Gonna be the best day.

When you wake up to the news that your best friends water broke and an hour later a new baby who you already love like your own has entered the world, fast and furious? You just know its going to be a great day. I started sobbing before I got out of bed and left her some sort of slobbery incoherent message. God its good to love someone as much as you love yourself. My heart is just so full and I cannot wait to meet this little one who I have already loved for 9 months. A BABY! Welcome earth side sweet one. You were much anticipated and much loved long before you arrived.


So many thoughts on last night. It was my first class at a true yoga studio, not a gym or Y or crossfit gym with a yoga studio in it. A studio. A place which only teaches yoga, and one with people who are very, very dedicated yogis. MAN, is it different.

You  know, I was nervous. I practiced hard, starting Monday. I spent another hour Tuesday, and another 45 minutes or so while simmering the soup and supervising the creation of a monster box homework project. Kitchen floor Mom yoga is cool. I got there early, had a playlist on my phone and back up CD burned, and felt ready. After the great news about Jake I had perspective. This was just yoga. Not cancer, yoga!

The kicker I think was that I was subbing for Sue, of course. Her people are like cult followers, they love her and she loves them (count me in that bunch, of course) and so I knew that word would get back to her about "how it went". I knew that they would be kind, but honest, too. So, me being me, of course I want Sue to hear good things, because I want her to know that I'm trying hard to be the best teacher I can be. Things I did well? Have a plan. Plan some creative and fun sequences. Engage with the class like she does ~ they love banter and some call outs and being teased, and after a bit of a warm up emotionally, we got there. All good.

What I should have done better? Watch the class. It is SO HARD doing a power flow while calling a power flow (serious cardio workout, I was drenched). I didnt do a good enough job of watching my students, as I had these complicated sequences and I was concentrating to keep everything straight and to move things quickly there for the first 50 or so minutes like she does. This was the biggest error I made, in retrospect. I didnt do the physical assist she ALWAYS does at the end……because I'm NOT sue and I don't do it. So there was that ~ I tried to give them a lot of what Sue does but also do a lot of what I do….in other words, be authentic yet still give them what I know that they want?

This is one of the biggest challenges in teaching, for me. How to be authentic when you know your students are seeking a very specific thing. Just like I wouldn't teach a restorative practice to people showing up for an Ashtanga class, how do I be Melissa when people are showing up for Sues class? Then again, they all did know that Sue was going to be away, so should I just have 100% have done my 100% own thing? This is such a fine line. Truth is my teaching in power yoga is very similar to Sues (Or, would be, I guess? I don't really teach it right now) as she is far and away my favorite power yoga teacher. Her classes taught me how terribly bored I was with Baptiste flow. So, yes, she IS who I emulate as a teacher. She is my mentor for a reason.

I can also say that it is so, so SO much easier to teach seasoned yogis who are all at essentially the same level. Its crazy to just say a phrase or even a single word and have the entire class move as one! Wow! I have never been more grateful for Sue for urging me to try to get a job at the Y….she was so right ~ If you can teach beginners you can teach anyone. Learning how to watch my class and use my words and truly TEACH people yoga has not gotten me to the place that when what happened last night CAN happen I think that I go a little hog wild with it (my mistake) and got so busy enjoying leading them around a practice that I slipped a little in truly watching and cueing specifically TO them, as they didn't seem to need it….yet they still did, of course. I'm sure had I paid closer attention I could have adjusted SOMETHING, be it my pacing or my cues or scaled something down or up in reps. I got a few new sequences out of the gig, and I get to do it again tonight…..my goal being to teach my balance poses better and to watch the class better.

And THE BABY! Today I get to hold someone who was just born. I can't wait.

(I also do walkthrough #3 with both of my parents. I can't buy a house without them seeing it. I already know that my Mom will point out every single negative and my Dad will probably just say "Its a great house, its a big decision, you guys know best" and that will be that). But, you never stop being your parents child on some level, and when you love and respect your parents, even if you think that you know what they are going to say, you want their wisdom before making big decisions. )

Teaching is so wonderful and so HARD! I came home so amped up last night (class was from 7:15-8:30) that I couldn't fall asleep. Large amounts of chocolate had to be called in, because you know how that helps with sleep!

*new breakfast accidental win: quinoa. I have too much cooked plain quinoa in the fridge and while the kids oats were cooking this morning I thought? Quinoa? So I chunked up a banana I had in the fridge to keep it from becoming a fruit fly beacon as it was aging poorly, threw in raisins and slivered blanched almonds, and then poured a tiny bit of vanilla extract in along with vanilla almond milk and cinnamon. I was going to microwave it but it looked so tempting just the way i twas that I ate it cold. Delicious. Give it a try!

When you go to a class and see a sub do you get excited and hope to experience something different? Or do you hope that the sub teaching just like the usual teacher? Thoughts? I feel like I already touched on this in "The Walkout"……but that was all about that flopping about lady and her water shoes ~ I will never forget those damn shoes.