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sarah e webb's avatar

oh,I remember the studio in which I found myself through practice and began the journey to become a teacher, too.

Blue Lotus closed in the early 2012 for non-pandemic related reasons. I taught one of the last classes, on the last day before we locked the door for the last time. During savasana I read the last passage from The Velveteen Rabbit. You know the one, about becoming real.

That’s what the practice of yoga taught to me ~ the journey of embodiment to become myself.

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Erin Cookston's avatar

Hi Dina,

Such a wonderful stroll down memory lane.

Some of the first Yoga classes I taught were at Walnut Creek Yogaworks; it was a playground, a laboratory, where I learned so many important lessons about what it means to practice 'off the mat.'

I remember one conversation with Mynx specifically....

I'd emailed her about an issue I was having in one of my classes, and rather than email me back she found me at the studio for a quick in-person follow up. The previous week a student had come to my class and was 'doing their own thing'. I had very little experience with this at the time. The student seemed to be ignoring me full stop: doing wild arm balances when the class was in Warrior II, deep backbends while I was teaching Mountain Pose. It felt like a grave injustice. As that class progressed I moved from frustrated to annoyed to angered. By the time class ended, my blood was boiling. I immediately sent Mynx an email about the student's abhorrent behavior. I expected Mynx to commiserate with me, to offer me some trick for keeping misbehaving students out of my class for good. Instead, she found me at the studio a few days later and pulled me aside. She looked me in the eyes with the steadiness of a redwood tree and said, " Hum. Sounds like you're really frustrated with this student, Erin. I wonder what would happen if you allowed yourself to be interested in their experience instead of judgmental of their behavior."

Zing.

Lesson learned.

'Be interested instead of judgmental' has become a kind of home base in my mind, a perspective that invites me to see not only all of life as a practice, but to see it as an opportunity for greater, deeper understanding as well. It reminds me that intrigue and compassion are practices, conscious choices, gifts that are offered rather than reactions that first must be earned.

Practice of any kind is rarely easy, but then, practice isn't about finding the easy way, is it? I learn and relearn and relearn, again and again, that practice is a process for finding truth, and that finding truth is a lot like finding diamonds: it requires hard digging, a ton of elbow grease, and a lifetime of polishing to make it shine, shine, shine.

I enjoyed reading your pieces, thinking, reflecting, and writing back to you this morning. Thanks for the inspiration, and for getting me to lay some words down. I raise my coffee to you, friend. Happy Spring. Have a great day!

Love,

Erin

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