Now that I am semi-retired, I only teach yoga on Zoom from my own home. It’s convenient, easy, and still rewarding. However, in the 10+ years of my yoga career, I had the delight (and challenge) of teaching classes in some unusual places. In fact, thinking back, I realize that I never once taught a class in a place that was an official studio dedicated to yoga.
I guess I was somewhat prepared for this. I took my teacher training with Yoga Legacy at a local gym and there was always a lot of non-yoga activity going on outside our exercise room. Then, before I began teaching, I shadowed Howie Shareff of You Call This Yoga as he led a small group of women at the Urban Ministries shelter in Raleigh (described in another blog). This experience opened my eyes to how you can achieve the benefits of yoga in varied and unusual settings. And so it began…
Dance studio and conference rooms
I taught my own classes for several years at the Lindy Lab dance studio in RTP. While yoga studios typically have all the open space and the accessories your students need, setting up at the dance studio was different. I had to bring all the gear (mats, props, blankets, my own music, and speakers) and move tables, benches, and chairs. Of course, I also had to put everything back in place after class.
It was much the same when I taught yoga at the Grove Park Community Center and in several different conference rooms as part of Duke’s LIVE FOR LIFE employee fitness program. Bring it in, clear space to set it up, break it down, and haul it back home. Despite this, everything in between was “yoga as usual”.
Assisted-living facility
Chair class at the Spring Arbor assisted-living facility in Durham required no prep; the Activity Director arranged the common room before I arrived. Plus, I didn’t use background music because of hearing issues with that population, which also included people from their memory-care unit. This was another learning opportunity for me.
Everyone entered with a cane, a walker, or by wheelchair and fell into three distinct groups. Some participated as best they could, some just watched me like I was a TV show, and some (in what we called the deep medication section) slept through the entire class. My challenge was to find a way they could understand the movements and poses, I used names such as: open the curtains, polish the table, make a rainbow, ride a horse.
Library? Hospital? Art museum?
Yup. Working for Duke, I also got to lead one-off classes at these unique places; two of which were part of their Employee Appreciation program.
Library: I once subbed for an ongoing class in a library that was part of the Duke University Press offices. Yoga between the bookshelves? Why not? It was quiet and cozy. The participants came with their own mats and managed to find room to spread out. All good!
Hospital: One employee appreciation event was at the Duke Regional Hospital in No. Raleigh where I led several rounds of 15-minute chair sessions in a break room next to the ER. The staff, in their scrubs, many with their stethoscopes still on, sat down and took a welcome break to relax, breathe, and stretch…before they helped themselves to a table full of food and beverages. I hoped it reduced some of the stress when they resumed their shifts.
Museum: The other employee appreciation event was at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. I wore a microphone and led class from the stage in the center of the main hall. At first, I was nervous being in such a focused spotlight, and then I recognized several people smiling up at me–all Duke employees who were friends or students from other classes. I took a deep breath, got down on my mat, and began. As a bonus, we all got commemorative shirts to keep.
An ecolodge in Morocco
NextTribe is my favorite all-women travel company. On a trip to Morocco, our group stayed in a lovely ecolodge in Ait Bougmez, which had a long, narrow yoga room with blankets, mats, and a raised platform on one end.
We gathered there one morning to warm-up our bodies before our hike. The best part was the scenic view from the large windows of the High Atlas Mountains. Sigh.
Backyard putting green
It was the reunion of my NextTribe travel buddies from our Vietnam trip that provided the most unexpected place to lead a yoga class.
Our gracious host lives in Phoenix, AZ and her new house just happens to have a 3-hole putting green with artificial turf right in her yard. The weather was beautiful, the palm trees swayed in the breeze, the friendship was strong, and I had a hole right nearby to use as a cup holder for my drink. Who could resist? We all felt awash with gratitude.
Can you think of crazier places to teach or take a yoga class? If so, please share.
accidental goddess 