Yoga Yoga Yoga

I have a confession to make!!  I'm not a very good yoga student.  I will explain that towards the end of this but for now, I will tell you about My Big Yoga Moment last week.  Here is how it played out:

Remember how I kind of bailed on teaching when I returned from our trip back home?  My friend Robyn jumped in and took over my Thursday class when I found myself unable to just deal with giving and offering and connecting and inspiring and all tha jazz that is kind of required of you when you decide to put yourself in that role.  Robyn does taxes and obviously gets busier as the new year approaches, so it was perfect that she would teach for a bit and then I would step back into my usual Thursday evening time slot at the right time.

So I have to admit I have been LOVING the freedom of having zero obligations beyond my work schedule.  Teaching one class a week involves a lot more than just showing up, mainly the planning of the class, which includes me practicing, finding inspiration and translating that into a class plan.  Oh, and then executing it on Thursday after work.

So anyway, I was secretly kind of not looking forward to the inevitable phone call from Robyn asking, When do you want to start teaching again?  Which happened last week.  So I called her back (somewhat reluctantly, because I didn't really have an answer, or even if I wanted to start teaching again at all) and within the first minute or so of talking to her I realized I had to start again.  Why, you ask?  Here's why, and this is what I told her:

Have I been enjoying the freedom from an extra-curricular obligation?  Yes.  Have I been loving not having to plan or mentally prepare for a class every week?  Of course.  Do I think, overall, it is better for me as a person to start practicing again, stay connected to the Studio, my yoga friends, keep teaching and keep that interest alive?  Absolutely.

So we kind of dicked around with the exact start date, which hinges on a few things, and it turns out that the best day for me to get back on the schedule is... Thursday December 6 (my birthday).  My first reaction was SHIT. I don't want to.  But I thought about it and thought about it and figured, BFW, why not?  It's actually kind of cool and bizarrely significant.

I was feeling pretty smug about my decision, stopped by the post office on the way home, and it turns out that that very day I received in my PO Box a few paychecks from the studio that I guess I had never picked up from the summer?  And here I am  opening up a few envelopes with a few checks, thinking, right, THIS is how the universe works.  And it does.  And this is why I do yoga and why it is so important for the me to continue on the path of practice and teaching.  Call it what you will, poo-poo it if you must, but when you align yourself with what is genuine and true to who you fundamentally are, the Universe reaches out and gives you a big pat on the back.  That day, it came in the form of money.  A tangible "reward" for the decision I made.  It couldn't have been any clearer.  That same day I signed up for an online course with one of my teachers and it turns out it is exactly the kind of work I need to get back into it.

If you don't practice yoga, I can promise you that those types of events are extremely common when you are involved in some type of yogic endeavor, whether it is meditation, asana practice, chanting, breathwork, etc....  Why?  Because when you connect your brain and your heart and you move through life with decisions being made by both of those entities together, you are operating from your deepest foundation and living in your Truth.  When you live your life from your Truth, you are simply moving with the natural forces of the Universe, not against them. 

Are you wondering why I stated that I am not a very good yoga student?  In the world of yoga practices, there is a lot of emphasis placed on a regular and consistent practice, which is something I find I am simply unable to do.  Get up every morning and do a practice?  Cannot.  How about just one downward dog?  Nope.  It simply is not a part of who I am to do the same anything every day.  My relationship with yoga is characterized by ebbs and flows and I have since given up trying to change that.  There are times when I am really really into it and times when I couldn't care any less about it.  I think sometimes I just need a break.  Which I just had.

I did an online practice on Saturday morning (it kicked my ass) and Ally and I started our Winter Sunday morning 9am practice together as well.  I am totally into it!  I guess me and yoga just have to "take a break" every now and then.  Becuse isn't life just a study in contrasts after all?  Think about it.