There's Always More

My yoga practice is three years old which makes me a newbie compared to some, I guess.  But I feel like yoga has been trying to come into my life for a long time.  Decades ago, a friend told me she was going to open a hot yoga studio.  I remember saying to myself,  "I didn't think she was one of THOSE hippies."

About five years ago, a friend tried to get me to go to yoga with them saying that it would help me "de-stress."  I told them, "I don't have time to take an hour to sit still and meditate!"  It amazes me that now I find the time regularly to fit in an open eyed meditation of more than an hour regularly, and my day doesn't seem complete without it!

I finally found my way to a "gentle introduction to yoga" class and liked it.  After a couple of months, I started thinking that there had to be something more.  So, I tried a Bikram hot yoga class.  And boy, was there more!  It took a while to adjust to the heat and the intensity of the ninety minutes, but I thought I had found what I was looking for.

About a year ago, after practicing Bikram for two years, I went to a local hot yoga studio while visiting friends.  I didn't really expect it to be anything different than what I was used to.  Same story - different book.  But, after pranayama breathing, my brain heard something new, "Swan dive forward..."  It was one of those aha moments you hear about.  Ninety minutes later, I felt liberated and invigorated.  I'd ventured into a whole new world of yoga and didn't even know I was looking for one.  I'd once again, discovered more.

I started doing yoga because I wanted to lose weight and to help a chronic lower back problem. While both of these were accomplished early on, yoga became about so much more than that.  The focus on my breath, an awareness of my body, and the meditation of the practice became my favorite parts.  I love the feeling of accomplishment I have at the end of class.  I'm exhausted, trying to manage my breathing and bring my heart rate back to normal knowing that I held my Warrior II a little bit longer with my thigh a little closer to parallel and my left hip a little lower than in my last practice.

My involvement with Revolution Hot Yoga (RHY) was an evolution in and of itself.  You know sometimes in life, you just are where you're supposed to be at the right time to find what you need to find.  Rebecca (Jordan Turner) was like a sun pulling all of her planets into orbit with her.  I'm happy to be in the RHY solar system!  We have an awesome team at RHY with the common objective of creating a supportive community in which we can grow and share anchored by our common love of yoga.

My decision to become a yoga instructor was a natural next step for me.  I've always enjoyed sharing my favorite things with others: first as a craft teacher, then as a business owner, where I was continually educating and mentoring a sales staff, and then as a cooking instructor.  I love to learn and share what I learn with others.

Completing Barkan Teacher training just as the studio opened in September of this past year was THE MOST demanding accomplishment of my adult life.  While becoming a yoga teacher has been both satisfying and fulfilling, it has also been terrifying.  I'm still finding my voice, but I'm past the "OMG!  I can't do this. What am I going to say next?" phase, thank goodness.

Just this past week, I was at my other job assisting a woman, and she gave me the "don't I know you?" look and said "Aren't you my yoga teacher?"  I smiled and replied, "Why yes, I am!"  That was the first time I'd heard that.  It felt great.  It felt like more.

A picture of me just wasn’t saying a whole lot.  And it had to say, “there's always more.” Then it came to me: I have never felt so accomplished and sure that there IS so much more than at this moment. These are my fellow Barkan Yoga teacher trainees, and our two mentors Claudine and Renee (who picked us up, pushed us, nurtured us ... and seemed to give us exactly what we needed at the exact moment that we were about to run or collapse.  Thank you both so much.) We have just finished our final yoga practice and are a couple of hours from our official graduation…exhaustion, exhilaration, accomplishment, hope, the bonds of friendship .  You can see it all on our faces.  ...oh, by the way , that’s me in the middle, in the back peeking over. 

Robert Bonham,  yoga teacher

Namaste.