And Now I SEE.

I've been put in so many situations lately that have made me more aware of how close minded I tend to be.  What a strong statement that is!  But it is true.  I get stuck in my way of thinking, in my own little world, by tunnel vision, or my own small black and white box and have a hard time seeing outside of that.  Realizing that, I sit and wonder what other insights I have missed along the road of my life.

Today's insight was pretty simple and straightforward.  It kind of hit me in the face, or perhaps on the yoga mat.  After going to Wanderlust, I critiqued many of the instructors there(big name teachers mind you!) saying that they cued in a way that didn't set students up for success.  They left the posture name out of the cueing completely and just guided students into it with verbal cues and breath leaving many students confused and fumbling.  It is so ingrained in me to cue by using Posture, Breath, 3 alignment cues, that's it.  When taught in a different way, I immediately didn't like it and thought my way was better.  Ahhh, what judgement!

Then today I went to a "Slow Flow" training at Life Time Fitness led by Tory Schaeffer.  He offered up the the idea that perhaps by leading the yogi into the posture and then telling them where they are(name of posture) as a knowledge piece that this allows the yogi to come into their body more and feel where they are going rather than just popping right into the posture out of habit.  He suggested that students listen better and apply the cues better when they are depending upon those cues to guide them into the posture.

And looking at it in this light  I can totally see what he is saying.  He also made the point that when you use the name of a posture with a bunch of beginners and assume that they know what you are talking about then this leaves them lost.  I have mixed feeling about that.  Those that know the posture will go right in to it and those that are unsure can follow suit. But then that gets us back into a routine and trying to get ourselves to look like those around us vs. moving from a grounded, internally motivated space of feeling, intention and awareness landing in a place that is right for our own body.

This new insight from Tory brought me back to what I LOVE about yoga- that it is individualized to me and what I feel and need at any given moment, there is no right or wrong, only what feels good in MY body, it is internal, soul searching, organic.  Allowing students to journey inward and feel their way into and out of postures creates an atmosphere where they can be free to discover what they will, rather than me leading them to where I want them to travel.  In the end I think that guidance is good and that a little nudge in the right direction is sometimes desired but with that I want to give my students space to explore and roam and discover on their own.

When I practiced teaching this way, however, I stumbled.  It was so challenging for me teach in such a foreign manner that my confidence wavered.  And though my instinct is to just teach what I am familiar and comfortable with, I also, a little begrudgingly, realize that herein lies a great opportunity for growth.  Not just growth in my teaching but also in my progression of believing in myself and allowing myself to take risks and recover with grace regardless of the outcome.

So I am challenging myself to try on this new way of teaching,  this new philosophy and see how it fits.  I think it is important to see the whole picture, even if, no... especially if, it takes someone else to remove the blinders for you and guide you to what you have been missing.  In the end there is no right and wrong, only what suits me best.  I have a feeling it will be a mixture of the two philosophies but mostly just getting back to the core of what yoga is all about.  Tory told a student that a successful yogi is one that can come to class and leave  feeling good.  We often forget that.  We get stuck in the thinking that it is all about the postures, but NO... that is just a means to allow ourselves to journey inward.

I have been missing a great deal lately and have had so many of these nudges to open my eyes and take it all in.   This whole yoga experience was just one small example of how we can miss the entirety of the picture we are meant to see and perhaps even the lesson we are intended to learn.  I feel especially grateful for a husband that has such a clear and very different perspective than I do.  This makes us a great duo in guiding and assisting each other through this life and I find that to be one of the best and most rewarding things about marriage. Perhaps it is also challenging at times but then again is where the opportunity for growth lies.

I am filled with gratitude for my wider view in the few areas that have recently been unveiled in my life.
One of my most poignant lessons of late has been realizing how blessed I truly am.  I complain a great deal about trivial things.  It has taken events that are not so trivial in my friends lives to shine a light in my heart and allow my gratitude to soar for the blessings I enjoy.  In changing my perspective I have allowed more gratitude to flow into my life.