Skip to main content

Rainy morning suburban gurus

Today was my first official teaching class at the Northbrook Yoga Center (NbYC) and I was presented with two terrific students: a woman and her 12-year old son.

I asked them about their yoga experience, and the sweet mom said, almost apologetically, that her practice had been erratic but she had been doing yoga for many years. When I presented the question to the boy, inquiring as to what he liked, or wanted to work on, and he shyly offered (and with zero flippancy) "whatever works today." The mom added that he had spent most of the previous summer practicing yoga to videos. This took me by joyful surprise.

I wanted to create a class that challenged the preteen, but not overwhelm him, and yet still be a class at a level that would (could) engage his mom. I wanted to open up the ideas of really noticing the intrinsic parts of your body doing yoga rather than just getting to any specific posture like a test of physical strength or acrobatics.

So on this rainy day, I found myself working with their positive, deliberate, and amazingly calm energy, and guided the three of us through grounding, heart-opening, calming, and core-strenghtening postures. The room was wonderfully warm and we were able to do long pose holds with controlled transitions, and generate ample heat for sweat while still keeping our breathing even.

The young man not only followed along gracefully, but had a focus and attention parallel to, equal with, and an honest mirror of his mother. It was again surprising, and motivating, and inspiring at all once. When someone speaks the adage "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" it's often in negative context, but in this case, it is surely a compliment wide and sincere.

Their peace with the practice - as a male and a female, a mom and a son, a young person and an older -brought to me a sense of gratitude that I hope I was able to appropriately express to them both.  Today Namaste is a thanking of these unexpected gurus...any of those that help you to shine your own light a little brighter.

(I look forward to another chance to practice with them!)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Those Mysterious Hand Gestures - The Mudras! a link to a post by Blissful Body Yoga

From blissfulbodyyoga.com I love mudras. They are one of my earliest discoveries of yoga, dating back to my childhood when I would "play" with my hands. Bend them, press them together, make them soar like wings. I let my hands dance as the true expression of my anahata (heart) chakra that they are. As I grew into an artist, yoga teacher and healer, the magical emanations of energy from my hands became an even deeper part of my practice, and how I share healing with others.  The Kripalu tradition is part of my lineage as a yogi, and Swami Kripalu, like many yogis, was known to have eruptions of spontaneous mudras while deep in meditation. Mudras create powerful energetic "circuits" in our system on many levels, in all of our koshas (energetic sheaths.) They hold energy, heal, protect, enlighten and express. Over the years I have learned mudras from my teachers, but many, many more have simply come through my hands in a natural way. This is the point I want most to s...

Upcoming Reminders for Silver Sneakers

All the afternoon classes now meet at 1pm - 2pm (Monday in El Cajon, Wednesday Casa de Oro, Friday Lemon Grove). Other upcoming reminders - see the schedule at under CALENDAR and/or FREE YOGA No class Tifereth Israel 9/28, 10/5, 10/12 (Jewish Holidays) No class Lemon Grove 11/4 (MS Challenge Walk weekend) No class La Mesa 11/5 (MS Challenge Walk weekend) No class Tifereth 11/9 (family event) No class Casa de Oro 11/9 (family event) No class Lemon Grove 11/11 (family event) No class La Mesa 11/12 (family event) No class Tifereth 11/23 (thanksgiving week) No class Casa de Oro 11/23 (thanksgiving week) No class Lemon Grove 11/25 (thanksgiving week) No class la Meas 11/26 (thanksgiving week)

#PPOTD Two-week Recap (from b'yomyoga on Twitter)

b'yom yoga‏@byomyoga Feb 14 #ppotd first day teach yoga #stmadeleinesophiescenter and i'm awash in goodwill. #lifeisgood #inmydharma b'yom yoga‏@byomyoga Feb 17 #ppotd thank your body for all it does, forgive it for all it doesn't, support it growing strong with a positive mind and deep full breaths b'yom yoga‏@byomyoga Feb 18 #ppotd if a friend offers a shared activity - accept! companionship does the heart good (thank you Claire Young) b'yom yoga‏@byomyoga Feb 20 #ppotd @YMCASanDiego open to the public all day today - get your family activities on!! b'yom yoga‏@byomyoga Feb 21 #ppotd never underestimate the power of alone time. b'yom yoga‏@byomyoga Feb 23 #ppotd #worldbeatcenter our school's 1st & 2nd graders were enthralled learning west African drumming and dance - a joy and privilege 2 see! b'yom yoga‏@byomyoga 19h19 hours ago #ppotd never miss a chance to tell someone you care about them