The gift of yoga

I recently wrote a post about being frustrated with yoga. Frustrated with how I had learned things and how the more I learn I am finding more than one way to do something.
That bothered me for a few days and, of course, I wrote about it.
Soon after I started feeling better about my frustrations and discoveries and realized that this is actually a gift and I started to embrace it.
As my friend Nicole so eloquently put it: Isn’t that the gift of yoga – that we get to work through all that junk. (Junk being life, yoga poses, breathing, tough situations, daily activities, work, home life, getting to yoga class on time or at all, etc.)
I recently started practicing yoga with another teacher who is also part of the teacher training program. For years I have known about his reputation as a yoga teacher. I just hadn’t studied with him yet.
Until now.
I am seeing things so differently studying with Richard. It’s amazing.
And don’t get me wrong, my teachers are amazing and awesome and I love yoga so much because of them. But sometimes hearing a different teacher say the same thing in a  different way can make a huge difference. (I am now looking at Adho Mukha Svanasana [Downward Facing Dog] in a different way.)
These discoveries I am having are the gift that yoga gives us. I have been having them for years. But lately, they are more obvious as I go along this adventure.
There are times when something just clicks. For years I will hear a teacher say something and I don’t quite get it. And then one day, ding, I get it. Wow!
Through my journey of years of practicing yoga and my 10-month teacher training program I am giving myself a gift. A gift of yoga. A gift of knowledge. A gift of inspiration, frustration, adventure, opening my mind, trying new things. A gift of learning more about myself and my yoga practice. A gift of attempting Salamba Sirsasana (Headstand).
I hope as I continue along this path I can share part of my gift with you through my own discoveries, whether through my posts or in other ways.
I have been fortunate to have a few friends take advantage of my teaching. I “taught” a friend on Monday and will teach another tomorrow and a third next week. My mother-in-law and some friends took advantage of some teachings last month.
Thank you my friends (and family) for allowing me to practice and experiment.  And I hope that you discover something about yourself and your own yoga practice.
(I’m willing to work with others. Let me know and let’s see if we can fit something in.)