Pretty Packages

We've all heard the saying that good things come in small packages. Perhaps that's true, but the older I get the more I think it's a PR/marketing statement. As far as yoga goes, it's right up there with the worse yoga PR ever --> one has to be flexible in order to consider practicing yoga. I'm determined to spend my entire yoga teaching career dispelling both myths.

My latest random train of thought kicked off this morning with a visit to the chiropractor. Though I teach and practice yoga, I am sadly not exempt from having my spine tweak out of alignment on what seems to be a six-month basis. My chiropractor's records show that I appear at her doorstep, without fail, around June and November of every year for the past 6 or so years. (to badly paraphrase John Mayer, my body's a weatherman) But I digress.

My beloved chiropractor was off on vacation so I was treated by her sub. When I called to schedule the appointment this morning the office manager alerted me to the fact that this sub is rather "easy on the eyes" -- a pretty package, if you will. While scoring well on the "hot meter" I wasn't as impressed with his adjustments. I'm sure he's considered capable, but I'm used to Dr. Butera's no nonsense approach that gets me back to near-perfect before I step out the door.

As I got in the car and drove off to get a pumpkin spiced latte at Starbucks (which truly makes everything better), I started thinking about all this in terms of yoga. You don't need to be a "pretty package" to practice yoga. In fact, some of my favorite teachers are the gritty, real, "what you see is what you get" folks. (I fancy myself a member of this grouping) I bet I will never wear a size smaller than an 8 (if that) and my flexibility is limited by the fact that I work at Dell full-time sitting at a desk or in meetings. That's okay with me. I have plenty of my personal journey and learnings to share with my students without going into an advance handstand variation. That's not to say, however, that pretty yoga teachers should be discounted. I know plenty of fellow teachers who look the part, but they are on a true journey and work hard to develop themselves both inside and out.

So my point is don't self-defeat and opt out because your mind tells you that you don't fit into a stereotype. Ignore "the shoulds" and embrace the personal challenge. We all have something to offer and yoga students teach their teachers as much as they are taught. As Seane Corn said to my vinyasa teacher training class at Kripalu last fall, "there is abundance." Damn right there is. :)