Reflection- Day 11 of the Self-Care Challenge

Today, I taught my first class at the rec center as a paid professional. I was hired to take over the Adaptive & Inclusive Yoga class. And I can honestly say that the experience was life changing.

The class is geared toward people who have a disability, either physical or intellectual. And today, I had 5 students.

I walked in with a plan. I walked in with a scripted meditation and soothing playlist. I had sequences mapped out for different scenarios and had Plans A-Z in my back pocket.

I used none of it.

I had emailed the previous teacher asking for any advice she had for leading the class and she said to be adaptable.

So, I was adaptable.

Each student had a different disability and each were interested in doing different things. When leading a yoga class, I am teaching one sequence to one class. Today, it felt like I was teaching a bunch of mini-classes.

We practiced pranayama. We did some chair yoga. We flowed through a warrior sequence. We rolled around in happy baby for a while. I even introduced some qi-gong.

Through it all, there were smiles. We laughed. But what really shifted everything for me was the engagement. There were moments where I would lock eyes with a student and they would go quiet while trying to mirror my action. They were getting it. They wanted to be there. It wasn’t just something someone was making them do (like when I force my kids to go to summer camp). We connected.

Was the class chaotic? Absolutely. But that didn’t change the fact that we were practicing yoga and learning about mindfulness.

Yoga students come in all shapes and sizes, and so do yoga teachers. We all have our own journeys to walk and what I find beautiful is we can be on different journeys but walk the same path. Today, they were my students and I taught them new ways to breathe and move their bodies. But they were also my teachers, reminding me of the value of adaptability, the healing power of laughter, and how precious a moment of connection is.

I can’t wait to get back in the classroom and teach again next week.