August 2011

'Tis the season for vacation! It seems that every year around this time, yoga classrooms develop a seasonal echo from fewer bodies, loaner mats and yoga props begin to gather dust, and tumbleweeds blow down empty yoga studio hallways. Where have all the yogis gone? They are off vacationing, globetrotting, visiting family, or tending to school-aged children home for the summer.


Though we yoga teachers may seem infallible and unyeilding, it can sometimes get discouraging when students vanish and class sizes are slashed in half. That's the nature of the business, unfortunately, and all yoga teachers and folks in other similar personal service-oriented fields all brace for the annual slow season from May to August.


As I've told several friends, co-workers, and students this week, I never mind teaching a class of one or two people. There's a certain intimacy and personal exchange that occurs in such a small group. I am able to serve each student a little better than in a class of twenty!


However, like most other yoga teachers I know, I chose this as my career because I love yoga and want to share it with as many people as possible...so there is something magical that happens when a group of people are moving and breathing together in space. It's hard to articulate that in any other way that makes sense, but I assume that if you are reading this, you are a yogi...or have at least attended a yoga class or two. So I will leave it at that and hope that my meaning is conveyed. The more people who come and share their energy and contribute to the collective community of a class, the more rich and full the experience becomes. The more lives I'm able to touch through the practice of yoga, and the more fulfilling my job is...not that I don't love all of you die hards who show up rain, sleet, or snow....it's you folks that keep me coming back!


I think I've made my point. In a nutshell...Yogis: COME BACK! The Indianapolis yoga community misses you! So when you return all tanned from some remote locale, or put your kids back on that big, yellow bus for their first day back to school, I know there will be a bit of remorse. But I also hope there's a bit of excitement to return to your regular routine...including a regular yoga practice! You teachers and fellow students miss you, and as summer winds to a close, I am anxious to see the return of old faces and maybe some new ones!