The power of a yoga teacher is pretty amazing.  I find myself jealous ofmy students pretty regularly lately.  For 95% of my yoga practice, I have been on my own.  I practice alone at home, alone at my studio, to CDs, DVDs, sometimes I practice with my class (if there are very few students in a class), and a couple times a week I take class from one of the other teachers at my studio.  Since I started practicing Baptiste Vinyasa Power Yoga, I have not been fortunate enough to have a teacher other than Baron's DVDs and CDs. 

This last weekend, I got to practice at Midwest Power Yoga in Appleton with Robin and Debbie, two BPYI style teachers who have a lot of experience and expertise in the Baptiste style of yoga.  At the end of class with Robin, I almost fell asleep in savasana, which is always a sign of a really good practice.  She taught a powerful flow, challenging, and with some interesting variations that excited me out of my typical routine.  And when I had to leave I felt a little sad that I couldn't return the next day and the next day and the next day to surrender to her as a teacher again and again and again.  I spent most of the afternoon on Saturday studying posture alignment and assisting techniques with Debbie.  Now Debbie has a very strong background in anatomy and physiology and can guide any physical body into amazing posture.  She revolutionized my practice in more poses than one by the simplest little adjustments.  I was finding backbends and extensions in ways I didn't know possible.  I was landing arm balances I had only seen in books.  She taught with such confidence in my ability that I couldn't deny her assertion that I could do what she was visualizing for me to do.  At the end of the day I felt limber, strong, balanced, and complete in a way I can only dream of explaining in words.

Then I thought, I can only hope I offer to my students what I had received from two days with Robin and Debbie.  I don't have a teacher for myself, and so often I crave the guidance than anyone can offer me about my own practice. 

I only hope that my students feel the connection and the power that I felt out of two days from Debbie and Robin.  If I had teachers like them within a close vicinity, I know I would be at their studio daily to reap the benefits of their teachings.  Then again, I see students walk through The Yoga Path doors on a daily basis, and I can only assume that they are finding what I offer to be as valuable as what I felt at Midwest Power Yoga.

So often my students apologize for asking so many questions after class, or hanging around after class wanting more.  Often my students apologize for "sucking" so much energy out of me.  What they don't realize is that my students are MY TEACHERS.  For every question I get, for every answer I try to give, I find more knowledge, more wisdom, and more teaching inside of me.  I grow with every student I see who lands an arm balance.  I progress with every practice I see develop.

So, the short answer to this blog is...Thank you to all my students for believing in yourselves, for believing in The Yoga Path, for believing in ME!

 

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