Words flowed more easily out of me.

I also was having a tough day, dealing with a family emergency, and I found that teaching yoga not only helps me because I am being of service but it also helps me since I am listening to what I am saying! And yogic teachings are quite powerful, quite inspiring and helpful.

One big "aha" moment for me was when I realized that I not only had to make class interesting and inspiring for students, but that I also had to make it interesting and inspiring for myself, since I was in class too!

Highlights:

I noticed that whenever I take a class and we do a bunch of urdhva dhanurasanas back to back to back, say 4-5  in a row. I get a little tight and tired. So I have been playing around with doing one or two, then detouring into virasana country, doing some hip openers and twists, then back to the floor and again doing more backbends. It takes good planning but I think it's worth to softly open up the students instead of cramming a bunch of backbends back to back (no pun intended.) I did this today and I thought it was effective. I also like to throw in restorative poses in a mixed level class again as a way of opening the students in a more sattvic way, less rajasic...

Something to work on:

I had a small class and whenever I get a small class a part of me, probably a contracted part of me, feels scared and wonders if I am a good enough teacher! Of course whenever I have a big class I never go through my existential angst.

Off to bed.