Have you ever done something for the first time and it felt so right, so natural and you could hardly wait to do it again? You became so engrossed in what you were doing that you lost all track of time? You were 100% present, and didn't want to be anywhere else in the world in that moment? Well, that is how I felt about my first public yoga class. I was blessed and so grateful to have a full studio room of over twenty people, many of them family and friends who had come to support me, but plenty who were there to just enjoy free yoga. Three of them had never done yoga of any kind before, and several had never set foot in a yoga studio before, having practiced at home with a DVD. I was honored to be their first yoga teacher.
I began with a reading about trusting the universe, and allowing it work in the perfect way it knows how. I also talked about acceptance - accepting your body, your yoga practice, your relationships, your work, and your life. I brought this up because I personally have struggled with acceptance since I was a child. I believe acceptance is something that a lot of people have struggled with at some point in their life, and may still struggle with, but may not be aware of it. Yoga helped me become aware of my desire for acceptance. It helps us become aware of many things. It also helps us accept ourselves and others. Yoga continously opens windows to our lives.
As we began class, almost immediately I entered what I'll call a state of flow, where I was aware of nothing else except the students in the room, complete focus on them and the practice. I moved and spoke with intention, focus, and confidence, like I can't ever remember doing quite like before. I was struck by the focus and concentration each person had, how they both relaxed into the postures and reached into them at the same time, pushing themselves into new positions, and new awareness. As a brand new teacher, I was witness to yoga class from a whole different perspective. I relished the audible, communal breat and the building heat in our bodies and the room. I was in awe of the attention each person was giving to their own practice, and could see them letting go and releasing the activity of their mind while their bodies moved. I don't think I have ever been more honored to be anywhere, doing anything, than I was right then. I felt as if I were a conduit of the universe, letting the love and harmony sent out at the beginning of class in the reading I did flow through me. It was sense of connection and energy unlike any other I had ever experienced. It was beautiful in so many ways.
At the end, after savansa, I thanked everyone, and read a lovely passage from Meditations on the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison, which I'll share here: "Our bodies, our breath, our minds and our choices are being refined in the laboratory that is our yoga mat. As this symphony becomes established on our mats, it becomes established in our lives as well. Driving to work, mailing a letter, meeting a friend for lunch all become part of the uninterupted flow of our yoga practice. We are doing our yoga all the time."
-Namaste
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