And the truth of the matter is, 99% of the time, I have no idea what we're going to do until I begin. Until every body is settled into Child's Pose (Balasana), or Reclined Bound Angle (Supta Badha Konasana) or even ahhhhh, Savasana.
When I first graduated from my 200 hour program, I followed the poses of Baron Baptiste's "skeleton" religiously, clinging to it like a child to their blanket. I went from 1 or 2 people in class to 10 or 12 and sometimes (gasp!) 25. And with each number that clicked up, fear settled in and I had to step over that line in the sand and deliver.
Luckily, I had also been introduced to the idea of not sticking to any outline even before I had graduated and so the courage to push a little this way or that came very quickly and I would use those same poses, maybe, but put them in a different order or take some out completely.
This idea was introduced to me by the people of Live, Love, Teach to whom I am forever grateful because it helped me morph into the teacher I am today, in this way at least, very early on. Philip Urso in a recording I found online talked about the fact that when we walk into a yoga class, we don't know what is going to be organically created by the teacher and the students together. At least, that's my interpretation of what he said. And it is so true.
Watching the students bodies, their faces and listening to their breath is what leads me in the way that I lead the class now. Creating a work of art together, like a wave crashing on a beach, or a leaf falling to the ground…it will only happen this once and isn't that completely beautiful.
Love. teaching. yoga. love. learning. yoga. love.
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