Today was a close encounter of the historical kind :-)
It had been several hundred days since I last led an "official" yoga class.
But the time has come for me to get back on the mat and share what has been percolating for some time...
I had decided I was ready to take up this "torch of shedding light on life" as I was driving up to Ojai in May for Side B Part 2 at LuLu Bandha's
Of course, earlier today... the thoughts about "i'm not prepared" tried to prevent this experience... just like they always try to do as we embark on our destiny. Since I had "an out"... I decided to not decide until the time came that I HAD to decide! :-) I make my best decisions this way...
I pondered what would come out of my mouth as I envisioned some type of vinyasana flow... What about music?? Well... I do have 3 gigs worth on the iPod, there must be something there ready to support us during our asana play!?! Ended up using Raymond's Heart of the Mother... one of my favorite all-time albums.
Walked into the studio, pushed play, and allowed the session to unfold...
Summer time at the SRC is pretty mellow... thats partly why I decided to "dive back into the yoga teacher mode". Had 9 females show up for this session... most with some minimal experience and all in pretty good shape. They expressed a willingness right from the start for the "adventure" I laid before us. I'm not afraid to express my truth and I think they were intrigued (as I was) to find out what would happen in our hour together :-)
The practice started with an intention and some clarification of "doing yoga right"... leading into some alternate nostril breathing. Onto our backs for some work with the strap, then into a horse position for some introductions to our "tailbone pointing ability"... they seemed to enjoy imagining a tail and how it's movement influenced the sensations of our spine. The flow incorporated a lot of basic sun salutations and hot yoga postures. I was able to share the past years in an effortless flow... encouraging "rebellious modifications" as I demonstrated a version of Swami Satchidananda's euphoric trikonasana pose. There was lots of laughter and smiles during this hour of yogic play.
We ended with a nice savasana...
My intentions was to "fly by the seat of my pants" and allow the sweetness to flow naturally. I was pleased to find what was needed as the moment presented itself and look forward to build upon this re-immersion into leading others into tuning to there own alignment...
It was nice to witness the expression of the yoginis as we closed our practice with gratitude for our time together and the infinite possibilities that lay ahead... I have a distinct feeling that we will be having more "adventures" together on Thursdays this summer :-)
