention to connect with the yogis around you, on the next mat or the next town. Breathe with them and share the yoga. Be connected and be yoga.
Today I subbed a class for one of the most popular teachers at our studio. She has a regular crowd that attends her 1:00 class (in fact I’m usually there) and so having to sub for her was frankly, kind of daunting. Fewer students came than usual, some of the regulars were not there but i still had a lovely group of yogis to teach. The experience reminded me of how we get so attached to the language, style and approach of our teachers and how in a way they become a big part of our yoga practice. We lean on them to guide us, to provide familiarity and know our ins and outs so that we can get our yoga on in an environment that feels like home.
Trust me I get it. I have certain teachers that I really dig and if I see on the website that there is a sub filling in for them I have to mentally convince myself to still go to class. I like to know what I am going to get when I walk into a room because let’s face it, time is precious for all of us. Truth be told, and don’t be hatin’ on me for this, I am often disappointed in the person subbing for my favorite teachers. I rarely get to go to classes so that when I do I want those to be fantastic. But hell, that is a lot of pressure to be putting on any yoga teacher, let alone a sub.
Having said all of that, and admitting my weakness for needing my regular routine to not be messed with, I am going to admit something here now to you dear readers: I usually learn more when there is a sub. WOW! Did I just say that out loud on this blog? You bet I did because it is true: teachers that sub present yoga with an approach that is fresh, new and different to what I am used to practicing. In some classes what I learn is what I do not like (i.e. Balasana every five seconds, extensive knee-down poses) but mostly I learn how to enter, exit, or sequence my poses in a fresh way. I am forced to pay attention to my mat, my mind does not wander to what I will post on my blog and I am more present in my practice. Trying new teachers is so important!
There is this dead tree in the woods behind our yard that is remaining diagonally upright (right in the middle of this pic) only because it is supported by the branches of another tree. That darn dead tree needs to fall and become a home for mushrooms and mice; it is just biding its time clinging to the evergreen for dear life. In the same way this tree refuses to move to the next stage in its existence, many students refuse to be open to trying new teachers. They become stuck in the physical patterns of their bodies they develop from taking the same teacher all the time. They become complacent and approach their mat from a stand point of routine rather than of excitement. They avoid the different and what comes with it.
I get it, for all of you who will fill my comment thread with the “we love our teacher” replies, I too dig my regular teachers. They rule and KNOW me which is so helpful. I also know that there are things I see as a sub, these patterns we develop through this routine of familiarity and the disdain when our routine is altered. The students I taught today were lovely and supportive and tried every thing I offered with total faith in me. I had taught all of them before, but still they were expecting someone else.
I felt lucky they were willing to let me teach them, that they did not walk out or scoff when I said “Dolphin” for the second time. I let them come to the ground and move on to the next stage in their practice, rather than keeping them leaning on the teacher for whom I was covering.
I wish there was a way to walk out into the woods to relieve that poor dead tree from its existence in purgatory. But while I do not have the strength to do that, I can help students see that having a new teacher occasionally is a gift.
I hope my regular students know they can lean on me when they need/want to do it. In doing so they will gain the confidence in their practice to enjoy the tokens of wisdom and newness from a sub that I could not offer.
If they support him/her like the students did today, then I will know that I am doing my job.
I am positively buzzing today because of opportunities that are arising, prana that is flowing and all that is cooking in my yogic life. Do you ever have those moments where you think, “I am doing exactly what I should be at this very moment?” Well today is one of those days for me. Let me break it down for you:
My eldest is getting over strep throat and thus I squared away a sub for my class today just in case he was not feeling 100% today and needed to stay home. I have used this opportunity to regroup and come back to some things I have set aside for months. Putting my family, my students, my friends and everyone else ahead of my own needs is something I frequently do. Perhaps you can commiserate? Many of us, including yoga teachers are givers and so often we reach deep into our wells of self and share it with our students, leaving these internal resources tapped.
I managed to use my time to get the ball rolling on some things I had been putting on the back burner for months, to treat myself a bit to a latte and to get back to taking care of myself. Don’t worry though, I get to teach the rest of the week, and to those students, in particular, in a couple of days. Lucky them, I’ll be returning with some renewed energy.
I have been thinking a lot about how as a yoga teacher we hold space for our students and how this gift can be really draining on our own energy reserves. In my 200H we talked about having a “ritual” to cleanse ourselves of the energy given off by our students so it would not become part of who we are. The joy of teaching yoga is so huge for me that I rarely feel the drain that comes from this process of energy transfer and then it builds up and slowly creeps into my being. I think of it sort of like when you rub your feet on the carpet and then transfer that built up electricity to your pal with a small shock from your finger. The transfer may be simple and unknowing (did you KNOW you carried that electric charge when you touched them?) but it can be kind of intense. When you teach yoga you are often the recipient of the little shocks from the fingertips of your students whether they know it or not, and you need to find a way to ground that energy. If I am not practicing this energy cleansing in some fashion then I slowly take on the energy of my students. One of the best ways for me to recharge from teaching so much is taking time to focus on my own energetic needs.
A river requires banks as well as flowing water. – Judith Hansen Lasater
I realize how woo-woo and out there this may sound, but anyone who teaches in any forum can appreciate what I am describing. Imagine the emotions and stories that are carried within our bodies and then are released through yoga and you are the person who suggested the student go there in the first place. The amount that can be shared is pretty darn big even if the student is in the back corner of a filled studio and the teacher is at the front of the room. Energy transfer is no kids’ play, dear readers, it is serious stuff. We all need to find a way to remove what is shared by others and make more space for our own energy reserves. Creating, protecting and cleansing our energetic barriers are practices we all should be employing in some fashion.
I am so thankful I was able to get a sub today and that my time can be spent focusing a bit on myself. For the first time in many moons I am putting myself first, and revelling in the gifts that is bringing to me. I am using my filled tank to fuel some great stuff, stoke the fires that I’m starting in my career and refill my energy well. My students may miss me today, but guarantee what I’m bringing to their mats later this week will rock their socks. I am so pumped and energized to teach!
I love the charge that comes from all I am doing for ME, and it is about time. I love that the energy I am feeling today is a direct result of what I am doing and not what I have been given from someone else. I love my job, my students, my readers and my opportunities.
Things are cooking, dear readers, and the feel is purely electric!
*** I’d love to know how other yoga teachers deal with energy transfer from their students. Do you have tips to share?******
Why is it you take classes at a studio or at a gym? If you can have a teacher come to you privately for a class or watch a video of a class (if you need guidance), why is it you prefer to do it at a studio? My new community of yoga teachers that are participating in the 90 Minutes 101 webinar series and the suggestions of Amy Ippoliti have been making me really think about where and why I teach and take classes. So I’m asking you, my readers why it is that you love to take yoga with a group? Share with me the reasons that you find yoga with your fellow compatriots changes your personal practice.
For me taking classes at a studio comes down to one word: community. Today I taught two classes, both were small and both felt like families. The students in each had ease and openness with me and with each other. These students regularly take my classes and regularly take classes together. So because of that, we were able to talk and share, giggle and hold some space for each other. I love watching my students communicate about each other’s successes and challenges. Students often chime in when another shares concerns or trials. In a class we have a supportive community that can grow together and learn together. Our practices become sort of communal while still each yogi continues to grow individually.
Teachers love to see their students returning to the same classes. Returning to practice with the same teacher is a great way to watch your yoga grow and to get some attention to your personal limitations/achievements. It is also a fantastic way to connect with students who like the same style/approach to yoga. For teachers, a community of students fuels a return of regular students to the same classes. Students love to connect with their fellow yogis and teachers love to see this happening.
The community of yogis that support you as a fellow student or as a teacher are the gift of practicing in a studio or a gym. For me the way we join together in breath, stillness, movement and smiles is why I teach group yoga classes and why I attend them.
Joining together in a band of yogis: a community, a sangha and a family.
What brings you to a studio, class or a particular teacher? What is it about your fellow yogis and practicing with them that you get and enhances your practice? As you are part of MY community, tell my what is it about being here, and there that keeps you coming back.
I had a great blog post planned for today, all about why I came to yoga, what it means to me and why I share it with my students. I was going to tell you that in the beginning I just wanted to find something that created space for myself. With two little elves I felt like unless I was alone in the shower I never had space that was my own. As soon as I got on my yoga mat I could turn off my phone, stretch and breathe in a way that no one else could share. Sure, I did it primarily in a studio where there were fellow yogis, but no one ever asked to sit on my lap, wear my shirts or make the mat their own for gymnastics. It was in a phrase: a wide open space.
Later I discovered that within my body were spaces and openings I did not know existed. I was able to move and breathe in a way that was only possible before having the elves. Slowly but surely this practice of moving and breathing was allowing me to re-establish who I was as a PERSON and not as a wife or mother. These wide open spaces brought back the “Nancy” in me. I have never looked back for a moment after reclaiming what was originally mine. Now I work on sharing that wonderous expanse with my students as well.
How ironic that as I sit down to type this shorter less poetic post I am festering over an issue with one of my elves. You see my eldest had a “scuffle” with a friend on the bus today and got called into the principal’s office. That poor woman had to share HER space with my tough as nails 7-year-old and try to pry the story out of his exquisitely smart noggin. Finally some resolution came to play and I am now going to get him and drive him to/from school for the next couple of days. Some moments of my “Nancy” space were taken up by the “mom” in me. I am no longer able to write the post I wanted, listen live to the webinar series by Amy Ippoliti I’m participating in, and not able to coordinate a private yoga session with a fellow teacher. My space for the rest of the day is shared by an elf.
While I’m not happy with the reason for him stepping on to my proverbial mat, I am of course happy to play the role of mom. So rather than share with you the long ins and outs of expansion and growth I feel from yoga, I’ll share with you a word we wrote in the dirt before his fateful bus trip.
Sometimes you have a moment of space you did not even realize would be the one quiet one you have all day. I love how yoga reminds me to cherish them even after the fact.
My youngest elf went to a birthday party today and those girls all became buddies within a few moments. Most did not know each other, and the few that did met new friends. They were connected through their love of sparkles and princesses and cake. Their intentions to have the best time ever removed all barriers to the new faces and it was like they had always been friends. 
Flying Yogini 