This Moment To Be Free

i teach yoga because i love yoga, and one of the reasons i love yoga is the neverending flow of experience and learning that comes with this practice on so many levels.

this past week i have been reflecting on the seemingly contradictory aspects of a yoga class – that of sangha, or community and soul, the individual as her own best teacher.

when people come to practice yoga together, a sangha, a spiritual community, is created – even if it is for only a short time each week, when we practice this beautiful and ancient art together we are a community. it is for this reason that teachers ask our students to chant om together at the beginning and end of class, and to all move in the same direction, or to lie with their heads facing in the same direction – to my understanding, this facilitates the energy of the sangha to join more completely in unison.

however, there is another equally powerful aspect of practice where we learn that our bodies, our own souls are our own best teachers and that the teacher herself is only a guide through the practice. in integral yoga, especially, we are taught to take what works and leave the rest  – that what the teacher says is always and only a suggestion and guide – and i love this freedom and honoring of the individual and her own needs at all times.

so in the end, we as teachers say what we feel and know will support the sangha and at the same time we honor each  individual’s choices within that structure…i teach knowing that everything i say is a way of guiding students in their own personal practice — i teach from my heart to serve each individual and to serve the sangha, the community spirit of each class. Each student must do what is right for her and each teacher must strive to create the most peaceful and joyful sangha possible.

om shanti, om peace.