The love of teaching

I realized two things recently:

1. I don't like blogging, but I am being pushed by friends and the forces of modernization to keep up with social media and web 2.0 (frankly I'd rather be in the wilderness with a stack of books and no cell phone reception, that's why I may still end up in New Zealand).

2. I really enjoy teaching yoga. Every class gives me a bit more confirmation that this is what I should be doing (so maybe I'll eventually move to New Zealand and open a studio there).

I don't know what to do about the first, except that I am going to treat it as a task, a must-do, so that blog icon on my website can at least serve some sort of purpose. I hope my Youtube videos serve a better purpose, so stay tuned for more videos.

The second realization is a much happier one, because at least I know I'm not pouring my heart, energy, and time into something absolutely useless and mind numbing (like my previous job in Investment Banking).

Recently one of my students gave me the idea of starting a “Meetup” group catered toward athletes. “You’re an athlete, you’ve been injured, and look what yoga has done for you!” she said, “why not share that with the communities of runners, bikers, lifters and everyone else who love fitness but keep getting injured?”

So I listened to her and started a “Yoga for Athletes” group via Meetup.com, just as an experiment to see if it would actually take off.

17 people showed up to the first session, and wow, what a treat it was to meet everyone! There were cyclists, triathletes, martial artists, runners, ex-fire fighters… the list goes on. The energy was wonderful, the people were amazing, and it further confirmed my belief that yoga can heal and bring people together.

The class was bigger than I had anticipated and the time just flew by. I didn’t get a chance to talk to everyone, but from the few I spoke to, the same recurring themes of knee pain, lower back issues, tight shoulders, hip soreness came out as certain as the sun and moon. I nodded and smiled to myself, not because these people were in pain, but because I’ve heard and experienced all of this before, and because I knew yoga would do wonders for all of them.

Afterwards I answered questions and demonstrated stretches and simple exercises to do at home. The gratitude expressed to me was so genuine and heartwarming that I knew I had to continue doing this.

So I am on a mission – to use the practice of yoga to heal others, to share what I know unselfishly, and to help anyone who comes to my door.