Gym Yogis

As a yoga teacher in training, I read every assigned reading ahead of time and had parts underlined to discuss in class (those that have been in class with me are SO rolling their eyes right now...). One day we were discussing the primary objective for asana, or the physical practice of yoga. My yoga teacher's assistant, Adi, was claiming that the practice of asana was first and foremost to prepare our bodies for meditation. This concept blew my mind - I loved asana, and certainly believed that it was an end in and of itself. I searched pointedly through my assigned readings and found a passage in Light on Yoga that supported my claims. Adi was delighted at my contribution and defused my defiant attitude by thanking me for sharing.

Fast forward three years. I am teaching a class of dedicated gym yogis. In my estimation, 50% of the class comes as a replacement for some other part of their work out - e.g. as a cardio or strength training session. The other 50% come because they want to relax, stretch their bodies and feel good afterwards. As a result of my presumption, historically I have approached my gym yoga classes with the goal of combining a work out with some good stretching. This approach has attracted a solid following thus far.

The problem with my gym approach is that I now believe what Adi asserted three years ago - asana is the means to a meditative end. I still love asana - nothing breaks up my densities and massages my internal organs better than a good lateral bending, back bending, twisting practice. However, with my decision to develop a meditation practice, I now see beyond asana to the potential that lies in meditation. And I want to share that with my students.

The question - how to bring something as "fluffy" and "new agey" as meditation to a big corporate gym. The obvious answer is to disguise it!

Ha, ha - seriously though. I have learned from another gym yoga teacher that I follow how to incorporate "contemplation" and "mindful breathing" into a class. Last week I started a practice that I reinforced in class today - that of sitting quietly with eyes closed and counting how many breaths you can take before an external thought interrupts you. Once this external thought barges in, you begin your count over at 1. I have tried this myself - initially I could only take 3 breaths before a thought burst through. After an asana practice, however, I can get much higher - 10 or 12 breaths before starting over.

So I presented this practice to my class for a second time today. Before we started, I had everyone sit quietly on their mat and focus on counting their breaths. Then we did a 45 minute asana practice followed by a 5 minute shavasana. After shavasana, I had them sit for another 2 minutes and count their breaths. As I kept time for them, I looked out over my class of gym yogis. What I saw was 20 focused yogis with eyes closed, spines tall and full of light, mindfully breathing. No fidgeting, no squinting through closed lids to see their watches - just an impressive stillness. Behind them, through the studio windows, I saw heavily muscled men straining to pump iron and well groomed women "glistening" on the eliptical. This juxtaposition made my smile.

A toast to honoring what inspires you - I found a way to introduce meditation to my students. This brings integrity to my teaching. A toast also to gym yogis. And as I said in class, "The mindful breather in me salutes the mindful breather in you. Namaste."