Free Yoga

Jaclyn writes:

I've been struggling with the idea of getting back to teaching yoga.  On one level, I feel like I'm challenged to keep a routine outside of work and I'm unsure about committing to helping others in their practice.  It's actually quite a weight to lead others into a yoga practice and do it consciously.  But, I've found a pretty stable personal practice at this point.  When teaching yoga, it's key to have your own time to explore yourself and your breath within a personal practice.  I feel that I am finally at a point to confidently provide that for myself. 

I've also struggled with trying to find a place to teach and practice where I feel balance.  In teacher trainings at Shoshoni, so many of us talk about not being able to maintain the peace we find there at home.  My goal is to create that, somewhere, locally.  Many local studios seem to stress a competitive practice and to generally promote elements of yoga that are not in alignment with my own studies.  While I still feel like I haven't found the perfect balance, I have felt closer.  Another struggle with local yoga is the price tag that goes along with it.  I'll admit that I have an issue paying some of the steep prices at local studios and feel that this turns a lot of people away.  So, I've decided to offer a free class, at least for now, to offset some of these frustrations. 

Today was my first class taught in a little over a year.  Though I was clearing some cobwebs while teaching, I really felt right at home.  I'm using this year to find many pieces of myself that I left behind, somewhere.  I've returned to dancing once a week.  For some reason that was the scariest thing I've done in a long time.  While I spent my first class tripping around on two left feet, I eventually found what I once loved so much sneaking a few glances in the mirror at, what was once, a dancer.  I quit dance for a lot of complex and irrational reasons, but I'm happy to reclaim it once again.  I also quit climbing awhile back, for much less dramatic reasons.  But, I look forward to some indoor climbing this week.  My next challenges are to find time for a little swimming to complete a triathlon this year and to figure out how rafting fits into my summer.