Tender Mercies

This just happened. I am officially a certified yoga teacher! Can I say, Hallelujah? It's interesting how time can change things. Two and a half months ago when I completed my 200 required hours of training, I did not necessarily feel ready to teach. However, after a couple of substitute classes under my belt, teaching my husband in the evenings at home, and getting more training in since then, I now feel qualified. Sure, I have tons more to learn, but my sweet teacher Suzette has been teaching for 30 years and she is still humble enough to learn from her students. THAT inspires me and motivates me to be my best self.  When I first began the program and looked at all the books and training manuals I needed to study, never mind the weekend intensives that I was required to attend, I was overwhelmed. For starters, the Sanskrit names for the many yoga poses was intimidating. So, for the first couple of months I didn't really worry about the books. I flipped through t...

The stereotypical yoga image is a tall, slender woman, wearing revealing clothing while balancing in some outrageously impossible pose, or some old guru sitting in a cross-legged position in deep meditation. Luckily this isn't the case, for I will be the first to admit that I have practiced yoga in my pajamas and I'm still working on those ridiculously hard poses. Yoga is something that came into my life right when I needed it the most. It was at a time when I had overused my body in excessive exercise, a time when "the blues" were heading towards deep depression. Yoga was a gift from God that helped me dig deep to find my inner beauty. Yoga was a gift that led me to a place where I could connect with a Greater strength than my own. Yoga was a gift that gave me the opportunity to keep moving and strengthening my body when I had to stop all other forms of exercise. Yoga was a gift that has truly altered and shaped my life for the better.  Two years ago I ...

I love that quote. I'm nearing the end of my 200 hour yoga teacher training, but I do not feel any more qualified to teach yoga than when I began. Strange, isn't it? However, I am grateful to have a teacher who is confident in my progression and has faith in my abilities as I improve each day. Thankfully she gives me opportunities to sub so that I can practice my teaching.  Yesterday I subbed a class with 11 women around my mom's age and older. They were all friendly enough.  Oh how I just wanted to be another body in the room instead of in the front leading the class!  I like to begin my classes with a quote to set the tone for the practice. Quotes are wonderful nuggets of inspiration that most students can somehow relate to.  Yesterday I used the above quote by American-Cuban author, Anais Nin. How ironic it was that the quote really said a lot about how I was feeling in my heart, never mind inspiring the students.  Why can growing be so scary...

Last night I taught my first "unofficial" official yoga class! On Sunday I was asked if I would be willing to do a class for the 16-18 year old girls at church on Wednesday. Although I said yes right away, I was immediately nervous because I hadn't ever taught a class before. I wondered what I would teach, how I would fill up the time, if they would like it, and whether it would be too easy/hard. So many questions filled my mind, but I knew I had to do it, and I was excited nonetheless.  The day before the class, I put together an intermediate flow. I didn't want to make it too simple and slow because I was teaching teenagers and I know that I would have wanted a fast-paced class when I was that age. Here is what we did: Focus for the Class: Energize and Trust Begin in Sukhasana with right leg crossed in front Close eyes and take hands palms down to the knees.  Bring awareness to the breath  Place right hand on naval and left hand on collar bone Breath...

My mind was heavy with emotions as I walked through the parking lot towards the front door. It was a pleasantly warm July afternoon, with temps hovering around 90 F. As I walked into the studio, calm and peace pushed away the weight that was in my mind within a minute of arriving. I knew this was the right direction for me to be going.  A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the dilemma I had over whether or not I should pick up coaching ice skating again. I received so many wonderful pieces of advice, but one that stood out to me was from a dear friend from California. She said, " Honestly Jenessa, my gut is saying not to do it. You're so young and so driven and so talented, I am really curious what you will put your mind to when skating is no longer part of the equation...start expanding your horizons...Good luck." That note really caught me off guard because I thought I had been thinking about all of my options. But then I opened my heart up and dug deep. I realiz...