At BodyFlow, that is. At learning choreography. At feeling the essence. I feel like I am finally starting to get it.....day by day.
It's been a crazy few weeks, with school pressures - knee deep in fall assessments and I got two new students this week. I am finally up to 29. One more spot. Today's student, however, came straight from Mexico and speaks not ONE iota of English. Poor baby cried when mom tried to leave him. I have not spoken so much Spanish in one day....ever, I think! I cannot imagine how it must feel to be dumped off into a completely foreign environment. At least he made friends quickly, with other student who speak Spanish, and by lunch he was comfortable enough to go with the yard duty ladies to eat. He adjusted amazingly quickly but I am going to have to pull out the Spanish in order for him to understand anything. Poor kid - stuck with me as his teacher, butchering his language....
Cassie had a great birthday party this past weekend, joint with Jasmine. 18 giggling, screaming girls......I'll take my 29 students anyday! But they had loads of fun and my baby was happy. That's all that matters.
I had the biggest compliment given to me after BodyFlow this past Sunday. I finished teaching, we did our relaxation/meditation, and as we were rolling up the yoga mats, a member called out a thank you to me and said in front of the class that I had the perfect voice! Two other members chimed in, and agreed that my voice is very calming and soothing. That's something I am always conscious of. I spend so much of my fitness teaching time in BodyPump, which is a very different feel - much stronger, more intense and motivating. I worry sometimes that I am not able to bring it down as I teach Flow. It is getting easier, and while the end of the class is very low key and soothing, the rest of the class actually is not. There are plenty of opportunities for me to bring out a bit more intensity, such as in the core abs and back tracks, and even the standing strength. But I am very aware of not having a "creepy yoga voice" and trying instead to be myself, just dialed down. It's something that people don't often think about, and not only do instructors (good ones) have to know their choreography internally and perfectly, they then have to layer in that coaching, that connecting and correcting of what they see in the room to help members be safe and get the most out of their workout, but they also have to motivate and drive when needed, and also, at least in Flow, allow the participants to seek internally what they need and can get out of the class. It's a delicate balance that I am just beginning to understand. It comes second nature with BodyPump. CXWorx is similar, even though I only teach one class a week, it's a bit more intense and I can dig deep and motivate. Then to completely shift gears to BodyFlow, all within a few minutes? It's interesting to begin a Tai Chi warmup while still dripping with sweat from an intense core workout! It takes me a bit of time to "come down" from that high and shift into Flow mode.
So to hear people tell me my voice is good for this program.....that means the world. It means that I am heading in the right direction. I was thinking tonight on the way home from the gym about my AIM2 experience, and remembering the instructors that were there for BodyFlow. I wish I had paid more attention to the feedback Josef gave Anne and the others, but I had NO intention of teaching Flow ever, so I didn't give it a second thought. I do know, though, that I am SO far away from that! In fact, I probably won't be ready for an AIM1 workshop for Flow for much longer than the 6 month minimum they say you should be teaching a program before doing an advanced workshop. I still need to work on physically being able to do the poses better before I do AIM. I still struggle daily with tight hip flexors, and right now my upper back is a mess, but I felt a glimmer of hope tonight.
I mixed up both releases, even though I now only teach whole releases because they are easier to keep in my brain. I only have 2 full flow releases under my belt, and even though I just received an older release and just ordered more through LM, I simply cannot learn an entire release right now. So I found a warm up that just resonated with me. I learned it super quick last night and LOVED teaching it today! I actually FELT graceful! I may not have looked it, but I sure felt it! It has opened up the possibility that maybe I can learn more tracks fairly easily, at least before the next round of new releases come out. I'll tackle a couple more for this weekend and see how it goes.
I'm loving BodyFlow. If I could teach it 3-4 times a week I'd be in heaven :)
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