200 Down 800 to Go!

By the time this post publishes, I will have reached another milestone in my yoga journey. The 200-hour mark! I have been diligently tracking all of my teaching hours since receiving my certification in April of 2019. I've actually logged a little more than 200 hours taught in the past year.

So much has changed since I got my certification - most notably, the current COVID-19 situation has impacted how yoga is taught to groups and individuals. Looking back, I've collected some of the highlights. My favorite side effect of having become certified to teach yoga is the friends and connections I've made to other teachers, students and the yoga community at large.

I debated on sharing this in light of how serious this moment is for all of us, the drastic change in our lives, the way we're all coping with loss, with grief, with stress and trauma. Yet, I chose to go ahead - because life has found a way to move on in spite of the pandemic. I'm still managing to teach yoga, babies are still being born, nature is finding the opportunity to show off its resilience. We have light and dark moments, yin and yang. So I'm sharing.

My experience with yoga as a student and a teacher continues to come back to the basic and pure idea that yoga is a journey of the self, through the self, to the self. I find out who I am on the mat and I can only hope that I help others do the same for themselves.

Below, I share some reflections on my experiences from the seat of the teacher, whether it has been in front of students in the same room with me or (more recently) in front of a device camera, projected on a screen via the Internet.

It has been glorious. I often say I leave the studio feeling high after I teach.

It has been difficult at times. There was that time I didn't know how to assist a student in wheel and he almost feel out of it. Lesson learned, it is okay to say I don't know how to do something.

It has been uh, shall we say, awkward? There was that time I wished the studio I taught at had incense to burn if you know what I mean. Don't think about this one too hard.

It has been fun. The times I laughed, my students laughed, my music was on point and we were in a groove together. Nothing tops this feeling - I basically float out of the room when this happens.

It has been confusing and sometimes served as an ego check. Avoiding the mental spiral that threatened those times students suddenly left in the middle of class has been an obstacle.

It has been humbling. How my heart raced that time I taught a (way more seasoned and experienced) teacher who I admire and respect so much! Hello internal freak out.

It has been one-on-one - MANY times and it has been with a class full of students, mat to mat, tough to walk around the room - full. THAT was fun!

It has been virtual - during the days of self isolation imposed by COVID-19. Never will I forget my first online class and the ones after that which presented unique challenges. This part of my teaching journey gave me a chance to feel that nervous energy all over again. I remembered what it was like to be new to something and I think that's a good reminder every now and then.

Throughout all those times, overall, it has been rewarding.

Here's to the next hundred hours!