I enrolled in yoga teacher training over 2 years ago and, soon after, started teaching a little bit here and there, mostly to family, friends, and neighbors. Last January, I embarked on my own weekly gig, a beginner’s mat-based class at a local dance space, Yoga at the Lindy Lab. This is when my REAL education began. Here are six lessons I’ve learned in my freshman year of teaching.
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Careers
You Call This Yoga?
Last night, I joined Howie Shareff at the Urban Ministries women’s shelter in downtown Raleigh where he conducts a yoga class two evenings a month. This was my first experience with You Call This Yoga (YCTY), a non-profit organization helping physically challenged and under-served communities improve their lives with yoga. I, myself, have practiced yoga on and off for many years, taking classes at local studios and occasionally traveling to a yoga workshop or retreat. This year, after retiring from IBM, I “took the plunge” and completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training. Howie is the founder and executive director of YCTY and I was there to shadow him—observe and learn—and, eventually (hopefully) lead some of his community classes.
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Going Back to Go Forward
This was the first time I stepped foot onto the IBM campus since I retired, a place where I had spent more than 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year, for 20+ years. I was invited to attend a retirement party for a colleague and friend, which was held on-site in one of the larger conference rooms. In fact, it was the exact conference room where I held my own retirement party last July, and I was going back to help her celebrate.
My friend was retiring voluntarily and very happy about it. I was forced to retire as part of a resource action (or down-sizing, or lay-off, depending on the phrase of the day) and I was making the best of it. Not surprisingly, I had mixed feelings leaving IBM and now I had mixed feelings going back. Wasn’t sure if it would be sour grapes, regret, longing, relief.
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