Breathe Me

It's incredible to watch someone's teaching practice evolve. It's a feeling I caught glimpses of during my training, but to know someone's teaching practice over that exact duration of time in which someone becomes is impressive.

Jeremy Green graduated one YTTP teacher training before me, and he has gotten ridiculously good.

I took his class on Friday, remember, the day I embodied rugged individualism by eating all of Jeremy and Emily's food, stealing their clothes, reading their books, using their computers, and getting a free yoga class in the deal. Not too shabby for an amateur.

Jeremy just got hired by a yoga studio that was interested in developing a hot yoga fusion, a mix of poses one might catch in both bikram and vinyasa. He designed the sequence, along with studio-manager-guy (I think) and I got to be its very first test subject.

Jeremy's teaching has changed profoundly, I wonder about the accuracy with which I pick this up. It could be, of course, that the way I was reacting to his classes and the expectations I've placed on myself have lessened. But for the sake of this exploration, let's isolate Jeremy's growth and reduce all other variables to nill. This is an exceptional assumption, not one to be made in other situation, and certainly not one to be gloated over ; )

Previously I've either been concerned or projecting that he was leaning too far towards self-monitoring and commentary, or too close to intense scrutiny- both of these habits now seem gone. Instead, his voice offers a gentle challenge offered while reserving no judgment (only humor) for what I could or couldn't do. Self-consciousness evaporated and ease incorporated.

The sequence started out with the best of bikram, the standing pranayama breathing, spine stretching, and one round of the majority of the standing sequence. The one round encouraged me to work infinitely harder in each pose, though at first I had a difficult time remembering that there wouldn't be another chance to follow. I think Jeremy has perfected a sense of perfect trust while teaching. Trust, elusive and intangible as it is, may be the most important thing a teacher can develop, whether you are guiding students into turtle or tree pose. I lost my temper a bit in a sequence of toe stand, as toe stand is apt to do and this is arguably a good thing. As a fellow teacher myself, I should do well to remember that the ability to balance two inches off one heel is by all accounts an absurd proposal.

I also got into full camel (which I have never done before) and royal pigeon (which I have never done without danger of knocking over innocent bystanders). Jeremy was much more pleased with these developments than I was, and, additionally, displeased that I did not share the pleasure. But I am very happy about it! My spine has never bent quite that much before, and that is certainly a result of either the sequence itself, or the focus I've been placing on squeezing my shoulder blades together and opening up my upper back.

At the end of it, I was completely and totally relaxed. This is pretty shocking, remember that I have actually spend the entire day indoors, and apart from these 90 minutes, I haven't moved. This is also strange because I don't like Bikram (it makes me lonely! and I don't know why!). But, no, I was all set. There was actually a bit of flow in the sequence, too. And a gloriously elongated floor series, and hip openers, and actually, almost anything I could think of was covered. Oh, except a neck stretch. Should totally add in a neck stretch.

Apparently, that whole sequence is being changed around anyway before next week (so it goes), but, hey, I'd like the honor of being the first to try out that one, too.