“Yoga” Santa Monica Style
Having just moved to Santa Monica from Redondo Beach I am experiencing something new. Yoga is alive and well on the westside. Not that the South Bay doesn’t have it’s fair share of yoga studios. But never have I seen so many people with sticky mats. Everywhere people walk, ride bikes, skateboard, and sprint with their mats in tow. All shapes, sizes, and ages on their way to or from a yoga class. Maybe they are going to a studio, or the park or maybe the beach to have their practice alone or with a group. Whatever it is, yoga has most definitely caught on.
Six years ago when I made the decision to take a yoga teacher training and learn more about what makes me feel so good, it was still a bit of a novelty. People who know me, I am a bit of a tree hugger at heart, knew that this was my calling. Still there were those who were doubtful. What is this yoga thing, they asked, “you went to college, you have a degree. Why don’t you get a real job?” I would answer with, “well all I know is I love how I feel when I practice”, and I like to teach from that place. I love how I feel when I take a class, whether it’s a meditation class or a challenging vinyasa class. I love unrolling my mat and come to my practice. I love the ritual of creating and on this mat for 90 minutes I am able to experience joy, pain, elation, excitement, deflation, vocalization, utter defeat and complete calm. I don’t know any other way to have this experience other than my yoga practice. This is why I teach. I teach because I know the experience and love to be a voice there for others have their own experience. With gentle guidance or assisting in a pose it’s all there to experience.
As I make the transition to teaching on the Westside I feel all the emotions of when I first began as a brand new teacher. I feel a bit nervous but excited to share my knowledge. I feel that my mind is open to having a new experience and am able to share as well as learn from students who are new to me. I look forward to my new teachers and those students who will be new to me. I look forward to embracing the new and I look forward to learning from my mistakes.
“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is the truth that we share with one another when we are being uncool”-Phillip Semour Hoffman, line from the movie Almost Famous
