From the archives: A fragment of poetry written by bpNichol on the lane named in his honour (behind Coach House Books)
Because of the varied schedule at Shala South, I don't follow a 'traditional' weekly schedule anymore. Thursdays have become my 'day off' instead of the traditional Saturdays (and when I say 'day off' I mean 'a day for a led class'). Fridays are my Sundays. And Tuesdays are usually my Fridays (that's when I practice Primary Series).
I mixed things up a bit more this week, doing my regular practice on Tuesday and taking Primary Series at home on Wednesday morning.
It's been months since I did any home practice and I found it surreal. Oddly, after I finished (early in the morning), I kept forgetting I had practised and I went around all day thinking that I needed to get on the mat!
On Thursdays in the summer, I usually go to a led class in the east end of the city with one of my first teachers. It's an easy vinyasa class and I love the slower pace. It gets me back in touch with why I fell in love yoga in the first place. All of the hard work I do during the week seems to find a fruition in the practice of these basic postures; grace and mindfulness and joy.
Last night, I arrived at the studio early and unrolled my mat, grabbed a couple of blocks with a supine backbend in mind. But there was a glimmer of chaos in the air and I noticed a couple of the other students were eyeing me with mild curiosity. "She's in here!" someone called out, and I realised they meant me.
My teacher had an emergency and wasn't coming. The staff at the front desk asked if I could fill in and teach the class. The odd thing is (and I don't know how I knew this), I had a *feeling* I might be teaching that class! I even wore my 'teaching clothes' instead of the groddy clothes I usually wear to Mysore practice and I put on some jewelry and lipstick before I walked out the door.
So, yay for intuition! ;-)
As I pulled my mat to the front of the room, I tried to initiate that mental shift from 'student' to 'teacher'. And you know what? It's hard! It took me a few minutes to find my voice and to get a good grip on the thread of a sequence that would allow me to begin.
But once I got going, I had a lot of fun. In fact, it's the best class I taught all week - mainly because it was unexpected and funny and vaguely serendipitous. My sequencing was choppy because I was winging it, but sometimes flying by the seat of your pants is fun! :-) I nearly skipped a posture on one side. Then I had a few extra minutes so I added a fun arm balance.
The studio has bolsters (most of the places I teach don't), so I walked around during Savasana, offering bolsters around like a flight attendant handing out cocktails and blankets in the first class cabin (do they still do that, I wonder?).
Afterward, I rode home and did three sun salutations and though *that* was officially my practice, it was really so much more.
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