The yoga classes that I frequent are on weekday mornings, and that's kinda hard to get to when you have a class full of 8th graders ready to get their "learn" on. I love it when there's a break or a school holiday so I can make it to these 9am classes. Summertime is 9 full weeks of morning availability for me (half the reason I send my kids to camp is so I can make it to these classes!). When I do return to my regular practice each summer, it's fun to see old friends in my yoga class (hey there, Cathie!), and it's great when I make new ones (Penny!). Alas, Summertime is also when everyone else outside the education industry decides to go on Vacation; Yoga teachers included.
So, what do you do when your yoga teacher goes on vacation? Well, I guess it goes without saying that you pray that the class gets covered so that you can continue on with your practice! Secondly, you approach your mat for that session with an open mind. The Substitute yoga teacher does not know the rhythms of the class they are covering, and he/she will have his/her own style of instructions. Be respectful of those variations, and know that at minimum you will deepen your practice, maximally you'll have a more well-rounded practice. Changing it up can be good! Doing a variation of a posture that you may have become too comfortable in is beneficial. As my favorite yoga teacher of all time (Diann) used to say: "you never know when you're going to be called into battle, and you never know how long that battle is going to be, so always be ready in your warrior" (I, II, or III...and she would make us hold those poses for a looooooong time....)
It's important to be comfortable with your practice, but sometimes, with only one instructor, you can become too comfortable and your practice doesn't grow. It becomes "stale", you may forget proper alignment, your muscles may not be ready to experience sometime new if you follow the same routine week after week. Mixing it up is good...but keeping an open mind is the most important.
I had the experience of having 2 substitute teachers for 2 different regular classes this week. This summer, I have been periodically taking an evening class, and this week, there was a sub. This sub clearly had her own regular class at another time, and many of her "regulars" seemed to show up for this evening class. I was optimistic because this is how I used to feel about Diann. I would find out when she was practicing, and I'd make a concerted effort to practice with her when I could. That's just how it is when you click and connect with an instructor. You "get" them, they "get" the way you do asana, and things flow from there. Anyway, my hopes were quickly dashed with this nighttime sub when she instructed us into a Warrior I posture, and then scolded those of us who didn't hold our back foot in what she considered to be the proper alignment. From the get-go, I've always been instructed that the back foot should angle out slightly (about 45 degrees) with the back edge of the foot flat on the floor. I've been practicing regularly for 4 years and I've always practiced Warrior with this foot placement. This instructor insisted that we keep our rear foot facing forward. She refused to continue on to her next posture until all of us in the class aligned ourselves as such. I'm no fool...I moved my foot the way she told me to immediately, even though it didn't feel right - not in my foot, not in my hip, not at my calf or my knee. Needless to say, others in the class were a little slow on the uptake or thought she was kidding. She kept insisting there were some of us using incorrect form, and she kept us there. Uncomfortable, not relaxing, on edge, the tension could be cut with a knife. HUH? This isn't what a yoga practice is supposed to be! One person actually walked out. Me? I pledged a sorority way back when, and I don't give up so easily. I finished the practice, but begrudgingly, the whole while thinking that this just wasn't right. Homie don't play that.
So, this morning, I walked into another practice with another sub. Josh told us last week that he would not be in, but he assured us there would be a qualified sub. There was...clearly a woman with a dance/ballet background; she was quite graceful. Despite my misgivings after the evening class, I approached the teacher's instruction with an open mind. She had a soothing voice, she knew her stuff, and I felt like "I can do this!". But it was still a little weird. For starters, she used a device on her head for which I have no better description than "Janet Jackson Control" - you guys with me? She would give us an instruction and tell us what was coming next, but breathlessly make side comments to people in the class: "Don't use that mat. Thank you. Put that mat away and get a blue yoga mat, thank you" She'd put us through a small sequence (ie Warrior I to Warrior III) and say "Thank you" like she was Elvis or something ("Thankyehverhmush"). She also was into this same strange, new alignment for Warrior I with the back foot facing forward instead of angled back. I was beginning to think I had missed something about alignment in Yoga Journal last month. The end of the class was a little wishy-washy, where she let us do whatever we wanted without descrete guidance into Savasana. We could do bridge, we could do plow, we could do modified pigeon, we could lay on our backs, we could to whatever made us comfortable. I suppose this was an attempt to help us own our practice, but it came across as "I don't know how to wrap things up, so you go ahead", and most of us just floundered, lemmings that we are, without the direction. She opened and closed practice with an "Om", and I swear I was the only one who joined in (and I am NOT an "Om-y" type of practitioner). Then again, with the mic on, maybe the sounds of everyone else's Om was drowned out. I left the class feeling stretched and relaxed, but a little confused.
So, readers, moral of the story: keep an open mind. ON the mat and OFF the mat. Honor your instructor's practice. If you take away at least something positive from a less-than-ideal practice, let it be this: feel fortunate that your spirit led you to the mat, be grateful that your body had the strength to practice, and be thankful that your mind was willing to guide you. Namaste.
The light in me sees the light in you and recognizes the source of this light to be the same. We are all connected - Yogic philosophy
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