How Do you Deal?

When a yoga pose becomes difficult or uncomfortable, how do you deal? What is your best response?

Your best options are:

1) Endure, thrive, and breathe in the challenge.
2) Modify the pose to make it easier.
3) Choose a completely different pose such as sitting meditation, child's pose, happy baby, a twist, down dog or its variations, or any other pose that seems better for you. The point is...DO A YOGA POSE. (Ask the teacher if you don't know what to do.)

Your worst options are:

1) Quit and feel like a failure and sit in a slump on your mat while looking around defeatedly at fellow students. This is counterproductive and a total waste of time.
2) Hold difficult pose too long and injure yourself. Injury generally results when you recklessly ignore your body and its needs.


You have options, and you must make decisions in your yoga practice. Your best options are the ones that make you feel brighter inside and/or make you safely challenge your mind and body to greater heights. Having the courage to hold a pose even though it may be challenging or uncomfortable can help you to learn more about yourself and to grow stronger physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Big Schedule Changes in July and August 2008

So much will be happening in my personal life and my yoga life during July and August.

First of all, I will finally be taking my honeymoon on June 29th through July 6th. I'll teach all my classes July 7-17. I will be teaching some of my classes during July 7-17. Check this blog entry again, or just check my website schedule in July for updates.

From July 18th through August 10th, I will be investing my blood, sweat, and tears into Ana Forrest's Teacher Training in Boston. Each day of the training begins at 6 am and ends at 5 pm. I will need my evenings to do homework, complete assignments, contemplate the day's training, and hopefully have dinner! I have decided to teach just one class a week during the Forrest Teacher Training. That class will be the Tuesday night (7:30 pm) classes at South Boston Yoga.

There is a possiblity that I will have enough energy to teach the Thursday night (7:30 pm) classes at Central Branch YMCA as well. However, I don't anticipate having the energy to yell over basketball players in the adjacent court. Ana Forrest is a tough woman, and she will expect a lot from me and my fellow trainees. I might tentatively plan to teach the Thursday night YMCA classes and have a backup substitute teacher lined up in case I'm just too tired.

I am really excited about the teacher training. Hopefully, I'll return to you as a better yoga teacher!