Being A Human Teaching Hot Yoga.

Yeah... I was taught a precise dialogue 12 and a half years ago when I went to Bikram Yoga Teacher Training.

I had anxiety the first two weeks about being able to remember every syllable of every posture. Then I quickly learned a memorization technique and dropped those worries.

Plus, many of us were preoccupied with the verbiage coming out of a short yoga guru's mouth to give a fuck about not remembering every single word.

But I don't mean to digress...

I was taught a dialogue. I was encouraged to use it when I taught classes the three to four times a week I did for the first year after training.

Then I dropped the dialogue.

Mostly because I didn't teach. Not regularly again for 11 years.

The current studio, where I teach a 7am on Saturday mornings. 

And I still don't use the dialogue. Not in full. I take a lot of liberties. And I make sure to point out things that the dialogue alludes to, but doesn't expressly say. Things that I learned on my own from my practice - and also from senior teachers with whom I have taken class.

I make sure to encourage students to warm up before they go into a pose. Like Triangle...

"Arms over your head sideways, and step out the the right... Feet should be under where your hands are. Right foot toes out. Bend the right knee and gently bounce into it. Warm up that knee and that hip flexor. Figure out what is happening with it. Then when you are ready, turn the palms and windmill the arms. Stretch down to stretch up more. Hand should be stretching in opposite directions. Simultaneously, Right arm is pushing right knee back, and left arm is turning and twisting to the left. Two arms are stretching up and down and pushing away from each other to open up the chest."

Definitely not dialogue. 

I'm actually teaching the class. Not just reciting words.

I teach the class I would want to take. 

So I open the doors a lot.

And refrain from sounding like a robot. Or being a robot.