Our next blog post is up! Let us know what you think! We appreciate you!! Blessings, Tessa The Yoga Journey, Part 21 Becoming an Intermediate/Advanced Student I consider myself an expert on a lot of things. Like getting the final few crumbs out of a Doritos bag when all the chips are gone. I can get the crumbs almost without dumping fake nacho cheese flakes all over my face. The bottom of the bag is the best part, you know youre thinking about doing the same thing right now. I am also quite gifted at quick comebacks. When Im not in the studio, or trying to be nice (which does take work some days, lets be real), I generally dont stop the things that want to come out of my mouth. Sometimes my comeback is simply glaring at someone with a look of what the hell is wrong with you? on my face until they stop talking. Im really good at stuffing a lot of things in to a really small space. Like a closet, a purse, or a piece of tupperware when I dont want to use two for the leftover dinner. Its a true art form, really. Especially when I was younger. I would stuff as much as I could into a cupboard or my closet and then just close the door really fast, so nothing falls directly on my face with the assumption that I will just clean it up the next time I open the door. The next time I would open the door, I would cover my face before opening it, and then scream when shoes, dishes, and water bottles came crashing down on my head. I would grab what I needed really quick, pick up the discarded crap, shove it back in the closet, and shut the door as fast as I could. It eventually got to the point where I would just leave the crap on the floor and leave the closet door open with half of its insides spilling on to my carpet in my room. I have also acquired quite the skill of not folding laundry. It hurts my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or West Nile Virus, or whatever I happen to be suffering from that day, and I would just rather not do it. Im really good at dumping the laundry on to my bed to get folded and then when I want to actually get in bed later that evening, Im really gifted at shoving the massive pile of laundry back into the laundry basket. The next day, when I want to wear something, the clothes will be wrinkled and Ill need to put them back in the dryer to get unwrinkled. Once they come out of the dryer the process starts all over again. I used to do that over and over until all the clothes were back in the dirty clothes hamper from having been worn, and it would just start from the beginning after they were washed again. I never had to fold a thing. And my clothes were never wrinkled. I know, Im a genius. As you can see, I have an extreme set of useless skills that may or may not come in handy one day. I dont think I can save a cat from a burning building by not folding laundry, or dumping chip crumbs on my face, but stranger things have happened. I dont brag about my skill set, because, frankly, who cares? And if you do care, then you need to watch TV more often. As a yoga practitioner who has been coming to class for awhile, two or three years, you will acquire a set of skills in yoga that beginners dont have. As an instructor, youll acquire a whole bunch of skills that even your most advanced students dont have. Those skills arent as cool as licking the bottom of a chip bag, but they come close. The thing is, just like you dont want to hear about my adventures of closet stuffing on a regular basis, those beginner level students dont want to see you take a headstand when theyre doing Childs pose. When and if you become a more advanced student, choose the more advanced classes. If you come to an easier class, thats ok too, but dont show off. Dont try to get attention. NEVER act like you know more than an instructor (because if that instructor is me, I cant guarantee my niceness in that moment). When you go to take class, just take the class. Modify if you need to, but dont try and get attention. Theres a quality of yoga that extends to other yoga students and instructors. Its called respect. Respect someone elses practice, and dont shove your own practice in their face. If they do Bikram yoga, and you dont like Bikram yoga thats okay for you, and okay for them. But, do me a favor, and dont act like your kind of yoga is better. Yoga is yoga. Respect that someone is doing it, and let that be enough. And if you want to do headstand instead of childs pose, do it at home. Everyone in class can probably already tell youre a more advanced student or another instructor, just by the way you take easy postures like Downward Facing Dog. But the truth is, if you show off, someone in class will inevitably feel like they suck at yoga because youre just so good. And no one deserves to leave a yoga class frustrated with themselves. Yoga is supposed to make you feel good. Give everyone the chance to have that experience.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 05:15:43 +0000
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