Every yoga instructor closes out their class in a different way. Some (like those in gyms) will essentially jump off their mats and tell you to have a nice day. Some will spend a solid 5 minutes sitting in lotus and chanting. The more moderate (read: sane) yoga instructors find that nice middle ground, settling everyone into savasana, allowing a few minutes of stillness to set in, before instructing people to roll onto their right side and push themselves up into a seated position. One of my favorite yoga instructors uses the time between rolling onto your right and pushing yourself up to read a quote. It's usually something simple, something about life or love or how we handle what either throws at us. Just a little something to absorb after a long practice and a peaceful resting pose.
I have been slowly toeing into setting up my own classes and sequences. I've been figuring out how I would explain things and what I would do with my classes and figuring out where I would fall on that spectrum: would I be the bubbly LA gym instructor who essentially has her students do a million crunches and then immediately leave their mat, or would I be the esoteric yogi who only appeals to the absolute nuttos.
One thing I love, however, is the idea of quotes between rolling onto your side and pushing yourself up. You are at your most calm at that point and therefore the most likely to absorb what is being said. One of my yoga instructor teachers suggested buying a journal and filling it with quotes for that very purpose. Which, of course, I did, because every person with an English degree has a downright fetish for little notebooks to write shit in.
It's only been a day and I've already filled five pages of the notebook with various quotes I remember. Quotes that have helped me tremendously in my life and I would want to have help for other's. Because that's the exact type of yoga instructor I want to be: the kind who can benefit her students both physically and mentally. I don't give a flying shit if my students can om or if they know was a tapa is. All I would care about is if they are able to feel a little bit better, a little more peaceful, a little more in shape, and a little more prepare to take what life throws at them.
I'll leave this entry with quite possibly my favorite quote in Spanish (and one of my favorite quotes of any language):
Si nada nos salva de la muerte, al menos que el amor nos salve de la vida.
If nothing saves us from death, at least love can save us from life. -- Pablo Neruda
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