A Different Studio, a Different Mat

After six weeks of having returned to Kinoshita Circus, I finally restarted my exercise regimen. It's been a habit to do some asana after the rope jumping and body weight exercises to round out the rough edges and get some active stretching in. (For the record, my main poison is yang yoga sequences and a few other poses.) I was in the state of mind to take advantage of the nice weather, so I did my second set of rope jumping outside and then proceeded to the yang sequences.

The sun was setting. The breeze was blowing. In between yang sequences I briefly bobbed my head to the Fu-Schnickens track that was on my playlist. Through the music, I could hear the sound of the lions roaring in their regular early evening chorus.

As far as studios and mats go, that was a really cool moment. I'm thankful I could have my wits about me enough to take it in and appreciate it. What an experience!

Return to the Petri Dish

Yes, it has been six months since I last wrote. I've grown to be okay with this. The last nine months saw me dealing with a few emotional life events as well as diving into a yoga teacher training program. Now I am finished and certified, but am not currently at home in the Twin Cities. I've returned to Japan to perform on a circus again.

At first I thought, "Great work, Greg: you put this money and time in to undergo teacher training and then you go off to Japan for a year – maybe more – where you won't likely be doing any teaching or subbing of any sort. Smooth." Yes, but there is a big but:

The last time I was in Japan on the circus, I was here for a year. I brought my yoga mat with me, some yoga DVDs, and I'd receive a package with my magazines every couple of months. I never really done a whole lot of self-guided practice and while here, my practice ebbed and flowed. I didn't think I was being very consistent with my practice and I was harshly critical of myself. Once I started shutting the critic up and reading and reflecting on what I'd learned over the years, I realized that I was practicing a little each day, but it wasn't all physical.

I was practicing the reflective and thoughtful aspects of yoga as well. As I did the mental yoga, I was also getting even better at listening to my body when doing the physical yoga. It became clear to me that in this different environment, I was experiencing the deepening of my practice.

And now I'm back. The same sort of reflection and deepening can happen again, but the teaching adds a new dimension to it. The idea of teaching anyone yoga right now is still a daunting one, but I have a huge opportunity for growth: an associate would like me to teach her yoga. She has admitted to having some opinions and personality traits that would make her a challenging student, but to her credit, in asking me to teach her she is rethinking prior experiences and notions. The willingness to do that is a pretty valuable thing for anyone to have.

So here I am again, not in my element, but not necessarily out of it, either. I just need to put in the time.