Here are 8 things your yoga teacher wants you to know:
(scroll to bottom for 8 brief things you might like to know)
1. We are never critiquing your practice. When we walk around it’s to see if we can help you to feel strong, steady, relaxed and happy. Ironically, walking toward you is often what makes you wobbly. It happens to us also. Still. Try to have fun practicing.
2. You never need to put your heels on the ground in downward dog. (you know the saying, it’s the journey, not the destination? Case in point. More on why we might stop teaching down dog altogether in another post). It’s cool to have goals, just don’t be attached to the outcome… that’s stressful.
3. We actually do try to please all of you, all of the time, but we know some like it hot, cold, loud, quiet, fast, slow, strong, soft, fun, boring and . . . well probably not boring, but you see where I was going with that? We do try. We have goals. But we try not to be too attached to the outcome, it’s stressful, see #2.
4. We meditate daily. We don’t practice postures every day. It’s great if your body loves it. Just remember, the harder you are on anything, the faster you wear it out. (Bryan Kest). Be kind to your body. We move a lot every day . . . but hard core yoga postures every day? No.
**Here’s a link to a 21 day free meditation program that we started yesterday… you can still jump in. It’s created by Oprah and Deepak Chopra which at first I was little skeptical . . . but I’ve done 2 days so far and I really like it. Let me know what you think if you try it?**
5. There is an unspoken code of . . . practice in yoga: no shoes in the studio, don’t step on another’s mat; be on time, finish on time, clean space, don’t eat right before practicing, no cell phones (unless you’re on call and still trying to get your practice in, then kudos to you!), avoid strong sprays/perfumes/smoke because… we’re tryin’ to breathe in here, and less is always more, words matter, consistency is king and kindness rules. (who says rules anymore).
6. Instructors put an average of about 3-4 hours into every class they teach, playlist aside. That’s another two. Possibly more if they’re new, less if they’ve been at it for a while. Over time it gets closer to an hour of prep: practicing, sequencing, processing, cleaning, prepping and then an hour to teach and the time after to hang out. We really care about this stuff. We want you to love it.
7. Yes, you might hear some strange sounds (try to be a grown up). Yes, you might feel silly trying to step forward from down dog (keep trying). Yes, you might drift off during savasana (enjoy your nap). Think how silly you look when you’re getting your hair done (curlers, highlights?), or when you’re running. (Have you seen your self running?) Or when you’re dancing . . . but you still do all those things. Maybe. (3 part beginner series coming soon to address more FAQ’s)
8. Most importantly… we practice because we too want a calm, courageous body and mindset so we’ll be more resilient and enthusiastic in our lives. Not because we wanted a better down dog. (again, more on that later). ; )
8 things you might like to know:
1. Love Yoga will be 8 years old on September 20th! (on my birthday! ; )
2. Sabrina use to be a 911 operator. For 12 years!
3. Brent did his first yoga training in Bali!
4. Aunnie was in the very first Love Yoga Teacher Training
6. Erin Yatsui has 3 Llamas in her family… Pema, Bernie and Sara.
7. Rachel is a music teacher and musician! Still waiting for her to play during class!
8. Amanda only wears tie dye ; ) and spends all her spare time near the ocean.
9. Erin Hanawalt has attended 911 classes at Love and has taught 365 classes at Love.
: )
Suzanne
p.s. Thanks to all of you yesterday for being such good sports about our video projects. You can see snippets on Instagram later this week. www.instagram.com/loveyogastudio I’ve mentioned how much we love Instragram right? Go follow us there, you’ll love it. You get to see so much more of us that way!
p.p.s. We’re giving away a free month of yoga when you refer someone to Love Yoga that becomes a member. If you have people that you’d like us to invite for you, you can either send them this link, or send us their email and we’ll invite them for you! www.loveyogastudios.com/intro-offer
This is our $20/20 days intro. Almost 3 weeks to check it out!
