Thanking YOU

Reading from Tuesday, November 17, 2015 yoga class

From an article on Elephant Journal entitled "What your yoga teacher is really thinking at the end of class" by Annie Seymour

I have had this article sitting on my desk for a few months.  I am not good with putting into words what I feel, what I think, etc., but I do find other people's words.  It was hard not to break down and cry while I read this to class, but I didn't.  I hope you know how true these words are for me...how perfectly she describes what a privilege it is to teach yoga.    Here goes:

"I left work on a stormy Tuesday night last week, going home in tears.  It happened a lot in my previous career--the pressure and politics and disappointment  became too much and I'd collapse tearfully into an after-work yoga class and hope for answers.  Sometimes I'd notice my teacher looking at me with an unreadable expression and didn't know what that look meant.

Now I do.  Last Tuesday there was no salvation in the studio, no funny look from the teacher because the studio is now my workplace and I'm the teacher.  I was weepy because as I closed up after class, I found a simple anonymous note on the reception table thanking me for the teaching.  Normally, I more collected (I'm British after all) but this came at the end of a tough day and made my heart open up like a sunflower.  I am still trying to get used to living a life where so much kindness is present.  So much goodness, love and thoughtfulness.

Sometimes you tell me at the end of class how much you needed it.  How much better you feel.  The true response would be to throw my arms around you and tell you how much I needed it too--how much better you've made ME feel.  Not just that evening but by collectively and cumulatively and constantly helping me become a better version of myself through this shared experience.

You deserve to know that teaching is not our gift to YOU.  It is your gift to US.  When I say thank you, what I truly am saying is this:

You are such an important part of the journey I too am going through.  For helping me recognize more clearly who I want to be and what I need to work on to get there.  For feeling like a family to me.

I want to tell you that I love it when you come into the studio.  Out of all the things you could do with your spare free time, I deeply respect you for using it in this practice to become a kinder and nicer person for others.  Because the world need more people like you.

Sometimes you come in and apologize that you're feeling stiff or tired--an apology?  As though I would feel anything but an extraordinary privilege that you came.  Maybe you will gain more range of motion and feel more free and light in yourself.  Maybe you won't, but you'll start to recognize the loveliness of who you are and never again introduce yourself with an apology.    Thank you for trusting me and seeing what we can do together.

Sometimes, over regular sessions, I notice a mindfulness settle in, an acceptance of yourself.  Finally, sometimes I realize I am looking at you the way my teacher used to look at me.  What does it mean, that look?  That look is so difficult to define because it combines many things: pride, gratitude, admiration and a sense of protection but with a trust in you to flourish.  A joy in sharing this practice with you and inspiration in what you are teaching to me!!!

So when I thank you, I am not just closing the class.  I am thanking you for bringing these gifts, this form of love, into my life."