Friday Morning Yoga
This morning I stepped into my Friday morning yoga class, again feeling "unprepared" for what I had coming up in the next month. September would start the beginning of my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training, and I was feeling nowhere near the level I needed to be at to start "teaching" any yoga.
See, a couple months ago, I took a trip to New Orleans to visit my dear friend Lexi. While I was there, we took a free community yoga class, and about halfway through the class I thought to myself (for about the 100th time in the past four or so years), "I need to become a yoga instructor." I think there was something about traveling, being in a new place, and being around Lexi that really made me throw my practicality out the window and realize I should really take the leap and do it--- JUST because I really wanted to. I've always been the practical type- go to school, get a good job, work and save my money to eventually buy myself that freedom to do whatever I want later in life. And don't get me wrong, it will take a lot for me to lose that mentality. But, something else inside me said, there's no reason I can't do both. I can take steps towards doing that thing I really LOVE and balance it out with "real life responsibilities." And, who knows where that will lead me. The New Orleans Healing Center, where we took the class, was an awesome building that had the yoga studio up top and a Co-Op down below, with various other shops throughout the building.
I kept envisioning all of my amazing friends with their
exclusive talents, and how easy it would be for us to create something
like this, with a little bit of something for everyone. I would do the
yoga, Rachie would have the jewelry/bead shop, Lindsay would have an
amazing bakery, Bren would do Zumba, Lex would have her ceramics
studio/shop, Jonae could do her photography, Anne have her own hair
salon.... It really made me appreciate the diversity in all of my
friends. Hey, I can dream, right?
Anyway, back to this morning.... So, I'm feeling unprepared, sweating my butt off through the class (coffee is not the best thing to have right before a yoga class), but really feeling grateful that I could take this "one hour for myself" this morning. That was my mantra... I knew I had work and other things to get done today, but I really wanted to stress to myself how important it was to let all of that go for this "one hour for myself." So, I really got into the zone and I could truly feel my body change and progress throughout the practice, as well as my mental attitude. I can physically feel a calmness take over my mind and body. That's the thing I love about yoga. I always feel a certain peace after my classes that's incomparable to anything else.
After the class is over, I slowly put on my flip flops and gather all of my things, as I'm eavesdropping on this group of older women who were sitting behind me. The one is asking "WHAT? What did she say? Is she coming back next week?" And the lady next to her shrugs her shoulders and asks the next lady, "What did she say? Is she coming back next week?" I had a smile on my face because they were super cute and looking really concerned, and I was wondering whether or not I should butt into the conversation. Apparently, the last lady was able to give them the answer that, "Yes, she would be back next Friday." I felt confident that I could finally walk away, but not before they caught me ear hustling in on their conversation. I gave them a smile and they proceeded to tell me how good my practice looked and that if the teacher didn't return next week, that I could go ahead and teach the class. That literally made my whole day. I couldn't stop smiling. They were so sincere in what they said, and it made me feel that even though my practice may not be where I need to it be, I'm still doing okay. It's going to take a lot more hard work from me in the coming months, but that one group of ladies helped boost my confidence level 100%. I felt really grateful for them this morning.
See, a couple months ago, I took a trip to New Orleans to visit my dear friend Lexi. While I was there, we took a free community yoga class, and about halfway through the class I thought to myself (for about the 100th time in the past four or so years), "I need to become a yoga instructor." I think there was something about traveling, being in a new place, and being around Lexi that really made me throw my practicality out the window and realize I should really take the leap and do it--- JUST because I really wanted to. I've always been the practical type- go to school, get a good job, work and save my money to eventually buy myself that freedom to do whatever I want later in life. And don't get me wrong, it will take a lot for me to lose that mentality. But, something else inside me said, there's no reason I can't do both. I can take steps towards doing that thing I really LOVE and balance it out with "real life responsibilities." And, who knows where that will lead me. The New Orleans Healing Center, where we took the class, was an awesome building that had the yoga studio up top and a Co-Op down below, with various other shops throughout the building.
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| New Orleans Healing Center (Photo from Google images) |
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| Inside the Healing Center (Photo from Google images) |
Anyway, back to this morning.... So, I'm feeling unprepared, sweating my butt off through the class (coffee is not the best thing to have right before a yoga class), but really feeling grateful that I could take this "one hour for myself" this morning. That was my mantra... I knew I had work and other things to get done today, but I really wanted to stress to myself how important it was to let all of that go for this "one hour for myself." So, I really got into the zone and I could truly feel my body change and progress throughout the practice, as well as my mental attitude. I can physically feel a calmness take over my mind and body. That's the thing I love about yoga. I always feel a certain peace after my classes that's incomparable to anything else.
After the class is over, I slowly put on my flip flops and gather all of my things, as I'm eavesdropping on this group of older women who were sitting behind me. The one is asking "WHAT? What did she say? Is she coming back next week?" And the lady next to her shrugs her shoulders and asks the next lady, "What did she say? Is she coming back next week?" I had a smile on my face because they were super cute and looking really concerned, and I was wondering whether or not I should butt into the conversation. Apparently, the last lady was able to give them the answer that, "Yes, she would be back next Friday." I felt confident that I could finally walk away, but not before they caught me ear hustling in on their conversation. I gave them a smile and they proceeded to tell me how good my practice looked and that if the teacher didn't return next week, that I could go ahead and teach the class. That literally made my whole day. I couldn't stop smiling. They were so sincere in what they said, and it made me feel that even though my practice may not be where I need to it be, I'm still doing okay. It's going to take a lot more hard work from me in the coming months, but that one group of ladies helped boost my confidence level 100%. I felt really grateful for them this morning.
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