sometimes less is more...

I subbed my first yoga class in Calgary and it felt great to teach again. Whether or not it will lead to something remains to be seen, but it doesn't really matter because I still love it! And as usual, I am feeling anxious and impatient because things aren't happening fast enough. However, the first bundle of courses with Susi Hately starts in 2 weeks, which doesn't help me patience-wise but makes me feel OK about my account balance.

Finances aside, I use my time wisely and take as many yoga classes as I can. The trouble is finding the right class with the right teacher. Calgary like most cities is saturated with yoga and it's hard to tease out the commercialism and pretense with the kind of yoga that I'm looking for. Lately, I've been having trouble finding a class that's challenging so I either take an Ashtanga class or do a double header - ah... the joys of unlimited time and an unlimited yoga pass. With all the training I plan to do I'm starting to wonder how I'll be able to maintain and challenge myself in my own practice. I imagine once I'm more financially stable I can try new studios and but when I really think about it there are a ton of poses that I still have to master, such as  

Visvamitrasana (yogajournal.com) 

Hanumanasana (yogajournal.com)

 Pincha Mayurasana 

(yogalifejourney.com)

Hmmm... looks like I'm going to be busy for along time!

Yoga in Cowtown

Well, here I am, in the big city. Not quite as overwhelmed as when I first arrived but I'm still adjusting. There are yoga studios everywhere and they offer classes all day! It awesome, I love it! There are classes and styles I haven't heard of before, and there's workshops happening most weekends. The classes are often huge in comparison to the classes I taught in Prince George and Cranbrook which is a little intimidating and if you don't have your mat you can rent one for the class. What?! Really? What happened to please wipe your mat down after you use it? Ah, well come to the city... :)

As a budding yoga teacher, it's hard not be hyperaware of how a class is taught and I often catch myself making corrections to a cue or how something is pronounced. I also take lots of mental notes about how I can incorporated what I'm learning into my own practice and future classes. I'm realizing that everybody makes mistakes! I already know that but I really want to be a great yoga teacher and like everyone else get caught up in the ego, but the deeper my practice becomes the more I recognize this. And the more classes I attend, the more confident I become because it funny when you tell your students to come into dead baby pose when you really meant to say happy baby or dead bug pose, just like it's funny when someone else gives the most anatomically impossible cue. It's yoga after all and my Self, the source of Light which I draw from has a great sense of humor.

It is better to do your own duty badly than to perfectly do another's. Bhagavad Gita

Yoga an extreme sport?

Of course not but check out an awesome rebuttal by The Awl writer Sarah Miller

6 Reasons to Ignore the NY Times Yoga Article

Another great article by Sarah

Why Yoga Can be so Irritating

And Here's the original NY Times article

ENJOY!

Distractions

I've been feeling pretty distracted lately... not so much from tangible things like Mojo playing with the string on my yoga pants or either cat resting on my back in any pose that allows it. But from the usual mental and emotional baggage that get in the way of the day to day, especially with my big move on the horizon.

 

All the more reason to practice, and  prepare. And try to tire the kitten out before I start practicing or should try and remain focused no matter what life throws at me as demonstrated in this funny video.

I could also just cut the single, non-functioning string from my pants but that would just makes sense!

I'm distracted by things like selling my truck and finding an affordable place but also by all the fantastic opportunities waiting for me. There are some workshops I'm planning to take in March, the first of many to becoming a therapeutic yoga teacher! How exciting!!

And then I get distracted over worrying about my teaching style... as many of you know I'm a mumbler and at times inarticulate. I'm also excitable and chatty but people come to my classes, and it is getting easier. When I first started training in Costa Riica I was overwhelmed with an incredible amount of new and fascinating information. Is till don't know what to do with it all! But I do know is that enjoy teaching and I'm really looking forward to growing as a yoga teacher and a life time student. 

Trends and the high ground

Shit Yogis Say is a pretty funny video by Lululemon in response to a PR project gone bad. I remember when Lululemon was a small store on 4th (or was it Broadway) in Vancouver. The clothes were cute and expensive but not overly so. You didn't mind spending the money because you knew you were paying for quality and something somewhat unique. I don't begrudge Lulelemon's success, it is a Canadian company which is awesome and their clothing is high quality, but I resent the inaccessibility of quality products and services to those of us who can't spend $100 on a pair of yoga pants. I think this is attributable to the popularization of yoga and is evident in other trendy items such as iPods or X-boxes. Unlike these technological gadgets, yoga has the potential to heal society's mental and physical ailments and in my utopian worldview anything that heals or just makes people the world a better place should be accessible to everyone!

This is of course more of a rant since yoga is fairly accessible through online streaming (see Yogis Anonymous and YogaGlo), DVDs, books and classes at community centres. And sometimes I find myself belittling the trend setters and questioning their motives because yoga isn't about how good you look. It's about being in the moment and surrendering our attachments to materialism. "Letting go of that which doesn't serve you." is another important aspect of yoga and criticizing other people's choices and reasons for doing whatever doesn't serve me in the least! In fact it's not very yogic at all. It's just like what the yogis say "Nobody owns yoga!"

And hell yeah I saw his handstand!

New Beginnings

Happy New Year!

I'm glad 2011 is behind me, just like I was glad 2010 was behind me and so on... So what have I been doing wrong to feel so unsatisfied? I could ramble on analyzing and debating the potential reasons but that would and has got me nowhere. It's time to take action and this year that means BIG change.

I am an Ecologist by trade and more importantly PASSION. Unfortunately, in my experience that isn't enough to make in the real world, maybe in a perfect world but not this one. In all fairness, there are fabulous people doing awesome things and I WILL continue to crusade for the planet. I am a tree hugging hippy and that will never change. I'm just changing my approach and taking my passion for yoga to a new level.

 Last February, I went to Costa Rica for an intense 3 week yoga teacher training course with Frog Lotus Yoga (http://www.froglotusyoga.com/.) Needless to say, it change my life and after a year of teaching part-time I've decided to pursue a career as a teacher and yoga therapist! I LOVE it and I'm so excited to get started. The first step is to move to the city where there are more studios and opportunities to advance my own practice and learn the fine art and science of yoga therapy. So look out Calgary (YIKES!!) here I come!