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Yoga Bits
Morsels of yogic wisdom and information
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Apr. 23 - 29, 2012
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For complete information on class days, times and locations, please visit
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Show Me the Way to Go Om
The teacher is really the student
"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
-- Albert Einstein
"Remember, this is your yoga class, not mine."
That's my little spiel that I often announce during warm-up. It's a way of encouraging students to work at their own level, to have their own experience on the mat. But it's only half true. It is my yoga class, too, because I am constantly learning through teaching.
For example, I give a restorative yoga class once a week at a cancer support center.
 | | Supported Reclining Bound Angle Pose |
I was recently setting up a student in Supported Reclining Bound Angle pose using various props, similar to the picture at right. As I invited her to rest her arms out to her sides, palms facing up, on bolsters, she said, "Wow. This feels like I'm going to get an IV." This is usually a beneficial much-loved restorative pose, but obviously such an association is NOT relaxing for a cancer patient.
I stopped and asked her if she wanted to place her arms differently. We talked about it a moment and she said she wanted to try it. I finished setting her up and as she rested, I thought about how studying from a book and in a training are so different from real-world teaching. While the students do their poses in my classes, I am learning, too.
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That restorative class in particular is an exercise in acceptance. It challenges the over-achieving perfectionist in me like few things can. The first night I taught there, I went in armed with an entire sequence of poses and relaxation techniques. When I think now about how many "relaxing" postures I marched them through, those poor folks were probably worn out! Bless their hearts for returning to class.
In addition to offering weekly Kundalini yoga classes at my home studio, I am now teaching three times per week at the Burbank YMCA. Unlike the controlled setting at my apartment, the YMCA is one disruption after another, from the temperature fluctuations to the teenagers running through the hall outside the door. And wouldn't you know, just as we got into the groove of our beautiful mantra Monday evening, the volume of adolescent shrieks reached an all-new high.
I'm pretty sure I was wincing (thank goodness eyes are closed during chanting so the class didn't see me) at this almost comedic interference until I noticed that the students appeared not to be bothered by the noise. They were sharply focused, keeping up with the mantra and the mudra (hand position) and letting everything else go. In that moment, they were showing me how to meditate.
When I'm teaching, I'm reminded to never assume, to be flexible, to be gentle and patient, to work with what and who is in front of me. My students teach me to be present. That is a tremendous blessing for which I am deeply grateful.
If you want to be part of the reciprocal learning process I'm talking about, please join me for a class:
Home studio, North Hollywood: Tuesdays 7:30 p.m., Saturdays 10:30 a.m., Sundays 10 a.m.
Burbank YMCA: Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m., Fridays 10 a.m., Saturdays 8:30 a.m.
For more information about classes, email me or visit the class schedule on the Yoga Bits blog.
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The techniques and suggestions presented in Yoga Bits are not intended as medical claims or to substitute for proper medical advice. Consult your physician before beginning any new exercise program. If you are elderly or have any chronic or recurring conditions such as high blood pressure, neck or back pain, arthritis, heart disease, and so on, seek your physician's advice before practicing.
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