Day 88

Today wasn't a sweat fest like yesterday, but I had a good, focused practice. It was hard to motivate myself to get on the mat though. It's amazing how many otherwise-not-very-fascinating things (usually internet-related) capture my attention when it's time to practice yoga.

My full class schedule has kicked in this week and I'm teaching 11 classes per week. Wednesday and Thursday are my 'busy days'. Yesterday, I taught four classes. Today, I volunteered at the soup kitchen in the early morning and I'm teaching three classes. I was absolutely exhausted this afternoon but couldn't seem to nap. It's always an adjustment when I start teaching a full schedule again after the summer and these first weeks are particularly difficult because I demo stuff a lot more for the brand new students. It will get better.

I'm teaching an Ashtanga Intro class on Wednesday night. The students who sign up for 'power yoga' (that's what it's called in the guide) are usually a bunch of keeners ;-) who expect a more rigourous yoga class. Last year, I taught vinyasa flow in this time slot. This year, I'm teaching an 'Intro to Ashtanga.'

Out of the 14 students who signed up, none of them have ever practised Ashtanga. Half of them are completely new to yoga! Needless to say, there was much modifying as we went through two (2!) sun salutations, the standing poses, and a few poses of the Primary Series. My goal was to teach these poses in such a way that everyone could participate and everyone did.

It's really fun to teach something that I've been doing every day and working so hard to master. As a yoga teacher, it's easy to get caught in a rut and teach the same things every single session. Teaching something new is a welcome challenge and it also brings deeper meaning to my daily practice.

The students seemed a bit glassy-eyed and overwhelmed at times, but they worked very hard! I'm humbled by their focus and effort. Even though this is brand new to some of them, they were earnest and their efforts were genuine. I'm inspired by them!