Retreat and Synchronicity
It's funny how things go with teaching most times. I'll be going through my week, nothing in mind in particular to teach for the Sunday morning group, and eventually everything that has happened for me over the week will gel into a single phrase or a type of practice or a pinnacle pose. On the lucky weeks all three will gel together into a magical manifestation of the ultimate class. (those are the truly auspicious weeks)
This week, after a week of full time single-mom duty with my three year old, the theme came around as Retreat. Because, after a week of full time momming it, all I want is a retreat. All I could say each day when I had a moment to myself was: Thank GOD for Yoga! My yoga practice became my retreat from the drama of my world of being the soul source of entertainment, structure, routine, and nourishment for Babe... and I'm lucky she's an easy child. When practice would end and we were re-united I was a better parent for spending that time on the mat. I felt more peaceful and so was better able to interact with her with patience and kindness. It would last a while and then wear off and I'd be counting the moments until I could get my next "fix" of asana or meditation. Then the real off the mat work was happening, and it wasn't easy. And so again I offer the thought: Thank GODDESS for Yoga!
Yesterday's practice was inspired by my week. It was a focus on deep hip opening with the idea that our yoga can be the retreat right in the middle of our lives. It can be a place to step back from the drama (real or in our heads) and settle in to a deeper place of recognition. It can be a place to find peace, if even for a short time.
What's so interesting to me, is that yes, this does feel a bit like a ramshackle way to bring together a class. It isn't the only way I plan either, but it is the most alive way I've found. While it feels somewhat thrown together, these are the classes that somehow have the most impact. In a class of 10 yesterday two different people came to me after class and said almost word for word the same thing: The theme was EXACTLY what I needed, and I didn't even know it. Both had been going a little too full force, both were being invited into retreat.
I always believe that the ones who are meant to get the class (for either the technical or thematic material) are the ones who show up. As soon as I start to formulate the information I also try to transmit it out there into space so that those who are meant to come, do actually arrive in the studio. I also believe in synchronicity, that I'm not the only one experiencing maha-drama in my life right now. I'm not the only one who could remember that yoga has direct here-and-now benefits, one of them being a more peaceful mind. It delights me to no end that students took the time to tell me yesterday that the theme had importance for them.
So we'll see what this week holds for me and therefore for the Sunday crew. Today it's already off to a good start with a few quietly peaceful moments in the midst of a full schedule of teaching. I just try to remember again and again, not only is yoga my job, it is also my place of Retreat into the Oneness we all share. When I stay there, the drama can't touch me.
