BaltimOregon to Maine

Teaching yoga is quite a different experience from practicing it yourself. I had the chance to do so, alone, for the first time today at the Milestones Recovery Center here in Corvallis, where women can live with their children as they go through rehab. I’m volunteering with Reach Out Yoga here, a new non-profit here bringing yoga to a youth homeless shelter, a children’s psychiatric home and rehab centers, etc. It’s similar to this Living Yoga  organization Portland that has taught yoga to thousands, including prison inmates.

Only two students showed up (not pictured above) for my class. But the class naturally flowed. You really relearn the postures as you teach them to someone for the first time. And it’s much more magical than practicing alone. We rolled out the matts in an unkempt rec room, cluttered with children’s toys and socks. Somehow we managed to create a slightly meditative space. They said I had a soothing voice, which surprised me. They loved letting their heads, necks and shoulders go in the surrender of bent-over, rag doll pose. Now I understand why my Baltimore teacher always closed class saying: “I thank you, my students, who are truly my greatest teachers.”