12 Dec Diaries of a Yoga Student: Week 11
This weekend we met after being away from each other for the holiday weekend. Bundled up from the San Diego “cold” we embraced on Friday night knowing that we only had two weekends left.
Jon Old-Rowe walked into the studio and I was immediately engulfed in his presence. While many may enter a room and immediately jump into discussion, Jon took his time speaking mindfully and with intent as we were enveloped more and more by his memorable demeanor.
Our evening with Jon explored the depth of the role of a teacher and its place in personal development. Teaching itself is a way to study ourselves and grow our means of communication and understanding. After a powerful exercise showing our interconnectedness and innate human desire to feel acceptance and love, we jumped into the practice of chanting and mantras.
Our mantra was one that I had been using in my meditation practice over the past week since we had visited Manoj and learned about all the Hindu deities:
Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha
This mantra is one used to awaken the power of Ganesh within you and is to be chanted 108 times. We first started slowly for the beginning round and sat in stillness for a moment afterward. After a few minutes, we began the second round, chanting faster, and again sat in stillness.
In the stillness I sat, feeling by breath electrifying me from the fingertips to my forehead. I felt energy moving throughout my body and a vibrational high from the collective chanting we had completed.
At the end of a beautiful night, we were left with words that I’ll always remember:
“There is a way to step on someone’s shoes without fucking up their shine.”
Yoga may seem like a flowery-Kumbaya community activity, but as a teacher you have the ability to really rock someone’s world and change their life. Each of us has something to offer that no one else can and that within itself gives us the power to make a difference.
Acro Yoga Workshop
Much to my surprise and excitement, Saturday was filled with acro yoga led by Fallon and Jordan. Something I call “agro-yoga” with my boyfriend, ended up being such a joyous day filled with team building-esque exercises. We flew, we based, we spotted and got a taste of all the elements of acro yoga. I immediately went home to show my boyfriend how to do the different poses and I think I may have him hooked!
Next weekend will be our last of Indie Yoga’s teacher training and will be bittersweet, to say the least. We’ve spent the past three months learning, growing, and coming together as a close-knit community, so thinking about not having this sacred group together is saddening, but I know that we have formed a bond like no other that I’ve experienced and we’ll always have each other. I think we’re all excited for what is in store and how we can use these tools in the world to make it a better place.