Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Wednesday Morning

Well, I am up early this morning with a cup or tea and getting ready for the day. I woke up thinking about things this morning and found I just couldn't relax enough to get back to sleep. I do not feel worried per se more that I am extremely aware of all I want to accomplish before heading out to Tucson tomorrow morning. Also Kelly has been sick so I didn't want to risk waking him up by turning on my light to read for a while.

Yesterday went by in a flash. I had a chance to square some things away with some upcoming projects and that always feels good to me. I took a walk and then did a long asana practice in the late morning while my kitcharee was cooking. I did some lovely back bends and drop backs and used many of the discoveries along the way in my 4:30 class. After my practice I ate the cooking kitcharee and then got a lesson together for my online mentoring group. Then I went up to the Castle for my class. We worked with the theme of resolutions and keep resolute action in the legs, kidneys, pelvis and shoulders with the back bends.

It was really a class about the loops, as they apply to drop backs, but I didn't name them as such- we worked more from the actions involved and it seemed to go well. We used the wall to help support the drop back work and a lovely partner assist to come up that minimized momentum and really empowered the legs. I thought the class went well, although I was a bit tired from just getting home yesterday night. I also forgot that being the beginning of a new year, there would be lots of new folks in class, which there were. Hopefully the detailed, specific and intense work was not overly scary to them and I will see them back in class again. Everyone managed the work very well; whether they liked it or not is another story!

On a happy note, Kristen was back in town from Boulder and will be moving back in a month so it was fun to see her. And Pammy was in class again so it was as though order was restored to my personal yoga world. It is a funny thing about how people come and go from class. Even through there is a sense of continuity in classes for me, the reality is, over the course of a year, subtle shifts happen where a class which seems like it is very regularly attended by the same people can slowly morph until there is a totally different group there. On one level such a shift is almost imperceptible and yet, I do notice and miss people when they are not in class and I am always totally thrilled when someone who had been absent for various reasons comes back.

I stayed to take Gioconda's class at 6 which was lovely. She, too, was talking about resolutions, as I imagine many yoga teachers everywhere are. We did some lovely standing poses, arm balances and belly down back bends. After her class she and I went to the Castle Hill cafe for a bowl of soup and some girl time. Always fun.

I am thinking a lot these days about what to do with my schedule and whether it is in my and my classes best interests to keep teaching my public classes. I am gone so much and I wonder if that absence makes for a situation where the class doesn't grow as much and or become as vital as it would be with a regular teacher in place. For instance, I am only in town for one Thursday 4:30 class all month this month. So the thing is that I totally enjoy teaching my public classes and so I am reluctant to let them go and yet, when I hear people lament that "I am never here" and so on, I wonder if it would be better to shift my schedule because perhaps my absence is painting the wrong picture about my intentions and commitment and making it seem less than it is. When I am here, I am really here and I am committed to teaching class. And really, the time I am here is a "weekend" for me and my only "free time."

Although this free time business is something I am considering a lot as well. When I was in South Carolina, Stacy told me she asked John Friend if he ever got time off and he replied, "Stacy, there is no such thing as time off- only time." So it is in many ways with me. I make a living doing the thing I love more than anything else and so that shifts my outlook in life as to what is enjoyable quite considerably. Okay, more than teaching yoga, I like to practice yoga. More than teaching a good yoga workshop or class, I like to go to a good yoga workshop or class, but its not like I do yoga 5 days a week to finance my hang gliding habit. I don't make a living at yoga but have a passion for bicycling, for instance. Seriously, I do not have a hobby that I like more than yoga that I work all weekend to be able to do.

So, this teaching when I am home is something I think about a lot. If there is no "time off" there is only time, one must ask oneself about how best to use their time and how best to spend their energy. And the need to rest is not nothing. Like I said a few posts back, I do not subscribe to the new age notion that if you love what you do you would never get tired from it. Anyway, as it stands now, I am not changing it. I figure the answers will all be clear in time. That is usually how it works.

All right, onward with the day.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

awesome comments as always, Christina. I feel that we all have a vision for our life, our work, our time; sometimes we lose track of that vision but we always re-align with it. We could use the 3 A's in all aspects of our lives right? So for your public classes, are you in alignment with your vision. Just a contemplation. I remember in my yoga teacher training we did a contemplation on how we wanted our students to feel after a class, and we wanted to teach to enact and enable that feeling. Just an idea. Look forward to seeing you in GA!!!

Anonymous said...

I think, selfishly, that you should keep your public classes. Those that know what is good want to come to your classes and realize your expertise is in demand elsewhere, too.

I would understand, of course, if you couldn't swing it. But I hope, if you do make cuts, you keep one at least.

Anonymous said...

And further...

People are much more likely to lament about what is wrong rather than speak to what is right, too, you know?

I bet there are a bunch of people who are really grateful to have you when you are here.

Olga Rasmussen said...

I really resonated with your words about how our classes morph. I was thinking about the same thing yesterday as I contemplated changes in my classes - those who must leave and I will miss - and those new students that will walk into my life bearing different gifts. Blessings either way!

romydhan said...

I'll echo mfranke's comments and say, YES please, keep a public class or two! Your classes and teaching have profoundly changed my practice and opened my heart to anusara.

Someday I hope to do the immersion but for now I am very thankful that you make time to teach public classes whenever you are available. I also appreciate that you make time for an ‘after 5’ class for those of us who work outside of yoga.

Thank you and much love.

kim said...

Please keep at least one or two public classes. Pretty please? I am grateful to learn from you whenever the opportunity arises ;-)

Barefootlotuss said...

Here's a thought. . .a teacher offers more than a "class". . .especially in yoga where we're working with tantric energy. It's an infusion that vitalizes our practice, that we can take home to our home practice. And, on the subject of home practice. . .there are many possibilities for that with the advances and combinations of media. .skype, internet, etc. The cyber kula.
When needed, we can go out
of our way and find immersions,
retreats, and workshops to attend
for the in the room experience.

melissa said...

Another option is to schedule a few donation classes - just like you do your workshops (put it on your calendar)- at local studios- a few a month-- so that it's planned on- and people can afford to come- and anyone can come and take them. : ) Then, they are guaranteed to get you- and no longer have to disappoint students by not being there when scheduled and you don't have to constantly be looking for substitutes.

mandy said...

i like it when you spend your free time with us. Like Mark, I selfishly would like for you to keep teaching publicly in Austin. But not only for my own practice, as I can't make many of your classes, but for the community. Hopefully you can keep a class or two. Not to try and help you plan your life as I'm more than confident you and time will sort it all out. But maybe keep your mid week wed. classes. That way the morning and evening crowd are both able to see you. And it's one more day and period of time that you teach, rather then one class over several days. Have a great trip to Tucson. I really really really wish that I could be there.

Jeremy Heath said...
This comment has been removed by the author.