Lessons learned the hard way

Last week I learned that when I don't have enough yoga for me, I don't have anything to give my students.

This week I learned that if I don't have anything to give to my students, they don't show up the following week.

Maybe this is something that happens frequently to new teachers, but after teaching two classes that went (reasonably) well I had some crazy idea that I knew what I was doing and I didn't need to practice my sequences before class. I barely scribbled out my sequence beforehand, much less practiced it.

Experience is such a accurate teacher. Yesterday I had one mom and baby pair show up for my class. Believe me, I was grateful for that one mom and baby pair, but also humbled in a big way because the mom is a much more experienced yogini than me. I felt like she would be the better teacher, 200 hour yoga training program or not.

I love small classes, and do see them as an opportunity to get to know one student and his/her body well vs. knowing a dozen students superfically. I loved that this one student showed up with her adorable 9 month old daughter who isn't crawling yet so I have no problem with her in my pre-crawling class.

I did my best, as best as I could for being unprepared. I had such a crazy day (up at 5am to do network engineer work, then working at Ava's school from 9-1) before I even got to the 2:30pm class that it's a miracle I could remember any asanas. But the restorative pose at the end...I just got the feeling that the supported badda konasana pose I put her into at the end made the class for her. Especially when she was trying to hold her daughter and relax at the same time, I said to her, "how about if you sit your daughter next to you and I'll play with her while you rest." This adorable little girl and I played peek-a-boo with a foam block for a while, to her delight, and then as she was sitting in front of me, I would peek on either side of her and whisper "boo!" She leaned into me and I felt...forgiven.

I asked whomever was on duty up above to give this mom five minutes of uninterrupted rest in this pose. And they listened, because her little girl played with me for seven.

The mom in my class asked for something I filed for future reference...how can we do more yoga with her baby? I'm playing with this idea, which is challenging, but a worthy challenge none the less.

This week, I go back to studying from my trusted teachers, humbled by my inexperience and arrogance.

I just pulled an angel card "for my mom and baby class": Transformation
And one for me right now: Patience

From The Angel Cards Book by Kathy Tyler and Joy Drake:

Transformation: Change happens when you take responsibility for your awareness and apply it to your everyday life, small moment by small moment.

Patience: Be fully available to the present and bring all of your attention to what is actually happening now. Relax into the flow of life.

(Wow!)