Normally Sundays are my workout day off. This Sunday though, I had planned to attend a very cool event at the Langham Hotel hosted by Stil Studio. I am not going to lie, I did wake up slightly hung-over, and initially the thought of being in a yoga class was not that appealing. I had made a commitment to meet Jen at this class though, so I sucked it up, grabbed a vitamin water and a banana, and headed out the door, hours before any of my roommates were even close to awake. When I arrived at the Langham Ballroom it was buzzing with positive and exciting energy. Not only was there a live band and DJ, but there was also as much free Vita Coco as one could want, as well as a raffle. Almost 150 people had come out early on a Sunday morning because we all wanted to be a part of this class, and we all knew what an honor it was to have so many amazing teachers under one roof. I was psyched to get to finally practice with Kevan Gale and Betty Riaz. I have heard nothing but great things about both of them! With our mats aligned under giant crystal chandeliers, everyone eagerly awaited instruction. Kevan began by telling us that the class was in fact not free. For a second my heart stopped. I told Jen the class was free and not to bring any money. Was someone going to come around and collect money from us? Was I going to have to leave, or fill out an IOU or something? I quickly realized that monetary compensation was not what Kevan was referring to. Rather, he wanted us all to leave this class and pay it forward to someone or something else today. What a simple yet refreshing idea. Kevan, and everyone else involved in this event, offered up their time and teachings. In return all they asked of us was to do something nice for someone else, a very feasible request. Throughout the next 75 minutes the practice transitioned seamlessly from one teacher to the next. I have never been to a yoga class taught by more than one teacher, and let me tell you, it was cool. I kept thinking about whether or not they had rehearsed the flow that they were instructing. I pictured all the teachers in a conference room with a giant white board mapping out how they were going to transition from one person to the next. For some reason though, I doubt this is how it went down (yoga teachers don’t get stressed, right?)
When we had concluded our last “om” I looked around at everyone surrounding me and thought about how much we had all accomplished. It is so funny that we often feel we need so much in order to achieve a lot. We belong to expensive gyms, have fancy workout clothes, and assume we need props and equipment in order to get the best workout ever. Trust me I am a victim of this. I belong to an expensive gym, I want to be buried in lululemon, and I am drawn to the group classes where everyone sets up and puts away equipment for the first and last five minutes of class. Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT saying these are bad things. I am just observing the realization that with yoga all you really need is your body and a few feet of space in order to accomplish something great.Yoga utilizes the simplicity of space amidst a culture of complexity.
I spent six years at a Sacred Heart School where we preached 5 goals. Goal three promotes the idea of a social awareness which impels to action. Kevan and his team from Stil Studio definitely embodied goal 3 on Sunday. They were aware of the lack of compassion that has become obvious in our culture, especially with all the recent tragedies that have occurred, and they utilized their resources in an effort to get a community to spread compassion to those around them. I think we have all probably seen the Liberty Mutual “Responsibility Project” commercials where one person does something nice for another, resulting in a domino effect. This idea of the power of simplicity has a direct correlation with our actions as well, so really, holding the door for that person behind us, or smiling to a passerby, can make a difference
Moral of today’s class: Simplicity is a powerful tool.
-A
Simplicity is the state or quality of being simple. It usually relates to the burden which a thing puts on someone trying to explain or understand it. Something which is easy to understand or explain is simple, in contrast to something complicated. In some uses, simplicity can be used to imply beauty, purity, or clarity. -Wikipedia
“That’s been on of my mantra- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
-Steve Jobs
what yoga gave to me... 