Picking up

I taught my first in person, indoor class this week after…. what is it now? 18 months or so? I’ve lost track. In England we’ve had multiple lockdowns, so many government u-turns and obfuscating changes of regulations…

Throughout that time I maintained a zoom community of students. Bar a couple of necessary pauses I’ve brought a small number of people together every week, from my home to theirs, sharing some yoga practices that I believe are helpful to them and make a difference to quality of life in some way. I’m beyond proud of myself for this.

Meanwhile the workplace where I used to teach closed the facility. So this week was our first class together again, in a new location as close to the old one as I could get. For the first time ever I’m now hiring a local room with all that goes along with that. Will I cover the expense each week? Can I grow a little community here over time? Will this new space work for us? How should I spread the word?

So many ‘business’ issues… Different to being paid a regular fee per class, having all the booking done for me, and so on.

But also this: I don’t have to worry about answering to someone else (a gym manager) about what I choose to teach, I don’t have to compete with the loud music from the gym or worry when savasana is disturbed by the guys bellowing at the weights rig on the other side of the wall. Now I get to create my own vibe and attract students who see me as their kind of teacher. I’m no longer prohibited from chanting OM in class 🙂

In short, I am free.

I feel that I am creating again from the ground up — like you do in each asana.

It’s wonderful and a bit terrifying — how I feel about a lot of asanas and transitions.

Yet I am more capable of all this than I think — surprise, my asana practice also teaches me this.

And how was the first class? Of course, it was wonderful and inspiring — for me, so hopefully for my students too 🙂 They came in nervous about class, frazzled from their working day, two a little tearful. They left chatting with one another, laughter bubbling, softer faces, and a certain radiance.

I helped them find that. Wow. This yoga… Sometimes my heart bursts in wonder and gratitude that yoga can be so simple and powerful, and that I can help others in this small (big) way.