Okay, so it’s been a couple of weeks now since I started teaching proper. I’ve thrown myself into it with gusto and am doing no less than four (FOUR!!!) classes a week, right off the bat. Crazy girl. Attendance has been low so far, with just three to six people at each class, but it’s early days, right? And I haven’t exactly publicised widely. Or wildly. That’s my plan for the next week. Soooo time consuming though. More time marketing = less time doing yoga. Doh! It’s actually quite nice having a small group as I can get to know people, and they can get to know me. But it will be nice when a few more people start coming. I’ll be able to eat 
There’s been quite a lot of interest – people have good intentions – but I guess it’s hard to drag yourself out of bed in the mornings, esp now it’s getting darker and colder. And doing an after-work class means getting home even later after your commute, especially for the London lot. But it’s amazing how people can make that effort – the gym is usually at its busiest around 7.30am and from 6pm onwards. Often it’s just getting into the habit. I now do yoga every morning from Monday to Friday, from 20 minutes to an hour, and I actually do feel all the better for it. And often the longer I do, the more awake and alive I feel. Go figure.
So why should we make that effort, and how can we find the willpower? I guess the key is visualizing the rewards, the benefits – how much better you’ll feel both immediately after a class and in the long term. Of course, if you’ve never done yoga before, or regularly for any length of time, you’ve only got my word for it ;-/
But common sense tells us that if we don’t do any exercise and have a stressful, demanding job to boot, we’re not doing ourselves any favours, either physically or mentally, right? Sure we cope now, while our bodies are relatively young and healthy, but in five, ten or even 15 years’ time the effects are likely to be noticeable for most of us. I’m not saying yoga is a miracle cure for all ills but paying your body and mind some attention once or twice a week can only be a good thing. And sometimes just knowing that you doing yourself some good can make you feel happier and healthier!
Well, I’m going to persevere with the early morning classes (even though it means getting up at 6.30am to fit my own practice in!) and hope that I can encourage people to give it a go for a few weeks to see if they can get into the habit.
Perhaps I should tell them how pleased they’ll feel with themselves after and how they can spend the whole day feeling smug and delight in telling all their colleagues how they got out of bed really, really early just to do yoga…
