Sundays off

Today was my last day regularly teaching on Sundays.
I made a decision for me. I needed another day off. I needed to be able to spend more time with The Husband. I needed to be able to sleep in on Sundays. I needed to be able to make a brunch on Sundays with out-of-town friends.
I am exhausted and tired and can’t be the best teacher I can teaching so much and not having more time off for me.
When I told my students I was giving up my classes it was so hard to do. I got teary. But I told them this is not about them, it’s about me.
It has to be about me.
I am considered a full-time teacher with five weekly cycle classes and 10 (some private) weekly yoga classes. (Even with the adjustment in my schedule I am considered full time.)
I only had Tuesdays off. And even though I don’t normally teach Tuesdays (I try to reserve that date for me) I still have a lot to do in order to teach: writing up/finalizing and practicing a yoga sequence for the coming week (after likely doing hours of research/reading/planning over the weekend); practicing yoga sequence for the week; writing up and posting weekly theme for social media; working on playlist(s) for indoor cycling classes; working on blog posts and newsletters; and sometimes subbing or teaching Yoga in the Park (one more on Tuesday 6-7 p.m. at Evelyn M. Schiffler Memorial Park. More information here.)
And I have all that other domestic and not fun stuff to do: errands, cleaning house, laundry, paying bills, etc.
I realized recently that I was doing too much. I feel tired a lot of the time. Teaching on Sundays started to feel like a chore and no longer fun.
In order to take care of myself and be a good teacher I had to give myself another regular day off.
I have amazing students and I am sad to say goodbye to some of them.
Even though they are bummed about me no longer teaching Sundays they understand and congratulated me on knowing I needed to take care of me.
And this is about me. It’s about taking care of me as a person and a teacher so I can be the best teacher I can be.
It’s hard to explain … but when you teach yoga and other exercise classes it’s takes so much energy. Full time is not 40 hours. Especially when I teach yoga, I am on 100% of the time. While teaching and making sure my language is clear and sometimes modeling pose(s) I remember modifications, injuries, who needs this and that, watching students as they come into a pose seeing what they are capable of and where adjustments might need to be made.
Last Sunday, Sept. 11 was my last day teaching my Sunday 9:15 a.m. cycle class. Today was my last day teaching my Sunday 12:15 p.m. yoga class.
I am now at four cycle classes and nine yoga classes a week. (I will be adding a No. 10 yoga class next month on Friday evenings.)
Changes are inevitable. And sometimes I have a hard time with that.
My schedule will continue to change and modify. Some changes I know of and/or are planning. Others I don’t.
I’ve given a lot of thought to my Sundays. And I realized it was best for me to give up my classes for now.
I can sleep in (probably not), go out to brunch, be lazy all day, stay out/up late on Saturday nights (probably not), sub a yoga or cycle class on that rare occasion, go to a cycle or yoga class as a student, actually head to the coast for part of a weekend or jump in the car and go day trippin’.
One of my students told me last Sunday that my newsletters need to be filled with my regular Sunday cycle class chatter.
While teaching cycle I tend to talk about random things. It may be about what I ate for dinner last night or about something fun/funny that happened in another class or traffic on the 217 or my family … Apparently they like my chatter.
Check out my schedule on my website, Go Fit Girl! Click My Classes tab to see my current schedule, when my classes are canceled (for holidays and such), when I have a special event such as Yoga in the Park, when I have subs for my classes or when I am subbing for both yoga and/or cycle classes.
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