When you truly believe in the magic of the universe it drops opportunity right at your feet. I had started subbing yoga classes when ever I got the chance at The Yoga House. At one point I subbed classes three weeks in a row. I was loving teaching three times a week and it was great to meet new practitioners that can’t make it to my Friday night slot. My favorite thing to do is connect with new people and talk to them about yoga. ( My friends are surely sick of yoga talk. ) Since my journey began with yoga its felt so amazing to have this continuous passion. I constantly pick up new hobbies then decide I’m bored with them. That was not the case with yoga though, my passion for yoga just continues to grow. Which is why when the opportunity appeared on facebook, a space looking to rent to a yoga teacher, I jumped on it! I had to at least check this space out.
The space seemed to be a nice little studio rental. So now comes the planning! This week is all about picking days and times. Also creating flyers and advertising. Does it scare me to go out and try this on my own? Of course. Having a class at an already established space brings in it’s own business and does a lot of the work for you. I feel a little crazy taking this leap but it feels as if the world gave it to me in a moment where I asked for it so why not try. Also there are no yoga studios in Rosendale. The man renting the space said the community was upset when the last studio moved so it’s also an opportunity to give back to that community. I’m super excited, stay tuned to for more info! And if you have any input on times, length of classes or difficulty level of classes let me know!
Sometimes life just falls into place when you least expect it. I’ve been searching and thinking of what to do next with my yoga career and now it’s just fallen into my lap. After getting a job at a local gym ( The Fitness Connection) I started to take a couple of classes there. I have never been much of a gym person, yoga is my everything, but the vibe and the women that attend the gym really pulled me in! I’ve been trying to find ways to transition from being a barista full time and part time yoga teach to full time yoga teacher with less coffee making. I want to offer more holistic classes and healing sessions but with a normal work schedule too it makes it hard. We do have to make a living though! I was talking with a friend about all this and she reminded me that her sister had done a training down in North Carolina that combined yoga with HIIT in one class. I contacted her only to find out they only offered such a training in that one studio. I began watching videos of combination classes and added a couple of sequences to my classes but did not feel confident to hold a combination class with no personal trainer certification. I want to keep people safe. My brain of course went straight to becoming a personal trainer but I decided that was not for me at this time. Two weeks ago I was scrolling through facebook mindlessly (which we are all guilty of from time to time) all of a sudden I see an ad for Yoga Sculpt training and it’s yoga alliance certified. I was skeptical and nervous. I found her on yoga alliance and sure enough it was real. It’s a 6 week online training that I’m super excited for. I love learning and expanding what I can share with those who I meet along my journey! So if anyone wants to be my student as I learn to create some yoga toning workout sequences (that might be horrible to start no promises haha) let me know! By April I will be ready to share with everyone my new classes! Can’t wait to see you on the mat!
I was so very proud of myself this weekend. In the last year I have grown so much. Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of all the progress and wonderful things we have worked to achieve. Before I had come back to a consistent yoga practice last year I was terrified to do anything alone. This would include going to the grocery store, try a new yoga class where I didn’t know the teacher or even walk Batman. I really had to work myself up to do just about anything. We all have our set backs too, don’t get me wrong for various reasons these things can still be very hard. Most of the time now I force myself to do it though. I mean if I think about it I get up in front of a room full of people at least twice a week sometimes more and guide them through class I can certainly take the dog down the street or go to the store.
After I found out the 300hr yoga teacher training I wanted to take would not be running this winter I knew I had to find other ways to keep growing and learning. When The Yoga House had flyers and emails going out about a weekend learning about Ashtanga with Tim Feldmann I knew I had to take this opportunity. Tim Feldmann spent time learning from Pattabhi Jois the very person who formed Ashtanga yoga. Having never practiced Ashtanga, which is quite the vigorous practice that takes a lot of strength and patience, I was most certainly terrified. I made myself go anyway knowing that even if I could not do the poses or the practice that was okay I was here to learn. I pushed through the entire weekend and was very proud of how much I could actually do if i set my mind to it. I was certainly very sore afterwards! What I was most proud of though was that I did not once put myself down. I kept my mind focused and continued to try. We practiced poses over and over again especially jumping through and jumping back which is something I don’t often practice in vinyasa. Each time we did this I would get a little bit better at it. Even though I did not float all the way to the top or back of the mat I did make progress. I also did not judge myself because other people in the room could do it. I was proud of everyone’s progress. I could feel the supportive energy in the room. I also knew when my body could not take anymore. There is a difference between being sore and pushing yourself beyond your limit. I was able to find that balance throughout the weekend. In our last workshop which was inversions I knew my shoulder and ribs, which constantly pull out of place, could not longer take it. I was crossing the line of soreness and actual pain. I did try most of the poses but when I noticed myself just pushing to get up not fully paying attention to my body I knew I was too tired and sore to keep going. This can be very hard to do and we often push ourselves to far to fit in or nail a pose. We are not practicing to nail poses. Yes it feels great and makes for picturesque moments but the practice of yoga is to learn about ourselves. I certainly learned a lot about myself and the practice this weekend. Even if I don’t take up the practice of Ashtanga I’m very happy I went through the whole workshop. It’s so important for us to keep pushing ourselves to do things that scare us and help us to grow. I also came back to my point from my last post not one person there told me I couldn’t do it. Everyone I met was supportive and proud of me for trying out the practice. Yoga always brings me back to my path when I feel like I’ve lost my way.
Yesterday I subbed a yoga class for one of my fellow Yoga House teachers. When Hillary Harvey asked me to sub her class of course I said yes! It would mean helping out a friend and getting to share my passion another night of the week why not?! I began to think about how subbing her class really took me full circle in my past year. In November of 2018 I decided I really needed to make a life change. I had lost my yoga practice over the summer and had picked up a home practice in October again but was extremely nervous to go to class. I had been to the yoga house once or twice years before so I picked their beginner class on Friday night with Hillary. A friend of mine came to support me and get back into his yoga practice as well. I was terrified that I wasn’t good enough or that I wouldn’t be able to do some of the poses. Hillary made me feel right at home. I quickly realized after continuing to take her class weekly that I could do this and that the more I came the more I would grow. The moment I connected with yoga I’d always thought I might like to be a teacher. The Yoga House offers a training that you can start at any time as long as you complete all the modules within two years. I had thought of taking the training here the year before this one as well but again did not feel ready. That years training had started in November. Having just gotten back into a steady practice I again felt like I was not good enough. I just kept putting my life on hold because I did not feel ready or good enough. Hillary and my friend who had started coming to yoga with me talked me into joining the training in January 2019. They both told me I could do it and believed in me. Throughout the training, throughout all the yoga classes I took (I dove right into my practice once I started the training so I took a lot of classes), with all the practice teaching I did (some of it being a disaster) not once did anyone tell me I was not good enough or that I could not do it. I was flooded with encouragement. I quickly grew to realize that I was the only one that was this hard on myself. I was the only one holding myself back. I was good enough to be a yogi, I mean just showing up and putting the work in even if you never nail a pose that is the whole point of the asana practice. I was most certainly meant to teach yoga and yes of course I would have days where class would not go as planned and even had a class that was so bad I cried my eyes out after and said I would never teach again. That only lasted a day. Throughout the last year so much in my life has changed. There were most certainly hard times and also some really amazing moments. Once I believed in myself and found love for myself ( its not easy we all have our moments of self doubt and dislike) things began to fall into place. I now teach the same class slot Friday night at The Yoga House that was my first class which lead me to this moment in time. I am so honored and blessed to be living this life. Moral of my story stop being so hard on yourself. Tell yourself that you can do it. Let fear gently push you not stop you. YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH!