I love, love, love teaching yoga, but truth be told, I’m not a perfect yoga teacher. I flub my wording, at times I forget what side we are on and have to ask the class, and on occasion, I’ve cued the wrong body parts. Tee hee hee, cute right? I am really not perfect. In fact just today I cued students moving from downdog to a forward fold, to step their right foot forward followed by their left hand. Go ahead, try it out, see how that looks.

Yet for some reason, these lovely yogis fill up my class every week. They come up to me after and thank me for an “amazing class”. They tell me how coming to the yoga classes has made a profound change in their life. Which blows me away everytime!

So what is my secret? How do I get these vessels of light and love to return to my class every week? What am I giving these yogis to make them want to come back to my class? Cookies. I serve them cookies at the end class. Sometimes pie. Juuuuuust kidding.

Ok, let’s build that back up again. What is the secret? Why do people keep coming back to the klutzy Yogi? Hear it is! Ready for it? It’s the Yoga!

Yoga speaks for itself. Let me say that again. Yoga, speaks for itself! There is nothing I could to mess up your yoga practice, aside from smoking a cigarette and complaining about politics at the top of your class. Yoga is the magic that keeps people coming back to Yoga. It is us getting back to what is innate inside of all of us. It is us uncovering what we already know. That we are the physical form of love, compassion and peace.

Yoga helps you breathe deep into your body, loosening up the toxins and allowing them to disperse out of you. Get out of here! Scat! Yoga teaches you to face your biggest fears with focus and grounding. To let go of the idea that things are impossible, by setting goals for yourself. We open, we breath, we fold, we surrender. We connect and we find the deepest most powerful love of all waiting to be explored and shared in the world lying just four layers away into the self. Anandamaya Kosha. Pure bliss.

Years ago my dream was to become a yoga teacher. To be frank, the intention was not to end up being a phenomenal yoga teacher that everyone loved to go to.  (that would have been a darn good reason though). The intention was to share with people the magical feeling that they can feel inside themselves. To invigorate. To find self contentment. To share self love. To spread the word of Yoga! Connection of body, mind and spirit yall! It’s an awesome feeling. Yoga empowers! I knew I had found something that is good. Something I had to share with the world. Something that is potentially saving my life every single day. No matter what the problem is I always have Yoga to calm my senses and put this reality into perspective.

I was a 24 year old aspiring actress from Queens, NY roaming through the streets of Manhattan, and lost in my emotions, when I first stepped into a yoga class. A close family member of mine had passed suddenly and I was beside myself trying to sort through the fog. On a regular basis my energy was off the charts and I thought that was my thing. But the thing was I wouldn’t shut up, and I couldn’t listen. I was insecure, off the charts bubbly, a people pleaser and ready to snap at any moment. Don’t get me wrong, I was funny, smart and talented, but if you told me that I wouldn’t believe you!

Through Yoga I learned to calm the chatter of my mind. Chitta Vritti as we call it in Yoga. I learned how to enjoy my own life giving breath in my body. I learned to sail above the waves, through the waves, with the waves. I learned that my hands and feet are a part of my body, not just some floppy things that hang on the side. I learned that my body is a pyramid, a sanctuary, a sacred space to explore quietly and lovingly. I learned how powerful and amazing Yoga really is. I learned that this was something that needed to be shared.

Do I want to be that amazing beautiful, goddess, Instagram posting, bendy Yoga guru, maybe it’s crossed my mind. For now, I’m filled up with joy from head to toe that I get to share the tools of Yoga, self reflection, confidence, and self love, with people around the world that are creating their own stories. I get to go to a job where my briefcase is filled with light, love, and Yoga.

The light in me is honored by the light in you.

Namaste Lovelies!

Thoughts and reflections by Christina Maldia CYT, CLMT