The past two years of my life have been a journey through the world of yoga outside of Miami and within myself. Since I’ve traveled to so many places in such a short amount of time and have been teaching at the top conferences and centers, I have experienced many different styles and approaches to yoga.
It’s been a blessing and a transformation of sorts for me. At first, I started to question my approach to teaching because I saw how responsive the masses of the people were to styles that differed mine. I wondered if I changed my style to fit these needs more, would I bring more students to my class? To test the hypothesis, I started changing my teaching style some. I made it more of a workout and less of a work-in. We flowed more but didn’t dive deep into the postures to really get the benefits of working through the challenges of each pose. I didn’t really see a huge increase in the numbers of students but the hypothesis seemed to be inaccurate for another more important reason. Something in me felt I was compromising my deeper sense of truth by teaching in this way. This way of teaching isn’t right or wrong, it just wasn’t right for me. I couldn’t lose my traditional side that has helped be my rock and grounding force throughout these 16 years of practicing yoga. With my eyes wider (if possible) and my truth deeper instilled within me, I knew that I had to return to my roots of the teachings that have never let me down thus far. They are consistent and they are true. That’s the definition of truth: when something doesn’t change in the past, present or future. And the teachings have always proven to be true because of this. I, on the other hand, have some work to do.
This past weekend at the Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park, I taught two beginners courses; one on Mastering the Mountain (building your Samastithi / Tadasana foundation) and the other on Flipping your Perspective (a basic inversion workshop.) I took my time explaining every detail and didn’t rush through what I have heard in my head a thousand times. I broke it all down, dissection-style and I didn’t doubt myself. I know what I have to give. I owned who I am and I’m hopeful that others appreciate that and can learn from it in some way. I may be wrong about a lot of things, but following my truth and what has guided me thus far with trust and clarity will always be more powerful to me than compromising who I am to have a higher quantity of students in class.
My deep-seeded traditional roots will be the only way that I can fly freely and fun-lovingly (if that’s a word) without being knocked down every time a breeze hits.
Who wants to root down with me so we can fly? Let’s make a beautiful forest together! 🙂
