I Am Not A Woman, I Am Not A Man, I Am….

By Anais on November 11, 2015 • ( 0 )

The Kundalini Yoga teacher’s oath is this:

I am not a woman,
I am not a man,
I am not a person,
I am not myself,
I am a Teacher.

I’ve been thinking about this, and thanking my lucky stars these days because I, or the part of me that is not all of those, but is the last, has been given the opportunity to teach, regularly, and surely!

Last summer I had a booth at the Salish Kootenai College Women4Wellness event held on their campus in Pablo, Montana. It’s a well-attended day-long presentation of opportunities for everyone to interact with local healthcare providers, get needed testings, and be better informed of availabilities. I talked with people passing by my booth about yoga and how it can be a wonderful addition to a personal wellness program. I have a passion for yoga and meditation and am loving this new environment of the acceptability of those activities in aspects of this American life that have previously shunned them – like schools, business, etc.

During the W4W event I heard that the School had lost their yoga teacher, and the last time they had yoga classes was in 2013. As summer moved to fall, I got on my horse and connected with people I had met in administration at the College to ascertain if they would be interested in bringing yoga classes back into the curriculum – and actually, my thinking was just to offer yoga to staff, faculty, and others in the community. Some how the possibility of teaching a credit course to students evaded me. I have to smile about that now because duh…

The School said YES, we would be interested in again offering yoga, and told me what to do – give us a syllabus, we’ll review it, and get back to you. Hum…a syllabus. Oh ya! A college class. I got it together, and the end, or the beginning of that happy story is that I started teaching Fall Quarter, two classes a week. I have a mix of students and faculty/staff. None of my students had ever experienced Kundalini Yoga before the class – but they’ve been very willing, for each of their own reasons, I know, the credits that they need to further their education, or for health, or wellness. It’s so beautiful to watch them tracking with the Yoga.

On Sunday we complete a 40-day practice. I prepared them as best I could for this, but the bottomline is it is a journey of awareness of ourselves on so many levels. What I asked them to do during the 40-days is not so very physically challenging, although the postures can be depending on individual circumstances. There is the commitment to doing, and the lives and activities that the new activity has to be worked into – mentally and emotionally challenging, yes, possibly, and most likely, probably. I can see that each in their own way is making their effort. And that’s heart-warming. I’m doing the 40-days as well. I’ve done several over the years. Each time I take it on, sign on the dotted line, I learn more about myself, and my inner workings.

So here’s to teaching! My thanks to Yogi Bhajan for the teachings of Kundalini Yoga – and to Salish Kootenai College for their willingness to give me the opportunity to bring KY to their community.

~ Anais