Misson Accomplished

I actually wrote the following blog post for my YogaDudes blog, but I realized that I would like to have it documented in next year's blog book so I'm going to post it here as well . . .

I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time . . . the day that I can say my first experience teaching yoga is behind me. I guess I saw this as an initiation; sort of like using clip-in pedals for the first time. You know you’re gonna forget to un-clip and tumble during that maiden voyage and you just can’t wait to get it over with. Once you take that digger you know you’re officially an experienced ‘clip in’ biker and you can now ride with more confidence. That worked nicely on a bike anyway. I have no problem being comfortable and having lots of confidence on a bike. Hopefully some of this theory will spill over to my yoga mat.

I’m happy to report that my first class went well. I didn’t break anybody and so far I’ve heard some positive feedback. That’s a huge plus. I have to say it was more of a challenge than I expected. When I prepared for my final exam for my teaching certification I needed to prepare a one-hour class that would be appropriate for 35 – 45 year old yogis. When I did my research to see what that would entail, I decided to abandon the book and just do what I wanted to do. Luckily I didn’t lose any points for it. Actually, I scored a 96. But the bad part is that I didn’t pay much attention to what is appropriate for different ages or fitness levels. I didn’t think I would actually get a real teaching gig and I wanted to build a routine that I, myself, would enjoy doing. Well, now I regret not taking my studies more seriously.

I’ve always been in yoga for the sport of it. I enjoy challenging myself and pushing myself to the limits. I know very little about taking it easy and that is exactly what I need to do with this class. How can doing EASY yoga be so HARD for me? Oh boy, I have a lot of work and research to do. I’m out of my element. I make a better boot camp leader than gentle yoga instructor. Pray for my students . . .