One of my long-time students mentioned that she had been away visiting family, and took a yoga class with a local Anusara-Inspired teacher during her trip, and that she had really enjoyed the class.
Now, I’m sure there are yoga teachers out there who so self-assured that they know that if a student doesn’t show up the next week it is obviously an issue on the students part, but I don’t know if I’d enjoy studying with any of them, personally, because I’m not sure I’d be able to fit in the room with their ego.
No, I think most good yoga teachers–and definitely the ones I hang around with–tend to wonder when someone only shows up once, considering whether there’s something they could have done better, to have taught a more compelling class, to have made someone feel more welcome…even as they acknowledge that many if not most of the students they see they will see only once. A serious yoga practice is a practice of constant self-examination and reflection–you don’t get a free pass just because you’ve started to teach; in fact, just the opposite. So you ponder on the people you only see once.
With this in mind, although I didn’t know this teacher personally, I took a moment to look her up on the Anusara website, and found an address, and emailed her just to let her know that she had made an impression. It took me all of maybe two minutes, I got to brighten someone’s day, and I added another strand in the web of my community.
One of the things I love about the Anusara community is that it aspires to be just that: a community. These ties aren’t ties that bind, they’re ties that lift us up, that make our load lighter.
