Yesterday morning I had to get up at 5am to sub a 6am class… Vinyasa flow class. It was still dark out there with constellations in the sky – I saw Orion clearly as it was close to the horizon. I got in the car and sped off to the highway which is usually heavy with traffic but … at that time, no traffic – while still amazed by the number of cars already on the lanes. As I yawned and rubbed my eyes, I thought – who would be crazy enough to show up at 6pm for yoga- this is WAAAAYYYY too early if you are NOT a full time yogi. God, maybe noone will show up and I get to go home and crawl under covers and go back to zzz for mere one hour or so – what could be better !? Wondering if this is a waste of my precious morning time which is usually a battleground of preparations.
Turns out there are warriors ready for the practice at 6am, before sunrise. All ladies … starting the morning early, no doubt, with the mindset to get things done to “free up more time”. I know how we think because I think that too. After the class, an attractive (they all are of course, as they practice yoga:) student comes over and says, “are you still teaching Restorative at …?” Turns out she has been at the local studio I teach restorative style yoga. Then she said, “when I saw you, I thought we might GET TO do more restorative type yoga but you didn’t …”. She said it almost wistfully – we both laughed. Note the choice of word selection “get to” as though restorative is more a rare treat… You know, you “get to” eat dessert; you “get to” play; you “get to” take time off … We “get to” do yoga:) Yes, the ultimate – we GET TO do yoga questioning if we deserve it – after all – it all goes back to feeling of adequacy …I mean, we can’t restore ourselves to our brilliance when we have so much on our plate; so much to accomplish or else, we feel bad about ourselves. Why? Why not get the sparkles back in your eyes and allow few trillion cells within our body to … just be nourished. Why not take care of ourselves at all levels?
So much for getting type-casted:) You select one type or one style of yoga because of your particular needs as certain style of yoga resonates – and people think that’s all I do … wish I was that simple – but we are all more complex – our needs are multi-layered. I do vinyasa flow as well while not the favorite style to teach. Which is ironic as I practice it in the morning myself- so it should be something I should love to teach, no? I see the flow classes as more a fitness class (as I should) and since I didn’t get into yoga for that reason, I do it for my own physical workout but for teaching ? I guess I am a little odd in that I prefer the softer tender sessions with emphasis on “healing” and “therapeutics”. Because, after all, that’s what I was drawn to yoga for and then eventually felt the need to spread. What draws me to yoga is not so much what each asana (pose) do for me, but rather, for me, the attraction was ultimately, what does the whole system (asana, pranayama, meditation) do for my mind? My emotions? My feelings? If it’s about the body and just general endorphin release to “get happy” (nothing wrong with that – we all need it), then I will just take a walk, play tennis, climb a mountain, swim, go to a zumba class or dance or ? … so … vinyasa flow yoga to me is a well developed “drill” that works as a moving meditation. I have gone through so many drills, I guess I just want to find tranquility – just want to “bathe in the waters” of cathartic relief, washing away toxins and impurities. Great thing about yoga is that you can choose the style and the level for your intensity dial based on how you feel that day. You can turn it up; you can turn it down. I could make it hard and sweaty – or I can go slower and methodical.
THE ORIGINAL store #1 in Kitsilano … very Berkeley, Telegraph-ish feel…unlike the more corporate sleek stores in downtown Vancouver.
Interesting thing is … if you don’t practice, you will feel it. If you practice, then you don’t notice what the benefit may be because it can be subtle and gradual. It’s not an overnight miracle fix that we all seek. Like with language learning, it takes repetition and daily lessons to acquire the language and … if you don’t use it, you lose it as you struggle to remember that term or the grammar…
The whole premise of yoga is to … eliminate suffering. If eliminating is too ambitious, how about TO REDUCE HUMAN SUFFERING through kindness to self and others.
“kindness”… apparently harder to practice than one would think.
So exhausted from getting up at 5am – I think I need to nap and I don’t feel guilty or weak or “less than” to feel this way. I deserve to unplug – Yes, I GET TO:)
