Today was one of those days when I felt pure magic. For REAL.
Whatever the package, the tool, the vehicle that gets us to this juicy spot - yoga, massage, art, performance, whatever it is that moves you to the point of feeling Love, feeling God, this is the point of it all.
It is not the ego-bullshit that society preys upon; the one which tells us that a fulfilled, happy life is Success, Money, etc - we all know the rant. When we think (already thinking is a problem) that some external accomplishment, that winning (whatever the heck that means), when anything which strokes the ego, is it, is the juiciness, is the nectar of life ---- WE HAVE LOST THE PLOT.
It is moments like today when I am typically dreading what comes next: people lingering in the hallway, or maybe no one at all. I am about to teach a two hour yoga class. Students are usually useful if I want to teach. The clock ticks down, minute by minute. Doesn't matter what time of day, which day of the week. The low-student-count classes are completely random, it seems. They are my least favorite.
Today is one of the days when teaching yoga at first seemed a bit daunting. 4 hours of class. Heat, humidity, Ashtanga followed by a Vinyasa class. A lot, considering I am recovering from a fever earlier in the week. Yet it seemed that when I taught the other day, the energy I gained from teaching healed me.
The deep feeling and magical spark I felt at the beginning was not felt only by me. As I was leaving the shala, both students thank me profusely for the class. I began to turn around when they continued.......one expressed how the practice today changed his life. The other said that he moved into places he has never ever gone before in practice, never thought he could do. Like I said, these are advanced practitioners who have agile bodies, know the Primaries Series for the most part. I did not realize during the class that this was happening, I was simply honored to be giving a Mysore Style class.
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| photo cred: The Mind UnLeashed |
Yep, that's right. Along with everything else I do: run ZAHARA JADE a brand of conscious fashion products, write for Elephant Journal, other publications and now my own book, I also teach yoga. The yoga path is what, in part, drew me far away from home on a journey inwards, looking to connect with my higher self, with life, with more than what I experienced in the material world.
It is deep passion and dedication to my own practice, the energy exchange and transformation I watch happen when I teach students, and my ability to share this with others -- along with fortune of Universal flow -- that keep me wishing to pass on the lineage and teachings.
At times I lose my way, lose my connection to The Path. My body struggles with disease, teaching becomes less realistic, forcing me to chillax. I lose sight of my passion in these moments. I believe it's not for me, that I must find another way to connect with the powerful healing energy --- part of how I came to develop ZAHARA JADE in the first place.
Someone, some place, somehow, I am inevitably moved to step back onto my Path and my purpose, to share what little I know, for I know it is useful to others.
Today is one of the days when teaching yoga at first seemed a bit daunting. 4 hours of class. Heat, humidity, Ashtanga followed by a Vinyasa class. A lot, considering I am recovering from a fever earlier in the week. Yet it seemed that when I taught the other day, the energy I gained from teaching healed me.
So I found myself at my temporary mid-day Ashtanga class.
Side Note for my beloved & respected Authorized Ashtanga Teachers - I wish I could say in honor of the lineage and my teacher that I don't teach traditional Ashtanga, but truthfully, in honor of the lineage and my teacher, when asked to cover an Ashtanga class, or have the choice to teach Ashtanga vs. Vinyasa or some other style of yoga, I cannot/ will not make up some crazy Ashtanga vinyasa modified something-or-other. I will teach what I know, otherwise I feel it would be doing a disservice to the students, myself, and the lineage. There is not a surplus of Mysore-studied teachers in my part, and I feel 100% confident in my practice and knowledge of the practice enough to teach a ["Modified"] Primary Led Class.
Now that that's out of the way....
There were only two students to attend class this afternoon when the class is often packed. No surprise, seems many are unsure about the idea of an actual Ashtanga class rather than a cat-cow-pose-do-whatever-you-want-I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-but-I'm-gonna-call-it-Modified-Ashtanga-Vinyasa-Class. No offense to those who teach, I respect all teachers, I simply move on my own path and do my best when I can to call it what it is.
Well here I am, two willing students. Normally two students is not enough for me to teach (a vinyasa class), but this afternoon I did not hesitate for a second. I knew I would teach the class. Both students, luckily, have fairly solid practices. Instead of the usual Ashtanga Primary Led Class (love, but after a while....snooze....) I got to teach a Mysore-style practice. We went through the entire Primary Series to the degree of each student.
BEYOND amazing. Completely unexpected, out of nowhere. Pure joy resonating from the core of my being, through my entire self, connecting to everything.
Higher self, Source, God, some may call this. Love. I am not sure. And it was so simple. A shala, two students. Practicing, breathing, moving. In their own time, in their own bodies.
Silence other than the beautiful sound of breathing, and my occasional soft voice. To witness, assist, and simply be present during the practice was beyond powerful. It has been too long since I have taught a Mysore style Ashtanga practice. I have missed it dearly.
The deep feeling and magical spark I felt at the beginning was not felt only by me. As I was leaving the shala, both students thank me profusely for the class. I began to turn around when they continued.......one expressed how the practice today changed his life. The other said that he moved into places he has never ever gone before in practice, never thought he could do. Like I said, these are advanced practitioners who have agile bodies, know the Primaries Series for the most part. I did not realize during the class that this was happening, I was simply honored to be giving a Mysore Style class.
Listen, as someone who teaches on a regular basis, I get compliments. Oh this class was amazing, yada yada. It's simply not the same thing. We KNOW when an authentic moment, an authentic shift has occurred. We feel the energetic shift of a powerful transformation in the air, in the room. It's impossible to miss. For me, this is the heartbeat of life. This is the sweet nectar worth living for.
If you find your sweet nectar, and the tool which helps you feel the sweetness of life - even for a moment, every once in a while - then you have found the secret of life.
With Love, ZJ
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| www.zaharajade.com |
