Sunday, April 08, 2007

Issues or practice?

This week, in addition to my own classes, I also taught Eric’s two basic ashtanga classes. I like teaching but it is also like practice, not the same every time. So, some days it goes really well, I feel like the class is in harmony, but some days it feels like something is off… On Tuesday morning, it was the first time I was teaching Eric’s class so I was a bit nervous even tough it is much easier to teach ashtanga since most people already know what asana comes next… I was nervous because people who came to that class met me for the first time and they were kind of “himmm, who is this?” Then, one of them thought I was a foreigner, and spoke to me in English until I replied to her in Turkish. Sometimes, I think that a lot of people here trust foreigners to be expertise in whatever they do more than our own nationals, which is kind of sad. This is the same in everything not just in yoga, which is just flowering in Turkey. My sister would come across the same problem in photography, someone would get all the jobs just because he was an American… but you know what, I really want to be a good teacher, and I will become one. no need to consider my nationality, especially since I do not give a damn about having one… I believe in being a world citizen! Where this all came from now? Sometimes I wander off a bit too much…
On Thursday evening, a guy who usually comes for the gentle class joined my class. He had such hard time during down dogs I felt really anxious. I kept saying “please go to child pose if you are getting too tired”… I donnu what else I could have suggested. I guess I have to learn not to feel so bad when someone is having hard time. It is a process, right? I used to have hard times with some of the asanas which are no problem for me now, and I have hard time with some others now i.e. Bakasana , which will eventually be no problem at one point…
Yesterday, I was telling mom that Sharon Gannon told us during the workshop that if one has problems with Vrksasana (tree pose) or Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana or any standing balance asanas, that indicates that they have unresolved issues with their parents. Of course, mom went on to say “ I don’t understand you (meaning me and my sister), you always have a problem with us, other people’s kids, bla bla bla…” I really cannot stand sentences with OTHER PEOPLE’S KIDS. It is just ridiculous and uckily, I never remember saying “other people’s parents…” But Sharon was talking to the whole class which consisted from 30 people not only me. Anyways, the curious thing for me is I have no problem with Utthita Hsstga Pdangusthasana anymore (yes, I used to have before) since I do it everyday but when I am asked to do another kind of standing balance then I have a problem… so what does this tell? Is it really issues with parents or just practicing the same asana regularly?

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