Yesterday and Tomorrow

Yesterday I taught two classes. The first one was at Juliana's studio. She is away and I've been subbing for her. I love teaching there. It's my yoga sanctuary. I feel Juliana there and it's also where I did my teacher training so I get such great vibes there. It was a lovely Hatha class with students that were just looking to relax and stretch. It was wonderful.

After Juliana's class I went to the Etro yoga loft and taught another relaxing Hatha class. I was very happy to see two new students there. One was an old friend from Long Beach who I first met in 8th grade and the other was a student who came to my class to support my yoga teaching endeavor. It was a very grounding and centering class with some aromatherapy at the end. I hope they both enjoyed it. I know I did. :)

I maybe subbing again for Juliana on Monday but I'm not completely sure about that yet. I will be definitely be teaching Tuesday night at 6:30 at the Etro loft and I am looking forward to it.

On Wednesday I will be subbing for Joy at the Yoga Source at 9:00 AM. Joy is an extremely talented and experienced teacher. I learn something every time I take a class from her which I am going to do this morning. I am extremely excited about subbing for Joy. I am very honored that she trusts me with her class. I want to publicly thank Joy for giving me this opportunity. Thanks Joy. :)

Subbing for Juliana

Today I taught Juliana's Wednesday morning class and it was a wonderful experience. Wednesday's class is Juliana's strongest class and the students are very experienced. I started them with pranayama which included some alternated nostril breathing. From there we went into the asana practice on our backs but I brought the students up to standing pretty quickly. We continued with sun salutations and other standing postures, back bends, forward bends and many other cool postures. I ended the class with a deep relaxation with hands on aromatherapy. I really felt great when it was finished. All the students told me that they loved the class. I am very happy that I was able to sub for Juliana. It was a ball. AndI get to do it again on Monday. Yay!!!

Karma Yoga

According to Swami Sivananda Karma Yoga is doing selfless service. OK, well, what does that mean to me? :) It means that I teach yoga without the expectation of getting paid with money. I am paid by helping the world and community reap the benefits of yoga. This is the type of yoga that I have been doing lately.

When studying for my yoga teacher training final in Whole Foods with Ruth, Courtney and Wendi this man came up to us and asked us if we were talking about yoga. We said that we were and he introduced himself as Lal, the owner of Vastu Yoga in Lauderhill. He explained that his studio is a donation only studio and nobody is ever turned away because of their inability to pay for class. The teachers donate their time without the expectation of being paid. You know, Karma Yoga.

When you are a new yoga teacher you just want to teach and if you don't get paid that's OK too so I called Lal the next day to set up a date to teach. I taught at his studio that next Friday and it was really a wonderful experience. I brought most of the students with me but it was still fun to teach in this lovely space.

When I started teacher training with Juliana she made it quite clear to me that she expected me to give back. In other words to do Karma Yoga. I am glad I was able to have the opportunity to keep the promise that I made to my beloved Guru.

Today it was Ruth's turn to perform Karma Yoga at the Vastu studio. She gave a rocking great class that was appropriate for beginners and more advanced students as well. She actually had 3 people in her class that had never practiced yoga before and she did a wonderful job guiding them through a new experience. They were lucky to have her.

So we have both done Karma Yoga. We are better teachers for it.

Dreams do come true!

One day about 13 years ago I walked into the Coral Springs Art Museum with my friend Sandy to attend my first yoga class. Little did I know that I would love it so much that one day I would study to become a yoga teacher myself. I remember it as if it were just yesterday. I was very nervous when I entered but I was immediately welcomed by the teacher who was sitting in front of about 10 students. She asked me if this was my first class and when I answered yes she told me that she would be sure to keep a special eye on me.

We started the class on our backs in relaxation. Juliana who was the teacher told us to bring our attention to our breath. It was wonderful to just let everything else in the world go and only think about the breath. I relaxed into the class and heard only the words of the teacher. We moved through pranayama (breath control), asana (poses) and finally meditation. I was hooked. I felt so peaceful and joyful when the class was over I knew I had finally found what I was looking for.

I continued going to Juliana's classes at the museum as well as going to her private studio. I also started taking private sessions with her to take my practice to another level. To this day I still take my privates every other Tuesday. They allow Juliana and I to work on my alignment, balance, strength and focus only on me. Sometimes they turn into therapy session. :)

Last year Juliana asked me for my help in getting her paperwork together so that her studio could be approved for teacher training by the Yoga Alliance. It was a lot of work but I knew that if I could get it done I would have the chance to study under the most respected teacher in this area not to mention my own spiritual mentor and guru. We worked together and were able to get everything that was needed. Juliana's first teacher training started last March.

We had 7 students and it was a wide range of people. I was the oldest at 58 and Courtney was the youngest at 18. We all got along very well and bonded over many sessions of yoga philosophy, teaching technique and anatomy. Getting to spend 200 hours with Juliana was amazing. She is so knowledgeable about yoga and we were like sponges taking it all in.

Last Monday night was our graduation on the beach. It was an wonderful event complete with flowers, fruit, chanting, meditation, family and fun. All of the students were dressed in white as we sang and celebrated on the beach. Now I'm a yoga teacher. My dream came true.

By the way, that's me in the graduation picture on the bottom left. :)