Validation

When I set out to become a yoga instructor, it wasn't about the money.....it never has been. Yoga as a practice is so gratifying that to even accept money to teach others almost seems wrong to me. But we can't deny the need to make a living, so why not get paid to do what you love?

For me, my whole reason for teaching yoga is to help others and bring them to a place of peace and awareness first within themselves and then have it naturally radiate out from there into the world around them.

The first time I experienced the profound joy of yoga I was working in Corporate America and decided to take a class on my lunch break. I had no idea what I was doing, but the sensations in my body afterwards had me hooked! I was a jellyfish on muscle relaxers. Not even my boss could get under my skin after that class. The only word to describe my state of being was BLISS. However, it took many more years to develop an awareness of myself and truly see that there is much more to yoga than just stretching.

Almost 10 years passed before my wisdom and insight showed me that to teach others about the benefits of yoga would bring me a wealth of joy and peace unmatched by all the money in the world.

One of my students came to me after class about 10 days ago and told me how his life and physical abilities have changed for the better since he's started taking yoga and how his whole outlook has also changed as well. He's been taking my class almost exclusively since I began teaching in October after his friends dragged him to a class. His admission about the benefits he's received from taking my yoga class validated my whole reason for teaching yoga in the first place. I can't even describe how good that feels to know that I've helped at least one person so far.

I love my job!

Yoga + Awareness = LOVE

Until next time.....

Thanks for reading!

Kristen

A Patient Practice

I am a pranyama away from being a yoga instructor. A dream that was realized over the summer and has been taking shape into reality ever since. My first class will be on Tuesday at 11:00am. It's a new class listing at the gym, so not very many people know about it yet, which is such a relief to me since I am just starting out.

It hasn't taken me very long to arrive at this place. In fact, it's been surprisingly speedy and everything has been happening in my favor......even when I was asked to start teaching a yoga class right after I got my online and workshop certification. I was scared. I hadn't even practiced on anyone yet. I wasn't confident enough to get up in front of a room full of people seeking my guidance in the practice of yoga. Then I found out that I needed to be CPR certified to teach. That bought me some time to practice on my friends and put together a few different sequences. I've had time to prepare and this has made all the difference in my level of confidence as a teacher.

Around that same time, I felt pressure to have a deeper practice, a more flexible body, the ability to perform asanas that my body clearly wasn't ready for. As a result, I seemed to have a different minor injury every week. If it wasn't my low back from doing camel, it was my knee from attempting mermaid pose, if not that, my hamstrings were tight. One day in class, I just lost it. Frustration had pushed me to tears and thankfully, my instructor, Nina helped me to see the lessons my body was teaching me. I needed to slow down and listen to my body and honor what it needed in that moment. My body needed me to be gentle and patient with it, I needed to deepen my breathing in order to open and release the tension and stress I'd been under that had been contributing to my injuries. I needed to learn to modify my practice instead of pushing myself to be the most flexible and agile person in class. Yoga is not a competition. It's a turning inward to tune into what your body needs in that moment.

With these realizations in the forefront of my consciousness, my practice is back on track and I often feel stronger with every Chaturanga Dandasana. The frustration and the sadness that came with it have evaporated and I'm eagerly welcoming the adventure of being a yoga instructor and sharing the peace and practice of yoga with those who wish to learn and bring that same peace and tranquility into their lives as I have received in mine.

Until next time.......

Thanks for reading.

Kristen

Coincidences?

Here I have been working on my yoga practice and becoming more flexible everyday. I even got myself into mermaid pose a few days ago.
This is not an easy pose for anyone to get themselves into, so I was elated when I accomplished it with witnesses around me at the gym......much to the chagrin of my knee. I managed to hyperextend my knee while in this pose and have been nursing it back to health ever since.

I've been very focused on increasing my flexiblity and feel I have achieved a good range that I now want to step up my strength so I can take my yoga practice to the next level.


But I find it funny that as I switch my focus to increasing my upper body strength, my knee gives me trouble. My legs are very strong, so there's really no need to focus on that part of my body as much right now anyway. It's as though my knee is ensuring that my legs don't get a work out right now so I can in fact work on my upper body strength and really focus on it.

Here are a few pictures of what I hope to do with that strength:



The trainer I'm working with is a gymnast and has been putting me through the wringer......so I'm glad he hasn't had the opportunity work my legs......yet. However I think it's an interesting coincidence that as I switch my focus something happens that ensure the focus stays on where I want to work. It's like the universe is conspiring on my behalf. I'll take it! More on this later.


Until next time.....

Thanks for reading!

Kristen