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Well first I was so excited about this class in particular. I could have made it easier on myself and taught the same sequence as my first class but I really want to give something more to my students. I can only hope that they are constantly changing, growing, trying new things and just enjoying their time on the mat and that helps their time off the mat as well. So I put together a detoxing sequence since we had just come into spring. My theme was doing some spring cleaning on the mind and the body. I taught them how twists and forward bends are so good for our organ bodies we can massage, compress and “wring” them out, riding them of toxins and when released we are flushing them with fresh nutrient blood. So really “out with the old and in with the new”. I discussed the organs on each side while reminding them of why we are doing these poses and how to use the breath to do it! It was great and I think they really enjoyed that, I got a lot of great feedback. So I am feeling more confident in my ability to give them something new and something that (if they are open) can benefit them body, mind and spirit.

My lesson in this class was incorrect assumptions on my part. While I had a good full class of students I had a few students that are very fit, they enjoy a vigorous vinyasa flow, I also had 2 beginners. One of them was her very first class. So I immediately started thinking about how to modify and change my sequence slightly to make it more accessible for beginners but also leave some challenges in there for my advanced students. All the way around I took it slower, held the poses longer and took a few extra child’s poses etc. So as I’m teaching and walking around I am noticing that one of my advanced students was getting really fidgety. Not wanting to stay in the poses, not looking at herself in the mirror but I felt her looking at me to hurry up to move to the next pose. I would ask my students to close their eyes in some poses, to think about something and instead she wiggled around with her eyes open. I was really getting frustrated by it and I simple thought I should say something that may speak to her in a non obvious way. “I know some of you are used to a fast paced vigorous flow class, but sometimes when we slow things down, hold our poses longer and really work on settling into them with our minds and our breath that can be just as challenging if not more.” I go on about my class, and in my closing thoughts leave them with, “flexibility with twists is not just physical but as we rotate around we must be willing to change our vantage point on the world, see and recognize things beside us, around us and behind us.” It was a really great spiritual closing that I’m super proud of. The ladies all left and said thank you they enjoyed it!

Fast forward as I’m driving home from class with my mom in the car (she came to class) and told her how I felt about what was going on and she said “Oh no no no, I was gathering my things after class next to her and she said, “you think you are in shape and then you come to a class like this”. Wow. Shame on me for assuming the worst just by their unique and personal behaviors. That was a very good lesson for me. Not to create my own false perception of what might be happening but to let each and every individual have their own experience however they chose. That is a priceless life lesson that I am learning off the mat too. It is a journey but it’s part of letting go and in the end just realizing that I am doing the best I can possibly do as an instructor and a person and that’s all I can do. Again, I can only hope that I am bringing something helpful or insightful to them on and off the mat.

Namaste