Reflection: Perspective

Our extension program for teacher training was originally scheduled for 4 weeks. It has been extended another two weeks (I'll touch on that in another post). Last Sunday, three of us taught a community class and themed it around shifting your perspective and creating a better outlook on life. This was my first time ending class, which usually involves a little bliss bomb during savasana.

Teaching a sequence, which are sets of postures put together to form the class, is hard enough. You have to memorize the order, their breaths, and being able to cue people into them and refine them, You also have to be able to time how long they are held there just right and tell them about the benefits and what they should be feeling. All of this done while walking around the room, adjusting, demonstrating and smiling! It's exhausting! Haha! On top of that, there's what a lot of people come to yoga for: inspiration. And besides the physical practice, many instructors provide words of wisdom and encouragement that really make a class special.

I was actually really nervous about ending class. Mostly because I didn't know if I could just talk off the dome and have something worthwhile to say. I also didn't want to sound like a complete idiot or be too dogmatic. So I wrote down a few ideas to help me when it was my turn to end class:

"In yoga, we go through many sensations and even emotions. We build heat, we test strength, we play with balance. We find the capacity of our flexibility, and finally we surrender. These things happen off of the mat, as well. Sometimes we cannot control when those qualities will be needed or tested. Sometimes we cannot control how things unfold around us. But we can use the tools our practice gives us to get through any situation. You are in control of your thinking. You are in control of your own happiness. With a tiny shift in your thoughts, you can accomplish great things, on and off of your mat. "

This made me reflect on my own life. There are many times when I feel out of control. I feel overwhelmed. I get angry when things don’t happen the way I needed them to. Or frustrated when something changes the way something should have turned out. I forget that there will always be a wrench that will get thrown into my plans. It is how I respond and behave in those moments of being tested that truly mean something. Sometimes I need to take a step back, process, and come back to it in a positive manner. It isn’t always as easy as it sounds, I know this firsthand.  Always something new to learn.