Building towards the Blood-Full Moon

Full moons are all about harvesting.  During a full moon we harvest all the "seeds" we planted, we harvest all the intentions we had set for ourselves.  Since December I have had the honor to call myself a Yoga Teacher again.  I was granted the opportunity to use the physical practice to start to heal myself, because sadly before moving to Virginia my asana practice had been put on a back burner. 

While we were in New Jersey, I had many excuses to not get on my mat.  Most excuses were honestly legitimate, others not as much.  Many times the excuse to not get on my mat was from work and how it was emotionally draining.  My work at the time made me responsible for over 80 6th graders, and as much as I LOVED my students and cherished my time being their teacher it took a toll on my well being.  

Also, while living in New Jersey I had lost my community to practice yoga.  Sadly there is something about a studio being convenient and the lack of convenience affected my physical practice.  I had lost that drive to get to a class, I had lost that drive to teach myself since I was teaching all day.  Fast forward to me living in our current apartment thinking to myself "Is there a studio near me?" And wouldn't luck have it to present to me a studio 3 minutes driving distance from our apartment. Couldn't get any more convenient than that!  I met the founder and since then I slowly started to build my practice back.  

Looking back, what was good was that mainly the asana, the physical practice, had suffered from my time away from it.  Since I was teaching (just not yoga) I never forgot or lost the other 7 branches of yoga.  However, just like in life when one thing isn't balanced it will ripple and affect other aspects of your life.  I started doing "check in" work for the studio around October (I honestly don't quite remember ? ) and from the first time I got on my mat again to be lead for an hour I felt the absence of the asana practice. Downward dog was NOT a "resting pose" anymore!

I firmly believe in the idea that we go through our lives experiencing what we do in order to help others.  I believe that idea because when I started my journey as a Yoga Teacher I would teach poses and not fully understand some of the limitations of my students.  Now I understand what it is like to have tighter hamstrings, weaker feeling in the wrists and feel like "damn I wish I could look like the teacher!"  What I have learned from my time away from the physical to building it back up is that it is ALL ABOUT COMING TO YOUR MAT CONSISTENTLY.  Right now that idea is my teaching mantra.  I try to let my students know as much as I can that "It will get easier one day I promise, but you have to keep practicing it" especially when a student is new to my class.
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I'm finally getting closer to where I feel like I used to be 3 years ago and I feel more balanced and healthy than ever.