If you are a practicing Ashtangi, I send you my moon day greetings. If you aren't a practicing Ashtangi, well, I send you them anyway, since a new moon does not cease to be a new moon just because one doesn't practice Ashtanga. Being an Ashtangi does not a new moon make :-)
Wait, was that last sentence even coherent? I don't know, really; I don't have the time to analyze that now anyway. Perhaps the lower energy level brought about by the new moon has caused me to lose some analyzing power/energy. And perhaps this lower energy level is compounded by the lack of practice today...
Well, a little confession is in order here: Actually, I "cheated" this morning, and did a mini-practice consisting of a couple of hip openers, and three Surya As and three Surya Bs, just because I'm actually teaching my class this evening, and I just can't walk in and teach a class with my body all tight and stiff. Of course, if I were a little more evolved, this wouldn't matter. After all, the teacher is not supposed to do or demonstrate any postures while teaching; he/she is only supposed to use verbal instructions to guide the students through the class, ala Sharath and Guruji. But I always find myself having to demonstrate something at some point during the class; especially in a beginning class, where people may not know what's going on. But perhaps this is just an excuse on my part: I'm sure the best teachers are those who can get even an absolute beginner into whatever posture they need to get into by using only verbal instructions. Some years ago, I remember reading something by Maty Ezraty, in which she says that she never demonstrates anything in her classes, even if her students ask her to, because demonstrating postures puts one at greater risk of injury, no matter how warm one might be.
I have to keep this in mind. In the meantime, I will try my best not to do/demonstrate too much in my classes. Maybe someday I'll get to the point where I can just sit on a bar stool at the front of the class and give out perfectly intelligible instructions from there. In the meantime, well, I'll do my best with what verbal abilities I have.
Maybe I'll throw this out there as a question to all of you yoga teachers in the blogosphere: In your classes, do you demonstrate postures and/or practice along with your students? If so, how much of this do you do? What are your views on demonstrating and practicing along with your students? I'll love to hear what you have to say.
Wow, blogging is such a wonderful thing: I started this post intending only to rant about my low level of energy on new moon days: Look where I am now. I suddenly found new energy just by blogging and thinking through things as I blog ;-) More power to blogging!
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