Hug Your Favorite Banana Tree

I had such an inspiring day of teaching. And I had the smallest classes ever! Long long ago in a land far far away, I thought being a successful yoga teacher meant that you stood at the front of a room with lots of mirrors, wearing clothes that showed off your yoga booty or core or whatever, and you had lots of sweaty students swarming around you. Can you tell I used to do Bikram? I can't believe how long programming lasts. But all I will say is, today only one person showed up to each of my classes. And I, for one, enjoyed myself. The world did not come to an end. In fact, it opened up a little bit.

Yoga Snack:

At first there was no one. But I just waited. And at 12:09 in walked the most perfect person for that class today. A light-hearted, funny, and kind woman. She requested "gentle." We barely got up off the floor. I had so much fun, and hopefully she did too. When there is only one person the class can be so personalized. I learned a lot and loved being able to have all my attention on just one student. I used a little bit of touch during final resting pose, which I haven't been doing if there's more than one person. Too hard to get to everyone.

I think Yoga Snack might be moving towards an even gentler sequence (it's scary for me to offer "easy." maybe i'm afraid people will be bored). Today, gentle seemed like just the ticket, and I am grateful to my one student for showing me that. Plus, as it gets hotter, there will be no choice.

Restorative:

Funny, the same thing happened. Just one student. My friend showed up. And since she was the only one, I invited her 7 year old daughter in for class too. The results were seriously beautiful. And adorable. I don't know if I would have normally felt so confident about inviting a 7 year old in, but I dropped in for an evening to Betsy Stix's Children's Yoga workshop this weekend, and learned a lot in a short time.

I will never again say "Reclining Bound Angle." It sounds so harsh and mechanical compared to "Resting Butterfly." I said "You are a butterfly and you spent the whole day busily sipping from flowers and now you are just resting." And the little girl, who had fashioned herself an amazing pair of butterfly shoes from the long purple strap, said "Oh, that's how my day at the zoo was for me!"

Her day at the zoo was clearly still on her mind. In Child's pose, she said she felt like a monkey and the bolster was her favorite banana tree. And when wobbling and hugging her knees to her chest she said she felt like a coconut.