Are you connected?

Dearest Yoga Teachers of the World,

This one is for you.

Stop. Pause. Think about why you are here. Why are you teaching? Consider the offerings you’ve made to your classes. The words that you speak. Do they connect with the actions of the room? Do they align with the behaviors outside of the space in which you teach?

More often than I’d like to admit, I take yoga classes or see postings on social media of yoga teachers and the photos of the space and students in which they are teaching. You’re telling the room to find intention, to connect with the breath, to be in the moment, to absorb the surroundings… and then FLASH! The camera goes off.

Do me a favor. Put the camera down. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Be the yoga.

How can we ask our students to be so vulnerable, to connect to the mat, to be in the practice and then create a behavior that does not support those offerings? I, too, get excited when my classroom is full. I, too, get excited when I see a student that has been working so hard on a posture and finally accesses it. I, too, want to capture the moment. I, too, want to gloat and be prideful of all the beauty that is being created inside of this incredible sacred space. But, isn’t that contradictory to the teachings of yoga?

Yoga is about connection. Not connection to the outside world. Not connection to the stimuli that electronics create. It’s not about social media and self-promotion. Yoga is about connecting, intentionally to the mind, to the body, to the breath... to the individual. Yoga is about creating a safe space for students to put down the armor, soften the grip on the sword, and to really explore as it serves the student on any given day. How can we expect students to feel safe and to explore the teachings of yoga if we don’t support those efforts?

Students, I see you. I see you showing up. I see your exploration. I see your efforts. I see your empowered decision making. I see you… but I don’t see you for ME. I see you for YOU. You aren’t here in this space to impress me. You aren’t here to show me what you can and can’t do. You aren’t here to apologize if you don’t move fast or if you wobble or if you can’t do something. You are here for YOU… and I’m here for you, too. I will celebrate your successes if you wish… I will celebrate your shortcomings if you wish… I will giggle excitedly with you. I will hold you [consensually] as you shed a tear. But most of all, I will guide you, challenge you, support you, and continue to create a non-judgmental, inclusive space where you get to move as you wish. The practice of yoga is more than the photos captured on social media. It’s more than the movement created in class. Yoga is a feeling of growth, learning, opportunity… yoga is for the individual and your needs.

Put the phones down. Turn the watches off. Let go of the constant stimuli of the world and be here.

Right here.

Right now.

… sit in the boredom and embrace what you get to learn.

And, my dearest yoga teachers, if you insist of taking photos of your classroom as they move to celebrate the students that show up… that’s ok, too. Just considering why you’re doing it.. is it for you? or is it for them?…. and for the love of all things, get consent and do not capture savasana. Allow savasana to be the moment where your students get to absorb the practice and to move towards stillness… to be vulnerable and untouched.