Monday, November 25, 2013

Practicing Yoga

As a yoga teacher, I find it so important to practice as a student on my mat.  Actually, the urgency of this truth of having regular class attendance means more now than ever before.  Trust me, it's easy to equate teaching with such a personal discipline.  The reality, nothing beats going to classes.

As instructor, the experience of a class is very different.  When teaching,  I stand outside overseeing the movement on top of the ebb and flow of a vinyasa.  Even when the class takes on it's own journey, I still remain a pilot directing the controls in response to shifting energy.  I may or may not engage in numerous poses with my students, but I do so as the guide without completely surrendering to the full benefits of the asana.  This is the role of the teacher as he/she shares the intricacies of yoga and points the way to sublime profundity that rests behind the physical practice.

When I go to one of my teacher's classes, I remove the mantle of instructor and take on the humility of student once again open to the lessons of the mat.  This setting grants so much to me in way of teaching.  Deeper insights into the common poses, new ways to approach vinyasas, modifications and adjustments, the list goes on of things that come to me in the golden moments of practicing as a student.  Most importantly, I get to experience again the raw openness of being a student that combines the height of discovery with the humility of limitation.

Maybe you teach, maybe you want to teach, whatever the case,just  keep practicing.

See you on the mat!

Namaste!







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