Just a heads’ up to my students that Monday evening’s yoga class (formerly known as Yoga Foundations) has a new name: Yin Yang.

If you’re like - ok, so what? No need to read further - it’s not necessarily going to feel like a completely new class. In fact, my regular students likely won’t notice much difference at all.

Basically, I’m changing the name (and description) so it more closely aligns with what I am actually teaching in the class, rather than what I thought I would be teaching. When I designed the Yoga Foundations class, just over two years ago, it was meant to be a beginner class that broke down basic yoga poses and zeroed in on alignment. I thought I needed to teach this type of class, and I also expected this is the type of class I would feel most comfortable teaching.

I was wrong, on both counts.

First, approaching yoga in this way - even though it’s the way I was taught - feels too technical to me. I don’t give hands-on adjustments (thanks to Covid) and I don’t like interrupting the flow of the class to stop and start and demo and point out things. So, even though it is an excellent - and probably the best - way to teach beginner yoga, it’s not the way I teach. I tend to stay at the front of the room, moving through the poses with my students. I do give lots of cues and instructions and options, for sure, but I’m not teaching alignment so much as teaching to listen to your body and do what feels good for you.

Second, and this is likely true of many yoga teachers, what I thought I would love teaching and what I actually DO love teaching turned out to be two different things.

My favourite class to teach is probably Yin/Restorative - which as a new student felt too slow for me, but as I went deeper into my practice, turned out to be truly transformative. I LOVE sharing this practice with others because I know how magical it can be. It is one of the best hours of my week.

I also love teaching Hatha Flow classes, which are the opposite of Yin/Restorative, because that is how I fell in love with yoga in the first place. The sun salutations, the warrior poses, the balancing, and the connection of movement to breathe all spoke to me. However, I wasn’t planning on ever teaching a flow class when I started, because I couldn’t for the life of me understand how anyone could practice flow and talk at the same time! Now, I wouldn’t give up my Saturday morning Hatha Flow class with my students for the world. It’s the perfect beginning to my weekend, and I hope my students feel the same way.

I also have been teaching seniors Chair yoga and gentle Hatha yoga every week for over a year, and have developed a huge respect for the people I teach and the way the practice can help them. Teaching seniors (and by that I mean 55+ anywhere up to 80-somethings) has challenged me to learn new ways to plan lessons while helping people regain - and keep - more mobility, flexibility, and strength in their lives. I walk out of these classes with a huge smile on my face every week, feeling I learned as much - if not more - as my students did.

All that’s not to say every class is wonderful…most teachers will tell you there are classes you feel like you hit it out of the park and others where you feel you messed up completely. But the overall feeling I have after each of the above-mentioned classes is that I did my best for my students, and they got something out of it.

I didn’t feel this way about my Yoga Foundations class, though. I always felt like I wasn’t teaching what I promised. I’ve had so many students come and go from this class, and I was feeling like I failed to deliver what they expected. But it didn’t feel right to change what felt right to teach to what I thought I should be teaching.

Instead, over the past weeks, I’ve shifted even deeper toward what feels right to me, which is a blend of my two favourite classes - yin and flow. This is the basis of a Yin Yang class (hence the new name) - balancing the two types of energy in our bodies, the cool and the warm, the slow and the fast, the passive and the energetic.

Right away, this felt perfect to me - starting with long, slow, deep holds, eventually working our way up into a series of standing and balancing poses, then cooling down with relaxing, restful stretches. As I said, my regular students - the ones who have stuck with me in this class for over a year - would probably say “you’ve always done this.” And you’re right, I have - but I was beating myself up over it because I certainly wasn’t teaching “yoga foundations”. And beating myself up every Monday is not what I want to do or how I want to feel as a yoga teacher.

I am a strong believer in listening to one's intuition, and my intuition has been telling me for some time that trying to fit myself into this mold I had tried to create was not working. Even the name - "Yoga Foundations" - suggested a straightforward approach that never felt right to me. I tend to plan my classes organically, based on how my body is feeling on any given week, how my mind is feeling, what is going on internally and externally in my life, and what is happening in the world. It's less of a "building blocks" approach and more about discovering what feels good for you, and doing more of that. So I either had to keep pushing myself to be something I'm not, or break the mold and start doing what feels right to me. So that's what I've done.Just a heads’ up to my students that Monday evening’s yoga class (formerly known as Yoga Foundations) has a new name: Yin Yang.

It’s still a perfect class for beginners - and I welcome you whether you’ve never taken a yoga class in your life, or if you’re an experienced yogi. The difference is, if you have your hand too low in Triangle pose and refuse to use a block, I’m not going to correct you.

Instead, I will gently remind the class it doesn’t matter how low you go, it’s more important to open your heart space, which might mean not folding so deeply and maybe using support under your hand…but if you continue to choose to glue your hand to the floor, I’ll leave that up to you and remind you to keep breathing.

It’s simply a different approach to teaching beginners and one that feels more comfortable for me. I never enjoyed the feeling of being “corrected” in class, yet I know some people want and expect that. And I admit I’ve learned some important lessons from senior teachers who have physically adjusted me in this way - sometimes rather vigorously! It’s an excellent way to teach beginner yoga, and much of what I learned is now ingrained in my practice. However, it is not the way I best teach, or feel comfortable teaching.

I would rather let you do you, and if that means closing your eyes, breathing, and not watching me at all, I’m all for it.
For me, yoga is about a feeling - not about where you are placing your hand or foot. Obviously, I don’t want my students to hurt themselves, and I keep a close eye no matter what or who I’m teaching to make sure someone is not in danger of injury. I want my students to feel comfortable and supported to discover what their bodies need on any given day.

So, this is a really long-winded explanation of how I am going to teach this class, going forward, and why I changed the name. If you’re a beginner who responds to detailed instruction, hands-on adjustments, repetition, and watching demonstrations before trying something yourself - it might not be what you are looking for.

But if you’re like me, and appreciate learning while doing, going with the flow, responding to your inner voice rather than outer stimulation, and simply want to feel a beautiful balance of softness and strength in your body and mind on Monday evenings, please feel free to join me for Yin Yang from 7:00 - 8:00 pm.

Namaste,

Lynne