From 0 to 108

As soon as I started teaching I had heard that another teacher was keeping track of the amount of hours she was teaching. I loved this idea so I started jotting down the days times, type of class and eventually, also, the word of the day. Yesterday I reached 108 hours of teaching yoga. I knew I wanted to relay my teaching experience over time and knew that 108 was a perfect interval. Let me explain...

I started my journey with yoga years ago at YogaOasis. I was drawn to the intensity of yogahour. Admittedly it was the first real style of yoga I tried and for a long time thought this was the only kind of yoga. I was immediately drawn to the fast pace, the soundtrack, the sequencing, the full classes that created a special warmth, as well as the teachers that Yogahour attracted. I felt instantly connected to the large room at YogaOasis and fell into a deep love affair with getting to know my body. I went to as many classes as possible, I was also rock climbing a bit at the time and got to know one of the studio managers, Ashley. She graciously offered me a position cleaning the downtown studio a few hours a week for yoga trade. SCORE. I cleaned the downtown studio after hours. I would soak in the energy of the studio and give gratitude for the safe space that gave me the opportunity to grow comfortably into my skin. I then switched from downtown cleaning duty to washing mats, another opportunity I loved, to show the studio that offered me so much peace, some gratitude. Long story short, I gave up my key to the downtown studio when I moved to washing mats, and when I was offered a position teaching at downtown I was given another key. The keys for the downtown studio are numbered, and mine has inscribed on it "108". 108, I'm told, is a sacred number and it feels that way to me, and very near and dear to my yoga heart. 108 hours of teaching also equals 100 hours of teaching yogahour and 8 teaching miscellaneous classes.
What I've learned in the first 108 The first 108 hours changed me. Looking back on all of my notes I am reminded of the dark as well as light times in my teaching. My husband proposed after one of my classes. I started as a babbling, bumbling mess and can now confidently teach 8 of the 10 sequences yogahour and it's teachers have so lovingly and thoughtfully provided. My teaching has been tuned (I won't say fine tuned yet because I know I have much more work to do) to a level where I feel comfortable looking at my students, assessing them before and during class to articulate strength as well as stretch and apply as needed. I try to find at least one student per pose in each class to focus on and emphasize cues to them to increase their strength. For example, if I notice a student is often collapsing in their shoulders, when I instruct the class to move into side plank, I will stand by this student and either make eye contact or point out the strength cues by their side while saying them to the whole class. I very much enjoy this part of my teaching. I feel like I can connect with an individual student without compromising the instruction of the whole class.

I also noticed that somewhere along the way I picked up the habit of carrying around a block. I think it started off as my Linus blanket....

...and then may have turned in to.. I'm not sure what to do with my hands....

and now it actually is a great teaching tool! I can use the block to demo how to use props in certain difficult poses (for example ardha chandrasana with a block). I've seen students feel more comfortable grabbing a block and using it because now they know how to use it. I also have a block in my hand as I'm walking around and if I see someone struggle, will drop it off on their mat, maybe under their fingers in triangle while I continue teaching. I have embraced my Linus blanket block and now use it as a wonderful teaching tool!

When I watch other teachers, I marvel at how they are able to see when their students muscles are or aren't engaged and I knew I wanted to find this ability in my teaching, and I did! This may seem elementary to some, but a very vital step in noticing how students bodies may be different, or, may respond differently to the same pose. From here I can now fine tune my teaching instrument to the smaller details. I also want to honor the students practice, instead of telling them they must do it my way, explain why this action in this pose saved my back, or protected my hamstring, so on and so forth.

Darren says "pay attention to what you are paying attention to", so, in that vein, here are the things I am paying attention to; increasing strength in my students, using that strength to add stretch, and a deep desire to help students find what will make their practice , their practice.

After my last class on Tuesday I got to chat a bit with the girl who stays to clean the studio. She is thinking about taking the teacher training in August.  I felt a wave of gratitude for my upbringing at YogaOasis, for being a strong link in the teacher, student, teacher, student chain. I was, in that moment, able to articulate my aim, and really nail down what I had been trying to articulate all along. I want to enhance my teaching to be able to fine tune the students practice, so that they can better serve their bodies, and, if they so choose, other students. I want to be a strong link in the chain.

Nope... nuh uh... not gonna do it...

I DID NOT want to teach today. I've been feeling a bit worn down lately. Part of it is a deep realization that I am having trouble pretending to like my other job (bartending). It is becoming increasingly difficult to face up to people who are constantly rude, selfish, and unforgiving. Please do not misunderstand, there are parts of my job I very much like, and some people who are so very nice, thoughtful, and appreciative, but this not always the case in the service industry, but that is a story for another day, and for possibly another blog, anyway... back to today.

I opened up the studio about 25 minutes before class, lit some incense and candles and played some music and prepared for class. I was having trouble locking down my Word of the Day when this overwhelming feeling of .....overwhelm... whelmed over me? In that moment I realized what I had known but hadn't taken notice of yet, and that was that I haven't actually had a day to myself, to rest, since I started teaching. It's been about 6 months now. I knew my word of the day, then, would be "rest", an an attempt to practice it myself. In fact, it is built IN to our practice, we rest at the end of every class to fully receive the benefits of all of the hard work we've done. When studying for the Yogahour Teacher Training test I skipped out on this very important aspect of the Teacher Training and I suffered greatly. I got sick, had a shorter attention span, and was unable to focus. WE NEED rest. We cannot continue to go go go even when we have a great desire to learn and GROW GROW GROW. In order to fully utilize all of the poses, thoughts, cues we've learned we must rest. Boom, word of the day handled... still didn't want to teach the class though..  and I was silently hoping no one would show up, then I could maybe hold the space and meditate for an hour or so.

8 minutes til class starts... a car rolls up, nope, they head next door. T-minus 7 minutes.. a car pulls up... also goes next door... 6 minutes to go... a car pulls up, I'm thinking there may be a good chance they will head next door, but they've parked closer to my door... crap... then I see the fitted clothing indicative of us active types... double crap...

A beautiful woman comes in and asks if she can practice here today, I say yes of course we have a class that is just about to begin. It turns out she is visiting from St Paul, I ask her to fill out a waiver as it's her first time here. I check the waiver, as I often do, for injuries, limitations, and first timers. She has some thoracic spinal issues, SI issues, and some fused discs, it indicates. I happen to glance at her as she is putting her things away and her shirt lifts up, and I see her back scars, They look like a large arrow pointing down, running what looks like the length from her low back to bottom. Dang, I'm pretty lucky I'm in good health.

4 minutes to go, 5 more people show up! Awesome! LET'S DO THIS!

We get through our warm ups and I can't help but keep an eye on my out-of-towner, she is making her own modifications, but it looks like she cannot even bend her back, not even a little bit. She knows her limitations, she uses her own props and does her own modifications, and continue to watch. After the warm-ups, on to standing sage I get another overwhelming feeling, "how beautiful these bodies are". This particular class ranges in age but usually it is in the 40s and 50s range, and they so continue to inspire. They are here to take care of themselves, to love the body that has given them so many years. They are here to learn, and grow, and know when to rest when they have to. I almost start crying during class. Bring it back Annie! Okay back to teaching.

We end class, and I am now full. Full of love, gratitude, awe, and sheer joy for my job. I compare this to other things I've done and this tops them all. I love what I do, I LOVE what I do. I answer some questions, and make sure to tell my out-of-towner it was a pleasure to watch her practice, and that she is tenacious! I listen as others talk about their experience and how one gentleman came to yoga when he realized he couldn't brush his teeth without his arm hurting, and he amazes me. I loved my class today, and couldn't have asked for a better class, even though in the beginning I wasn't really having it, my students change me, as they usually always do.