We're All In This Together

Watching the Golden Globes

Day NINE

The antibiotics kicked in just hours after taking them last night.  Instead of coughing for four hours in bed before falling asleep, it took me about an hour last night.  Today, my lungs felt better and I coughed far less.  As a result, I was stronger in today's 5pm class with Danielle than I was in the last two classes.  I managed to do all the poses and didn't feel wiped by eagle or by standing bow.  I had the effort to pull and stretch to touch my forehead in standing separate leg stretching pose.  I drank more water than I normally would and by head to knee pose, I was done.  I didn't have any more energy to stretch in the third part to try and reach my forehead to my toes.

The energy we create is so important in class, which is why we strive as students to move with the words and together.  All the things we do and refrain from doing during our practice contributes to that energy so that we can become a collective whole for 90 minutes.  When one of my teachers wants us to move together, she might say, "Let's ride this wave together!"  Some days the group energy in the room is fantastic and other days we belly flop.  

Tonight, I realized that the teacher also contributes greatly to the energy in the room; together the students and teacher create a synergy. Danielle wasn't her usually playful self.  As she set up her towel on the podium, there was something in the way that she did it that just felt different.  When no one responded to her query if anyone had any injuries, she said, "Great!  It makes my job easier!"  All these things may sound normal to you but if you've practiced with a teacher long enough, you can feel when they have their off days and their on days.  I could tell when one teacher didn't get enough sleep by her frenetic energy which reflected in how she delivered the dialogue.  I could tell when one teacher was nervous and later realized it was because her boss was in the back of the room, practicing and observing her.  Today, Danielle was quieter in her instruction during pranayama breathing.  Just before she gave instruction for balancing stick, she introduced the pose as triangle pose.  And right after locust, she went straight to full bow and it took several students to say to her that we didn't do full locust yet.  These are not criticms but rather an observation that nobody is exempt from bringing into the sweat box the life that happens outside.