unedited for 100 days. Day 14

An important element of teaching yoga is the responsibility of holding space for people. It is meant to be a safe and non-judgmental space for people to explore and discover themselves. I try not to impose beliefs or any kind of personal agenda on my class. Of course though, a part of being a teacher is sharing a piece of yourself to build that trust and highlight the common ground that unites us. The ups and downs, the messes, the celebrations, the failures and everything in between. A teacher must be cautious in how and what they share to keep the space available to everyone. I get turned off when I attend a class in which the teacher begins with their personal take on life that day. They might start with a tragedy that is in the news, or their recent vacation to the beach. In their intent to share and connect, the impact is the imposition of a certain mood or feeling on everyone in the room. Guiding a group yoga class is a fragile art. Some people are walking in the doors having the best day of their life, while others might be in the middle of a crisis. I find it especially important that we keep our personal highs and lows to ourselves as teachers. Perhaps before or after class we can connect with our students in this way. It would be a failure for all of us teachers if people denied themselves of yoga because they didn't think they were happy enough, or peaceful enough or 'deep' enough.  Yoga is for all of us. In a nutshell, yoga is a movement and breath practice that offers space to be exactly as we are, on any given day- and in that self awareness and discovery, we find more peace. This is why you will hear me say the word "peace" in class and not the word "happy". We won't be "happy" every day but that should never keep us from our mat. I hope my students always feel safe and free to be themselves. So those are my thoughts on that. :)