During my last two years of high school, I woke every weekend morning at 5:30 and followed Raquel Welch's smiling face and limber body in wonderfully photographed asanas. I did this until "tree" became my favorite way to stand. I would take my first class in college, and then another more disciplined class several years after that, walking the 12 blocks to the community center no matter the weather. I began with Iyengar and continued with Iyengar until I challenged myself to Ashtanga. Ashtanga pushed me beyond my limitations and when I found myself exhausted in class, I learned the profound release of my breath, guiding me into a place so ethereal that my practice became ecstatic. I also learned to be patient with myself and to honor my body's limitations and expansions. Eventually, I would learn to move between traditions, even challenging myself to a weekend of Forest Yoga. The weekend of Forest Yoga gave me the gift of the use of my right hip without pain (a year later the pain has not returned) and the space to use my voice in public the way I use it privately or on the beach in Brasil: to unlock and release emotion and wounds attached to my muscles and skeletal structure. After years of an intermittent practice (at best), I began a continuous practice and decided to become certified to teach. I discovered that I loved yoga not only because it saved my life, but because it gave me an opportunity to help others. To say becoming certified made it easier to practice would be untrue. It made it harder. Now, I was responsible for other people. Even after years of practice, not all the asanas are familiar to or feasible for me. Injuries, hormones, body structure all mean that my body has changed. The full lotus I could do at 15 or 25 is not possible now because of that right hip. However, continuous practice has ensured (for now) that the right hip does not pop up at a right angle when I sit. Does it make me unqualified to teach yoga? No. It does make me human. In some ways, it makes me a better teacher. I teach classes for beginners, sometimes with people who have skills so varied that each requires individual attention. I love this way of teaching, however. It gives me the opportunity to develop more patience and compassion, and to also learn how to address individual needs while maintaining the energy of the whole group. Moreover, it gives me an opportunity to help students delve into each asana at a rate that enables them to know it fully as a meditation on their own lives while on the mat. If not for yoga, I would be unable to walk or breathe or work through many of the issues that were trapped in my body for centuries or just yesterday. Yoga, combined with a meditation practice, has enabled me to remain centered in the midst of chaos and to remember that all things are temporary, that there is a counter asana to balance every asana completed. Yoga has helped me remember that sometimes it appears that we are moving in opposing directions when in fact we are simply learning to stand still and understand the placement and connection of all things.
To learn more or to schedule an appointment, please contact me at: abegunde@abegunde.com
