Tuning Our Sense of Perception: Teaching Yoga at Yoga Loka: Reno, Nevada: August 15, 2018
"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper." -W.B.Yeats
I've been excited, nervous, eager, delighted, and all the above to start teaching regularly scheduled classes at Yoga Loka, my new yoga home where I've fallen completely in love with all the teachers and her community.
It seems like in any relationship, the more you pay attention and love her, the more appears and aligns with your deepest desires of the heart. While I have loved three solid years of touring, my heart is never far from yoga. She's on my mind all the time and she has helped me out of a pickle more times than I can count, or that I'd want to count at this stage in the game. I enjoy staying focused on the sweetness in life, not the sour. Of course this takes massive amounts of discipline and practice which is why most days I'll be on a yoga mat.
In a surprising turn of events some classes opened up on the schedule and Kimberlee asked me to slide in and teach them, starting in like, two days. I didn't have a lot of lead time to overthink anything, which in itself was a relief. I haven't taught yoga since last winter in Maui, so blowing the dust off my teaching skills took a few classes to get a groove. Although I practice exploring what's in my heart everyday, the practice of sharing is a different deal, and one that I've become more interested in. How to not only live in Yoga, but communicate her. The root of communicate is to commune, and one of my working definitions of Yoga is Love, so how to commune in Love all the time, and any place. Its a tall order.
The Shiva Sutras 1.12 say vismayo yogabhumikah , translating to 'wonder is the foundation' of yoga. Wonder, awe, and the willingness to be surprised are the gateway to Yoga, and to Love itself. Wonder isn't a sense of ignorance, but of openness, as my teacher Ravi Ravindra says. How can we possible know all there is to know about everything? The play is to know the world loves us deeply. Patience, discipline, trust. These are the alignments of wonder and the lessons my life right now that seem critically important to learn for real.
Another definition of yoga is to connect, so teaching yoga for me is way more than a little side hobby. It helps me hone in on my freshest questions, and open enough to see what unravels the tight spots. Writing and sharing my findings, communing with yogis interested in the same thing isn't a one way conversation, its a learning by being together. I'm often surprised by what comes out of my mouth while teaching. These moments come from Beyond, are inspired by the yogis in the room.
This morning was the fourth class I've taught at Yoga Loka, all the in space of an exciting week. Not only have students and teachers showed up, the teachings themselves are coming into view and magic, real magic is appearing right before my eyes. Alignments of wonder, awe, a willingness to be surprised, love, and patience are the themes of my classes and the joy that is coming to the surface in my heart, having been buried in road and remodel dust. These eternal Truths never dissappear. They marinate in the inner workings of every day life. Love doesn't get weaker, but gains massive strength to pop out to the surface and be seen by all when the timing is good and ready.
Here is today's sequence and has been the base of the classes with variations here and there depending on who showed up and what wanted to come through.
Windshield Wiper
Savasana stretch with three Rhythms
Eye of the Needle
Cat and Cow
Barrel Roll
Downdog
Uttanasana
Tadasana
Gratitude meditation
Shoulder shrugs and rolls
Neck stretches
Shoulder openers with strap
low lunge salutes with gate and half moon
tadasana with rhythm of love
warrior I
warrior III
bridge
supported bridge reversing flow
easy twist
Savasasa
Sit
Namaste
Seriously, how did I get to be here with these yogis? Its magic, real magic, and I am thanking my lucky stars.
Health, Love, and Rock N Roll