Last week was my first -official- week as a yoga teacher.
I taught some yoga classes in December but it was not until January that I was included in the classes schedule.
Last saturday Heinz joined my class (if you are new to this blog Heinz is my husband). He is very enthusiastic about me teaching and has been trying to come to the classes I teach.
That saturday, as I planned my class, I included something I completely love and that is to give out sometime for your own individual practice.
I learned this at my YTT. In one of our first yoga classes during my training the teacher said: ok, you got five minutes. Go into your own flow...this is when magic happens.
The first time she did this it was intimidating. I kept glancing at what others where doing because I had absolutely no clue what do. What did she mean by "my own flow"? child pose?
The second time she let us have this time I completely owned it. I went inside and blocked out everything. I decided to give myself the opportunity to listen to what my body wanted to do and honestly...something unlocked.
I can only compare it to when I did speed-work. I am not new to running but I am definitely new to running techniques so it was not until recently that I discovered speed training. It was love at first run.
I felt so free.
That is exactly how I felt with this "free" time in that yoga class.
I knew right there that if I did ever teach I wanted to incorporate this into my classes.
Being mindful that I am new to the studio and to the students I wanted to do it little by little.
On that saturday I decided to let the students do five Sun Salutations and they could each do their own modifications. They could go through runners lunge, warriors or just through slow, gentle vinyasas if so they chose. Each at their own pace.
After I finished giving out the instructions...yeah, some looked puzzled...Heinz included.
Sometimes we go in and out of our yoga studio having challenged ourselves physically but what about our minds?
What about doing something so simple yet so mystical like asking ourselves what we want to do. What better opportunity than to have your own time during a class.
With those five Sun Salutations I was asking more than just a sequence of postures, I wanted them to experience doing something out of their comfort zone. I was asking them to stop listening to my ques and start listening to themselves.
Believe it or not this is out of my comfort zone too. I could have easily skipped this part and not deal with either love or hate reactions but the truth is I am teaching from my own experience. I want other people to have the oportunities that I've had.
Once we came back home I asked Heinz if he had liked the class. He said yes, but he added that those five Sun Salutations had made him feel disoriented. This put a big smile on my face. That is exactly what I was looking for! It is in those moments when yoga starts to transcend the postures. That is -how my yoga teacher put it- when then magic starts to happen.
As a side note I've started to buy real flowers to try and make the apartment more cozy. Last week it was Flor de Durazno which translates to Peach's flower (or peach tree flower -maybe). I do wonder if peaches do come from this plant. I didn't even know we grow peaches in El Salvador. If anyones knows please let me know :)