From Awkward to Awesome

It’s been over two years since I started offering online classes due to COVID-19. I actually had stopped teaching regular classes for a couple of years prior to the pandemic but when it hit and people were suddenly stuck in their homes teaching live online classes felt like the right thing to do.

I was amazed at how creative I was with class themes and sequencing. The feedback was really great too. Here I am two years later still churning out novel themes and sequences. I enjoyed today’s class so much it’s the theme for this week: from awkward to awesome.

Do you remember your first yoga class? No doubt there were at least a few awkward moments. It may have started with not knowing what to wear. When you resolved that issue and arrived at the class the next awkward moment may have been where do I put my mat. With any luck, you didn’t arrive with a thick exercise mat hoping that would suffice. And maybe when the class began the teacher started speaking and asked a rhetorical question that you answered aloud, you quickly realized your mistake. Awkward!

Physically, you may have felt really uncomfortable sitting cross-legged on the floor for the first time in years, fidgeting to find a way to be more comfortable, wondering how everyone else was able to be upright and still. After a few words, the teacher likely invited the class to close their eyes, pay attention to their breath for a few rounds then asked you to join in three rounds of OM and maybe even chanted a longer mantra. You may have wondered at that point what you’d gotten yourself into.

Once the class began you likely felt a sense of relief to be standing but then realized standing in Mountain Pose isn’t nearly as easy as it looks. The teacher would have provided verbal cues that assisted you in finding your alignment, standing strong and tall for the first time in - forever!

As the class moved on you no doubt encountered Triangle Pose. You thought you had followed all the instructions and modelled exactly what the teacher did, yet somehow you ended up in a crooked and somewhat twisted position. The teacher likely came by and gently helped you to get straightened out. While you sensed the pose looked better you may have still felt awkward in it. Triangle takes some time to figure out.

And no doubt there were many other poses and techniques that felt very awkward in that first class. But you sensed from the others who were moving through them more gracefully that the awkwardness was okay. No one was looking at you or judging you. And the teacher was lovingly guiding you when they thought you were lost.

During the final relaxation, you may have thought that lying on your back in a big open space with a bunch of strangers was not entirely comfortable or even safe. But you quickly fell asleep and likely snored. Yes, awkward. You were exhausted and didn’t even know it.

When the class was over and the teacher thanked you for coming and invited you back again, you left feeling different. You realized you hadn’t felt that awesome in a long time. You slept like a baby that night, for sure. And the effect of the class lasted through the next day. You found yourself looking forward to returning next week.

This little scenario serves two purposes. The first is a reminder of the awkwardness each new pose, sequence or technique encountered in yoga presents to you. You explore them with curiosity and openness to the experience regardless of how awkward they may be. The second is a call to take time to reflect on your yoga journey.

When guided by masterful teachers, yoga is ever-expanding. The focus moves from poses to richer breath techniques, powerful meditations, new ways of working with prana/life force and ultimately with the awakening of your inner teacher who starts to guide you through life choices.

Every new step in your journey has an element of awkwardness. As you move through new steps you transcend the awkward and are rewarded with a sense of awesomeness.

If your yoga journey is not fulfilling in the awesomeness quotient, why not reach out to me to see if we can shift that up.

 Have an awesome week!