I Am but a Student First

Last week, a practitioner in my Hatha for Beginner's class asked me, "What made you quit your well-paying (read : 70-hour week and living out of a suitcase) job and become a yoga teacher?"

As class was about to start, I smiled and merely replied, "I decided to take my passion in yoga one step further....and let the beauty of what I love become what I do".

Friends who frequent another (public) yoga studio are sometimes surprised to find me practising with them in the early morning 'Technique & Alignment' class.  I often get, "But you're a teacher....what are you doing in a Hatha class with us?"

Ah, but I am first and foremost a student of yoga, and a teacher, second.  I truly believe that every teacher has something to share, and every teacher should have a grounded and strong self-practice in order to grow deeper into one's yoga journey.

I go back to officially being a student next weekend.  I'm excited and I can't wait!  And with the knowledge that I will gain, I hope to continue to serve and inspire my practitioners better. 

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever" - Mahatma Gandhi.

Bending Over Backwards

Aaaah....backbends.  Love it or hate it, it is an essential part of yoga practice.  In India, a teacher once told me vehemently, " if you cannot do backbends, you cannot do yoga!" 

It seems strange, that as kids, we were once the bendiest of all beings - playing with Barbie for hours whilst sitting in Virasana, kicking up playfully into a handstand only to fall back lightly into Urdhva Dhanurasana - nay was there a complaint about sore knees, ouchy lower back or sprained rotator cuffs.  So what happened along the way?  Were we so carried away with lifestyle changes, lack of exercise, a 70-hour-a-week desk job, bad diet, poor posture and killer stillettos, that all that inborn flexibility just disappeared?

When I started practising yoga, I totally sucked at backbends.  I could never understand why backbends were so punishingly straineous to the lumbar region.  Needless to say, I hated backbends then.  And staying comfortably in Ustrasana for 2 minutes today, would seem like an impossible task back then. 

This morning's backbend class was both exhilarating yet exhaustingly daunting at the same time.  With the help of the chair, we moved into Urdhva Dhanurasana, Viparita Dandasana and Kapotasana.  My quads and mid-back are now classified under "Very Sore", and there are still some twitches of strain in my lower back.

With the help of a (patient) teacher, I am slowly learning the right techniques to deepen my backbends. The steel foldable chair has become my best friend to maintain proper alignment during practice. 

And as the late Shri Pattabhi Jois once said, "Body not stiff....only mind stiff.  Practice...all is coming!"

So, if you're thinking of getting a steel foldable chair for your backbends, make sure you get a solid one that doesn't slide or collapse when you arch back.  None of those plasticky ones, please.

Enjoy!

(image of chairs from http://www.yogachairprop.com/)

Life

I received news of someone's passing today.  And although I do not know this person, he must have been someone who has touched a dear friend's life in more ways than one.  I was told he was 52 years old, a father of 3 girls, and suffered a heart attack.  I silently questioned, "is there an acceptable age for heart attacks"?  And does saying, "my deepest condolences, so sorry to hear about your loss" ever enough?

At some point in our lives, we would have lost a loved one.... endured the pain, grief and tears of losing a parent, sibling, spouse, close friend, or even a beloved pet.  Personally speaking, time does not heal all wounds - the wounds never really disappear.... they merely become coated with time, and turn into memories of a life that once lived. 

And during our greatest moments of grief, we become contemplative.... questioning ourselves about life's purpose, our purpose on earth, our priorities.... wondering if there ever are answers to these questions?

I once wrote in reply to someone with these same burning questions.... someone who has been grieving over the passing of his father :
"We're put on earth, as heaven is at the moment, over-crowded.... so meanwhile, we do as much good as we can, life our best life, love with an open heart, mourn to remember a life well-lived and to celebrate a life worth living, before we head on back to heaven".

Peace to those who have gone before us.
Love for those who stand before and beside us.