Day 17 - A decision to teach

I've been incubating the idea of 1) being a yoga teacher, and 2) owning a yoga studio for quite some time. I really mean "incubate" in every sense of the world, that it is just a thought, an abstract idea I have and hold dear in my heart, and then occasionally bring it up to someone I trust, as something I could possibly, maybe, potentially do, one day, some day, maybe.

I don't talk about it much mainly for two reasons, 1) fear of being ridiculed (haha, *you*?), and 2) commitment issues, i.e., if I talk about it, I would have to do it.

Lately, with the departure of one of my favorite teachers, and reflecting on my actions and reactions to it, I've realized the importance of connecting with a teacher, and how essential it is in a person's practice.

I have also been frustrated with health clubs' watered down version of yoga, and, like all uninitiated and starry-eyed teachers (or budding politicians), I think I can do better.

So I spent a whole lot of time today looking at all the different yoga teaching programs. What a daunting landscape out there, and there's no US Time & World Reports school ranking to help either.

This is yet one more journey I'm feeling my way around on.

If I commit to it.

Day 9 - Yogachittavrttinirodhah

"People who do not occasionally fall on their faces are not growing" - Judith Hanson Lasater, in A Year of Living Your Yoga

This daily wisdom for today would have applied more on Wednesday, when I went ice skating without insurance on my teeth. Nevertheless, it was fitting for this Saturday when I played soccer.

I usually pride myself in my endurance, and because I usually play midfield, I get to run the whole length of the field for 90 minutes. Today, I was feeling more sluggish than usual, once again confirming to myself that my body was in dire need of some serious R&R.

I played midfield, as always, but I ran back to play defense a lot because my defender always seemed to drift to the center. Then, in one instance, this bastard from the other team scored, and I felt personally responsible, because I was only a couple feet away from him. I blamed my teammate for a brief second, but I told myself, "No Blaming". What I really meant was, No Blaming Others. But Blaming Self is okay.

During the game, I tried hard to shake off that one split mini second when if I had just been in front of him, he wouldn't have been able to score. I wonder how many defenders carry this burden out there? I was a candidate heroine for that U2's song: Stuck In A Moment.

I once read somewhere that Olympic athletes, in addition to intensely practicing their sports, also practice meditation and the hone ability to focus on one thing and block everything out. In Yoga this is called living in the moment. In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, yoga is:

Yogachittavrttinirodhah
Yoga (union), chitta (mind), vrtti (activity), nirodhah (complete absorption).
"Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object, and to sustain that direction without any distractions."

I really like this explanation of what yoga is, and I think distractions not only include what's going on around you, but what went on in the past, and what you think will go on in the future.

I found this one article in Yoga Journal with really great advice and insights on teaching to athletes.

"An athlete needs to feel successful," she says. "They can't feel humiliated, embarrassed, or like they're the worst one in class." She suggests Bakasana (Crane Pose), which allows athletes to feel successful. Utkatasana (Chair Pose) or a carefully executed Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) at the wall can also play to athletes' strengths. Such affirming work in strength-specific poses salves the ego and helps students handle the flexibility poses that are more challenging for athletic bodies.

I find it awesome that there is so much ego in the world of competitive sports, and yet, something that's meant to pacify the ego like yoga is such a great compliment to any athletic endeavor.