Vistamar High School

This past week I said goodbye.  The end of the school year has come and now I let go.  Saying goodbye to a place I have been blessed to be a yoga teacher for the past six years.  The halls of Vistamar High School.  I began teaching there when the school first opened in September 2005 and it has the unique curriculum of having Yoga as a P.E. option.  Thinking back to when I found out I got the job I remember checking my email inbox while traveling in Peru.  It was the one day I had to check email and there it was…the one that would change the course of my teaching forever.  “We would love to have you join us for the Fall trimester 2005″.  I can still remember how I felt in that moment.  Joy, elation and fear!  Holy cow, what now?!

Well “what now” has turned into the most beautiful journey one could ever imagine.  It began with very early mornings of yoga with the students and some of the staff (the school only had 60 students the first year), and then we got wise and moved it to the afternoons, after their school day.  Tired students and teachers are hard to motivate at 7:30am.  Now the school has over 200 students and even more faculty sharing their divine inspiration.

Throughout the past 6 years I have been blessed with meeting some of the most talented, smart and beautiful students in our Yoga classes.  Each and every teenager I have had the honor of getting to know has been a part of the experience.  This experience in teaching, in sharing, in giving out and in giving back.  How lucky have I been?  I was able to tailor this program of Yoga for Teens to educate them in some much more than just the physical practice of yoga.  They have learned about anatomy, body psychology, yamas and niyamas, mantras and mudras, chanting and their favorite, Kundalini!  This has been pure joy all around.  I say good bye as I let go and move on.  Move on to the next phase of my yoga journey.  As I make the transition to Hawaii by paying it forward and giving another teacher the opportunity to teach and learn from the MOST amazing group of people under the age of 18.

For our last class we sat in a circle as they shared their most memorable yoga experience through the years.  Some of the things shared… ” I learned that I was of the internally rotated tribe” and “the Led Zeppelin class was my favorite”( Chloe~musician).  ” I liked when we did arm massages (wrist actually) and when we talked about Justin Beiber” (Laura~freshman), “this is my impression of you” (Jack messes up his hair so it looks like mine!), “I like when we did talking yoga”~sometimes they just needed to share (Alicia and Brionna), “I liked it when we did the inversions, it was scary but fun!” (Briana), “I’ve really enjoyed this class and I think I’m going to sign up for yoga in college”~ my favorite!!! (Michael).  With a final group hug and a sappy Yoga teacher trying to keep my composure it is done…but never forgotten.

It has been my baby.  Now its all grown up.
Can I get a Namaste….whoaaaaa Yoga!

Remember when you were a teenager and the most important thing in your life, besides what you were wearing to school, was what music you listened to?  Your music defined who you were and who your friends were and your moods, and your style.  When I was in high school there was reggae/ska, hop-hop, punk, old parents rock that was now cool because you just found it.  Remember the first time you heard The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, or Led Zeppelin?  I found the albums in my parents collection along with Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.  Apparently at some point my parents were cool.  Who knew.  The reason I bring this up is because now I am in the category of an “older person” who talk about how much I love music.

Once again at Vistamar high school I am reminded of you teen years and the similarity of that which never changes, our love of music.  As a teenager you are being told what to do, how to do it, where to go and when.  For some reason music is an escape.  We can listen to a song that brings up certain feelings or emotions and ride those emotions.  Remember your first concert?  Remember every one after that?  Seeing your favorite band live?  Saving up from your part time job or doing chores to make extra cash so you could go?  Or last resort…begging?  My first concert was in 1982, The US festival.  It was in the Augora Hills in the middle of nowhere.  It was 100 degrees and my best friend and I went.  I was 12 and my step dad brought us.  Yes, I got to see The Cars, The Police, The B-52’s, Oingo Boingo, The Beat, and more.  Funny these bands are mostly still around.  In any event that defined me and paved the way for a life love affair with music.

I still get to use music of all genres today.  I play music while I teach Yoga classes.  I have different themes and sometimes shuffle the IPOD just for fun.  So coming back to the high school Yoga Class we have started sharing our playlists during Yoga.  For the past two weeks they have been making up playlists with their favorite musical selections.  I have to say I am impressed.  One of the kids, Noah is a musician and guitarist and lives for his music.  The quote yesterday, after we listened to his playlist, was “I spend 40% of my life thinking about, listening to, and playing music”. Ben another outspoken student, who happens to like hip-hop, asked him what he did with the other 60% of his time.   Whatever it was it didn’t sounds as cool. It’s like music is an escape from all the stresses of high school.  So in Noah’s playlist was The Beastie Boys, Santana, and Sublime.  Santeria was very interesting for Savasana.

There is a gap that is bridged when music is involved.  No matter the age we all can relate to how we felt the first time we heard Stairway to Heaven or Mirror in the Bathroom.  I never thought I’d be that person who said “When I was your age…”, but I am.  I can’t help it because like these kids music is my life.

As I mentioned before I teach yoga as P.E. at a private school in El Segundo.  The kids found out I blog about my experiences once in a while so they requested that I write about our experiences in class.  First of all let me warn you they are teenagers and not very censored in their comments.  Most of the time there is not a lot of thought on the words that leave their mouths.  Last week Ben, one of the more colorful students, told me how much he hated me.  Honestly the look on his face made me burst into a fit of giggles.  Granted it was while he was holding Warrior 3… for 5 whole breaths.  I had to laugh out loud because I though back to when I first began taking classes I thought a couple times how much I “hated” the teacher while I held chair…forever.  Actually even now sometimes in the middle of arm balance sequencing with Jerome at Santa Monica Power Yoga I think to myself…what am I doing here?

So today I decided to try a little Kundalini Yoga with them.  Not usually a style that we practice it was educational to say the least.  I tried to explain about the “serpent” that lives in the base of our spine and is awakened as we practice breath and repetitive movement.  We’ll if you’ve ever practiced Kundalini you know that the feeling that happens can be very energizing.  You may feel lightheaded or even dizzy if you are not able to stay grounded in your practice.  I mentioned it was like a natural high, and they took that comment and ran with it.  So now everything that we did was an alternative to “the other high”.  One of the kids, Jason, went so far to demonstrate the scenario of his mother walking in on him practicing Kundalini in his room.  She asks concerned, “what are you doing?”.  His answer, “Don’t worry mom, it’s legal..it’s kundalini”.

Stay tuned…tomorrow we are doing Partner Yoga.

During the calender school year for the last four years I have had the fortune of being a part of the P.E. Department at Vistamar High School in El Segundo.  At this Independent High School the teenagers are able to choose Yoga as their P.E. elective.  For one hour 3 times a week they come in and we meditate, practice pranayama (breathing), and move through different sequences of asanas (postures).  I think back to my high school and remember dreading P.E. and having to dress out in green and white, our school colors.  It wasn’t that bad, really, it’s just that I didn’t gel so much with Tennis or Track or volleyball, which I actually came to love as an adult.  Being anywhere between the ages of 13-18 is an emotional time with hormones and the pressures of test, peers, and trying to get into the the right school to determine your future.  I do remember my mother trying to get me to meditate as a teenager to help me relax and take things in stride and I would just look at her funny.  Now as an adult I look at these kids and think how far we have come and how lucky they are.  They come into the classroom, unroll their mats, sit still in a circle, eyes closed in complete silence for the first 5 minutes.  Do you ever remember doing that in 9th or 10th grade?  Especially in front of your peers?  Times have definitely changed.  These 12 teenagers, boys and girls, look forward to coming to yoga.  Most of the time they want to just have savasana (final relaxation).  So last week one of the boys, Noah, asked if he could pick our savasana music.  He had his ipod so he plugged it into the speakers.  His choice…”Comfotably Numb” by Pink Floyd.  I couldn’t help but smile.