There is no Delete in Yoga

Teaching at the Athleta Willowbrook store.

About a year ago, I wrote a post entitled "There is No Cursing in Yoga" (except when there is) read the post for a full explanation and maybe a chuckle. Basically, I was sharing a very human moment I had during my teacher training in which I made a mistake and let the F-bomb slip.

At that time, I was holding myself to a very high standard of "no screw-ups" at a very early stage in my yoga journey toward becoming a certified yoga teacher. What I didn't realize then (but definitely know now) is that teaching yoga in a class or private setting is a live performance. The class is LIVE. There are no rewinds or resets or do-overs. There is no delete button. Mistakes happen. But the class must go on!

This is like life. We screw up, but keep going.

Let me state for the record that no teacher is perfect. No teacher has a pristine record of "ideal" classes. I've talked to enough teachers to know that we all have taught a class where we leave feeling "meh" or like we could have done things differently. I'll speak for myself here and assure you, this has happened to me. I forget a side. I skip a pose. I say "foot" when I mean "hand" or "elbow" when I mean "shoulder".

There's no "blooper reel" recording of my mistakes (thank goodness). It is important to recognize that while I have a mental recording of these blunders, I'm pretty sure no one else who was in the class or with me when they happened can recall them.

This is like life. We forgive ourselves and vow to do better the next time.

I certainly hope that my students are focused on what I'm asking them to do. There have been times when I've zoned out as a student and haven't really heard every word my teacher said. It is also helpful to remember that as the teacher it is possible to over-analyze the way the class felt to me, being acutely aware of my own voice, my own instructions, and thereby not fully serving my students.

Even though I am a relatively new teacher, I have had the opportunity to teach dozens of classes (more than a hundred hours worth). When I look back on them, sometimes I cringe at the goofs I have made. Then I remember that my experience as the teacher, teaching the class and being focused on every word I say is not the same as the student taking the class.

This is like life. We shift our perspective and focus on others.

We can be the "star of our own movie" as my youngest sister put it to me once. In this starring role, we spend time playing the lead in all our present experiences, replaying our memories of past ones and our projections of future ones. We need to remember that not everyone sees the same experience in the same way. If you polled everyone who ever took any one of my classes, you'll get dozens of different answers about how it went.

Leading a community class at YogaCentric Studio

So the moral of this story is, as we go about our day-to-day, it can help to remember that our life is a live performance. We get opportunities to find grace through the missteps. We shift our focus to others to gain awareness about miscommunication, and we realize that our very human errors provide a chance to regroup, connect and forgive. 

I don't know about you, but this gives me a sense of freedom.

And.... ACTION!