Yogis Can Fly, and Elephant Ballet

I started a Yoga Teacher Training this past weekend at Yoga High Studio in Salinas. I was feeling a little ambivalent about the training as I drove to the studio on the first day. Yoga was such a big part of my life 2 or 3 years ago, and although I still love it, the practice has dwindled for me and taken a back seat to triathalon trainings, long distance relationships, and other life changes. I wasn't sure I belonged at a teacher training. Especially since I'm 6 months pregnant.

I am SO glad I went. I fell in love with it all over again, and began to remember what it felt like the few times I've taught a class--what a gift yoga is and what an honor to be able to show people the little I know.

I've been to alot of yoga classes, and I saw something on Sunday that awed me for the first time in a long time. Mark Stephens was a guest teacher, breaking down Sun Salutations. He did something called 'floating.' Starting in a forward bend, his transition to plank pose was not the traditional step or hop back, but a spring up off his hands, hips above his head, and the lightest, slowest, most gravity-defying feather-light landing into plank position I've ever seen. It actually looked like he was floating. It made me realize just how limited our perception of what are bodies, minds, and souls are capable of is. I'm thankful to him for that one moment of helping me re-imagine.

I, on the other hand, felt like an elephant in ballet slippers. My center of gravity and sense of balance change almost daily now, and I've certainly lost all sense of grace and style. I aim for getting into the pose and getting out again without falling over. That's it. Forget anything else. This has been a mental challenge, especially on the mat next to lithe, experienced yogis who do not have a belly to negotiate.

Overall, I'm excited. And if you're interested, Mark Stephens has a website: www.markstephensyoga.com.