Om is where the heart is...

In Teacher Training class last night, one of our cohort asked about "Om" as an opening to a yoga practice.  "Do we *have* to Om?", she asked.  Thankfully, the answer was, "No....", but you could tell the next suggestion was going to be "but it would be nice if you did....."
As someone who has taken the bulk of my yoga classes over the last 8 years in a gym setting, with mixed-levels, and 55 minute classes, "Om" hasn't really been part of my practice.  Very rarely is Om chanted in this type of setting.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Om-ing - When a teacher at the studio starts or ends her practice with an Om, I happily join right in.  I just don't think I'm at the place yet, as a teacher, where I am comfortable leading the start of my class with an Om.  Oh, and then there's the fact that the class that I teach is a free 30 minute class afterschool in middle school where I work.  I've barely gotten up the courage to touch my colleagues during posture assists, let alone ask them to chant with me.  Plus, the class is just 30 minutes...Ain't nobody got time for that!
Even still, just because I'm not there "now", doesn't mean that I'll never do it.  I'll admit to practicing the Om in the shower (at our Teacher Trainer's suggestion!), and it doesn't sound so bad.  I know that a yoga practice is about establishing a mind-body- spirit connection, and Om definitely helps to foster that.  I just think I need a little more time.

"...beginning our practice with an Om:  Inhale deeply.....and.....Ooooooohhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm" - me, in the shower.