Adjustment back to teaching, after the month away, was interesting -- as in, I stumbled and mumbled for a few classes before feeling back 'in the groove'. And, during my absence, classes seem to have held up pretty well attendance-wise. For those of you familiar with teaching and finding subs, you know that a prolonged absence can have varied results:
- Students who are extremely loyal will go away for a while.
- Students who have regularly attended my class may really enjoy the sub I've enlisted and that may signal the end of their participation in my classes.
- Students will keep coming to class because they enjoy the yoga - no matter who the teacher is.
Students are slowly returning, unless they fall into that second category -- which is fine by me. I love that they are continuing to practice.
As I mentioned last post, I've begun a new class for students with MS. So far, just 3 are participating. They are very engaged and eager to experience yoga and benefits. Myself? Well, I am still studying, working to give each a good experience. That is a challenge since each comes in with a different set of symptoms. One may be pretty steady, while another is not-so-steady; and - with this condition - symptoms may change from day-to-day.
My current thought process is that recruiting other muscles (and muscle groups) to do the work (i.e. raising and lowering a leg), may be a good thing. Even those of us with no condition to deal with have muscles that are under-used. We'll see.
On Saturday afternoon, I facilitated a 2-hour practice at one of the Temecula studios; the first held there in over a year. I worried who would attend and, knowing that some would be instructors, I was nervous and a bit stressed by the prospect of planning a sequence that would challenge (but not over-challenge) everyone. We worked longer holds for the first hour - a minute in standing poses that we normally use momentum to move into and out of. We then moved onto some more active movement, some arm balances, intermingled with twists. My sequence was long, maybe another instructor could have moved through it more quickly and completely; however, I didn't and ended up leaving out a couple challenging poses. I think that was o.k. -- everyone looked 'complete' by the time we finished (and they were smiling).
Back to the regular schedule this week.
Hope you have a great week!
