'Hey! you don't look up to see who is around, huh?', said Parvathy as I was walking back from my apartment's gym. Then, I stopped by to say hello to her in the courtyard where she sat with couple other ladies for an evening walk and chat (little did I knew that this conversation with her will change my yoga practice for life). Parvathy, late 30's..very vibrant and joyful personality, always ready to help anyone in the apartment, has a big heart - she asked me, what do i do at the gym? and my answer was - cardio, some weights and abs. She continued to ask, so how many times do u workout in a week? and I said - maybe 2-3 time and rest I combine it with yoga practice. I could see her amazed face and she continued, complained about her back pain and said the gym instructor whom she has hired is not helping much on her back. So me being me, on giving health advice to everyone whom I come across, said, ' why don't you try yoga?'. With a sad face, she said - 'oh! where will i look for one yoga instructor too now? I would end up lining up instructors at the gym' (laughs!). I found it funny and wanted to help her ..so, immediately told her that I can teach yoga and help her with her back pain. She jumped to this suggestion, was excited and said, 'lets start from this weekend'. Well, i nodded my head and came back home.
I thought she wouldn't be serious and I did not think about it much. On Friday, I get a text message from Parvathy asking if we are still on for a Saturday class. So, I took a moment to register this in my mind and then replied back with an 'yes'. After sometime, I get another message saying there might be couple more ladies who might be interested. I took longer time to reply back this time. This was getting serious. But thought its just one class ... so agreed and I had never taken a class before ..so I had to prepare for the class. The preparation was on Friday night, nothing much - but more around basics and some bit of theory to get them started.
Saturday morning, 7am we all meet at the club house - I see there were more than couple - 10 ladies. I was a bit anxious and was thinking how will I handle all of them.. (half the group I didn't even know them). Got started and took 1hour class with 15mins of relaxation. All of them loved the class...i was surprised by my own capability. I then thanked them and said this was just an adhoc class and I am NO yoga teacher. They encouraged me saying I was good and they wanted to continue the class. So we decided we will do 3days in a week 5am-6m. The second class, I had 20 people and the class continued. I did not charge any fee...so the class was free flow - people joined when they wanted and left when they couldn't make it. But I had consistent students who were equally enthusiastic and interested in practicing yoga and this kept me going.
Its been 2years since I am teaching now and my set of 6-8 regular students continue to keep me going. This schedule has got me to better my practice (i used to get up early for a 5am class and practice before i go to the class), dedication and discipline. This incident actually has helped me find my passion for yoga and has pushed me pursue teacher training, helped me do more advanced stuff.
And just like that I am a YOGar (bostanian accent) Teacher ...... :)
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