I'm thrilled to have a recommendation for some guided meditation practices! I can't wait to look into them. And your assessment of early-rising really pins the tail(bone) on the donkey. Long before I had a yoga practice, I was struck by how intensely I would notice my surroundings when I was up before the sun. This is evident whether you are meditating, drinking coffee, or even heading to the airport. Is it because our bodies are rested and our minds fresh? Is it the darkness and the quiet that heightens our senses? Our culture is almost oppressively over-stimulating and as the day unfolds, we must become desensitized to all of the sounds, smells, sensations, right?... It's probably a combination of these things and others. What I do know is that in those wee hours, the act of observing is uncomplicated and effortless. Meditation is a natural extension of those conditions.
I did come back from my trip feeling inspired, refreshed, and generally zippy. With all of the teaching I've been doing, I had forgotten what a treat it is to assist. (Particularly when it is someone for whom you hold a deep respect). Looking at bodies without being responsible for the entire class is an excellent way to sharpen your eye. I also learned some fun new adjustments and it will be a good test of my verbal/written communication to have to describe them instead of just showing you. I tried to be my spongiest self and am still processing some of what soaked up, but I'll get back to this another time soon.
Reading over your post, I just realized that we use 'TT' to reference both 'terrible toddler' and 'teacher training'.... Sort of amusing to say the least...
Yoga Bear sounds like a wonderful fit for you. I'm glad you found something to scratch your yogic itch without committing to classes you don't actually want to be teaching. I was just perusing my way around the site and saw your blog post about a restorative home practice. It made me want to cancel today's activities and bust out the bolster and eye pillow right now....
Therapeutic and Healing Yoga is very near and dear to my heart, as it was how my own practice began, and I love that you will be a part of an organization that offers it to the community. Once you are more established there, you and I can get talking on starting up a chapter in Western Pennsylvania!
In terms of the not wanting to market yourself, I completely understand, as that is my biggest struggle. This is clearly demonstrated by having had "print business cards" and "create website" on my to-list for almost 2 years now. Just as in our asana practice there is a 'what do you gain vs. what do you lose' scenario, the same principle applies to the business side of yoga. I've been lucky enough to find some lovely studios where you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that falls into the so-called "self-enclosed elite' category but in exchange, I'm hardly making the big bucks (or any other kind of bucks for that matter...)
On an entirely separate note, several studios in my area offered partner yoga workshops this past weekend in conjunction with the Valentine's Day holiday. I wasn't able to attend any of them but have done a few workshops in the past and would classify myself as a fan. I could never be someone whose entire practice is of the partner or acro variety, but I do enjoy it very much indeed.
Didn't you attend some sort of partner workshop this weekend?... Details please!
Do you knock on wood? We're Jewish, right? So superstition presents a powerful undertow in our lives. Sometimes rational though prevails, and I can resist it. But it often creeps in, that need to order the world and hold chaos at bay through minute and obsessive ritual. And I wasn't even born to this tribe. :) Apparently hockey players and other athletes are also a superstitious bunch. They forgo shaving for an entire season, or indulge in little twitches an ticks as they step up to the plate. There is magic in this ritualism, a charming nod to faith in faith itself.
I've been catching myself indulging in such tics on the mat. I tidy my hair, straighten my mat just so. The fussy analysis and worry-warting starts up pretty quickly too. How steady is that first chatturanga? And then, my dismount from Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana tells me how the rest of the hour will go. Or rather, I tell myself that it's a good indicator of my presence level. I get caught up in the drama of success or failure. It all amounts to a kind of avoidance, stepping out of flow to indulge in the mental and physical fidgets. I wonder what I'm avoiding. Probably the practice itself. It doesn't have to be that much more than that, does it? Sometimes the series is literally itself, not a symbol or an exercise in transference. My work for the next little while will be this: let go of virtuosity in favor of stillness. Be here now, dummy.
To answer your question: I am not teaching much at all these days. I burned out, gave it away. Now I've "got it back," (thankyouverymuch asthanga) and my schedule just won't really allow for regular classes. Instead, I found a new outlet for my yoga life: Yoga Bear. I'm the new studio coordinator for NYC and environs. We (I guess I can say "we" now) provide yoga to people in recovery from cancer. It's volunteer work, which feels right for my current mood. I'm tired of teaching the same, self-enclosed elite. And I'm not feeling competitive, for another thing. I don't want to have to "market" myself. And I mostly don't want to make this thing that I love so much into someone else's revenue stream (working in someone's studio). So I guess I would be open to teaching privately, on my own very specific terms, but that is a lot to ask. These days, it's my way or the... well, you know. Intransigence has a limited audience.
In re: amplified orgasms (mentioned here) I'm not sure that HH has noticed. But I'm sure that he's glad for the extra attention. Heh.
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