Dear Oprah,
Ok, you all are wondering, laughing, questioning, what the heck is this girl doing? She has changed her name from Laurie Searle to Lady Yoga.
Well here you are, with the explanation extraordinaire.
From a previous blog, I mentioned that there was a dear student who called me a hero for coming in to sub all of these classes that teachers couldn't make because they were sick or stuck in traffic or for other reasons. At first, I was jazzed to teach so many classes. To teach is living my truth, but even for me, teaching can be hard. It's hard to be inspired and come up with the right sequences for the right group if asked to sub on short notice for a level 3, then a gentle class.
It can be draining on the mind and spirit, but the students, oh, the students.
If it weren't for who came into the room with what they needed, it wouldn't get me inspired. For the novice...overwhelming.
But, I would get to a point where I would literally talk to the room and their needs and I would see an invisible rolodex over my head coming up with the sequence I needed for the whole class.
All of these years of teaching privates and in studios and gyms and hospitals and institutions and schools, they come together in instances like this.
It's like improv as an actor. You are given a scene or situation and you are told to go, by yourself or with a group of actors.
As a teacher, as of late, I come often in to classes that aren't my own, where the students aren't used to my voice or style and they are skeptical and nervous as to what I might bring to the mat.
I listen and I am nervous and skeptical as to what I can bring to the mat, but I hear and feel and I see the education over my head like a rainbow and I pull what I can, what I might not have planned, but what I can improvise with the people that have showed up and need what I can give.
This is my life. This is my love. And more than anything else, everyone who comes to my classes, subbed or mine, they know it. And they take what they can. Because it's what I can give.
So, it is here that I channel all those teachers that I have learned from. All those that went before me and when I'm tapped out, I find, Lady Yoga.
Lady Yoga...
Has shoulder length light brown hair that can often be found in high little pig tails.
The colors she dons on her costume represent the chakras (energy centers of the body). Her yoga mat doubles as a cape. She pals around with her Ganesh elephant god, to help remove the obstacles that get in the way of her students reaching the goals they have set for themselves.
She is a woman, in touch with her Shiva, moon and nurturing energy but has a little crystal nose stud on her right nostril to channel the power of the sun, Shakti, male, universal energy and all of the Indian Gods and all of the styles of yoga: Iyengar, Ashtanga, Hatha Vinyasa Flow, Kundalini, Anusara, Vini, Svaroopa, Vinyasa Krama, Power, Gentle, Ayurveda so that she can serve the people in the way they need in the time they need it.
She longs to help people find their own personal strength (and super hero within).
She combs the 405 and 101 like a ghetto bird for those suffering from road rage and tension while driving, sits in the passenger side of your car and helps you get through your commute by breathing techniques and seated stretches you can do while driving.
For those suffering while standing upright for hours a day, she comes to your rescue with stretches and movements you can do to keep you limber and energized. For those suffering from sitting still in florescent lighting all day and getting up only to get a cup of coffee or swap gossip at the loo, she's got stretches and strengthening movements you can do to keep you flexible and open through the day.
Her nemesis is the couch and when she sits down in it, her energy is diminished. She is crippled by the couch but does not fear the couch for the couch is where we can find rest. But the couch is the same place we can lift from and find life, power and strength inside and out. If we only have the power to get out of it and move.
She wears mismatched brightly colored socks and tight black leggings with luon material to keep her movement swift and moisture wicking. You can spot her from miles away, which is helpful if you live on the east coast full of black in wardrobe or west coast where mismatched is unmatched so you can find Lady in a crowd of two.
She has a tiny streak of purple in her hair to represent the crown Chakra of powerful wisdom, intuition and leadership that we all have access to and can channel on our own.
Lady Yoga can help us with this.
Lady Yoga is all of our alter egos. We are all Lady and Lords of Yoga.
Lady Yoga is simply our child like mirror that brings all of our possibility to the forefront.
It is Lady Yoga's mission to find the strength, power, stillness within to reflect our brilliant light and passions throughout. She is driven to make fitness and yoga accessible to all beings everywhere.
For that, Lady Yoga is a super hero.
Nice to meet you,
Lady