As a blogger ensconced in my little Mitchells Island retreat, I walk a thin line between being open and revealing in my writing but not so much that I come across as neurotic and narcissistic.
Really, I do rein myself in at times. Also, I don’t want you to lose confidence in me because of not being the epitome of a strong, well-balanced yoga teacher (which I’m not, certainly not at all times…ask my husband). But, teaching is where I derive my much of my public recognition, so I want to keep up at least a semblance of looking good.
Nevertheless, I’m feeling a little unbalanced by the number of people who are showing up in my classes with injuries. I think the fact that I draw on a rural population of people who are tradesmen, surfers, or who are working on properties (farming, gardening, renovating) is fertile ground for injuries to occur. Also, in my demographic, I have mature-age students, mothers getting back into exercise after babies, 60 and 70-year olds – groups who might have been ignoring their bodies for some time.
Each person’s needs are different. To get the most out of the healing properties of yoga, ideally, an individual would have their own practice to follow. This is virtually impossible to do in a group situation.
I try to keep in mind the real aim of yoga is to rest in a frame of mind that is as still as a mountain lake on a windless day. It helps me find this stillness when I acknowledge that I am vulnerable as well as durable, that I don’t know everything but I do have many yoga experiences to draw on, and that what I share is often valuable.
If people come to my classes and feel better on the inside for having hung out in the Yoga Shed for awhile, that makes me happy, and sometimes it’s plenty enough in the absence of miraculous physical cures.
Yoga works… sometimes in mysterious ways, and at the same time, on many levels: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and communal. We just have to hang in there practising with patience and sensitivity, especially when we’re injured or ill.
