friday night with bill moyers

Yesterday: AM practice hampered just a tiny bit by the pesky shoulder whatever-the-fuck-it-is. (Hurray for life without health care! Let's keep guessing!) Honestly practice helps it feel somewhat better.

PM teaching. Six students, only one fellow. Two of my crazier ladies attended, as well as two younger women in the midst of helping a third student through her current boy drama. Said third student opted against practicing in favor of potentially running into her crush. Ha. One lady flew solo, free of all the intense female energy. My poor, poor token fellow. He'd been ill for a spell, so I'd missed him in class. And then he shows up to crazy lady fest.

I took advantage of my smaller, energetic class to play around a bit with setting intentions for practice. Normally I just ask students to set a simple intention, to keep them focused. In this class, I asked everyone to think of the one posture s/he hated or dreaded, or a part of the body that either hurt (due to injury) or created a shitty self-image. (No, I didn't say "shitty" in class.) We often focus entirely too much energy on the negatives, even as we practice yoga. So instead of accepting that dread or that self-loathing, I asked my students to meet that awful posture with love, or to treat that body part with love and respect. It is in this space that the possibility for healing those old, nagging injuries arises.

My token fellow left the class telling me I'd given him exactly what he needed. One of the younger ladies told me my words helped her conquer her fear of camel pose. I am glad that I can take risks and feel a modicum of success.

Today: AM practice with the still-nagging shoulder. Plus I was tired for whatever reason. The room was particularly cool, yet I managed to have a pretty kickass class. Felt better afterwards, but still wanted nothing more than to walk my dog, shower, and sleep for the rest of the day.

PM teaching. 16 students today. Whoa. One late arrival, and still one other person arrived well into pranayama. Whatever happened to punctuality? Now a good 90% have cell phones. Ain't they all on the atomic clock? WTF, people?!

I had two students, one lady and one fellow, with an amazing amount of uncontrolled energy. Both were fidgeting in dramatic ways, and I worried they would distract others. I tailored my class banter towards awareness of one's energy and how one contributes to the overall class. I also asked my students to be mindful of entering and exiting postures. I cast the words out into the lake, in hopes the proper students take the bait. Never works that way. I had a few compliments about the banter, from students who already practice with such grace. I suppose folks get what they can when they hear it.

One of my favorite regulars told me he could retire and live in my class. How's that for a compliment?

A strong class still couldn't stave off my antisocial fatigue, though. I left a dinner party early to spend more time with my dog and watch Bill Moyers. What's this gotta do with yoga? Everything.