A Student Just Again

I was humbled by my final class on the last Saturday of 2011. So many wonderful yogis came to support the ending of this chapter in my life. My emotions began to overwhelm me as I made eye contact with everyone in the room. This simple gesture, done so many times before, this time, created the same nervousness as the first time I ever led a yoga class.

The room was warm, the faces comforting, and the breath like an ocean's symphony through the entire class. I didn't want it to end as the hour and a half flew by too fast, as always. At the end of class, while we all laid in the final resting pose of Savasana, I realized that I never once moved moved off my mat. Perhaps a symbol of the transition into the new phase of becoming just a student again. Not leaving the secure space on my mat, and moving according to the instruction of the teacher's words. We are all students and our own teachers, and I'm thankful for all of my mentors, especially my children. Which role do you play now, a student, as teacher or both?

I recently came across this quote, “Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) that flowed through me with tears, capturing the last five years of me teaching yoga, and why there must be change and time to continue to grow. Opportunities come and go, and it's our choice to decide which to cease and when to do so. Respect and gratitude again for your kindness in teaching me so much about yoga, patterns, breath, public speaking, life and beyond! ~ Petra