SueBear Sews And Flows

This is post is going to start on a fairly muted note but will end on a high note. I'm turning 34 this week and I'm having some anxiety about it. I've never been one to dread turning older. Usually, I've been excited to get older because it meant I could begin to do things that felt exciting or rewarding. This year feels different. Frankly, this year feels like an afterthought. Some plans for my birthday fell through a couple weeks ago. I have some vague plans to go out to eat with my husband and a friend, but that's about it. I'm pleased to have a night out, but I'm not jazzed. I'm just feeling blah and unsurprised by it and I'm ready to just be 34 already. Ok. I've admitted to some feelings of disappointment and pettiness. I have them. I acknowledge them. And I'm moving on. I do have some exciting news- I completed my community service hours and I have my Yogafit Level I certificate! I actually got it right at the end of June. Although ...

Downward Dog Sue Style Later this month will be five months since I completed Yogafit Level I training and I thought I’d check in.  I spent February, March, and April team teaching both gentle yoga and the regular yoga classes at my rec center. So invaluable. While I felt the weekend training was extremely helpful in breaking down how to get in and out of poses and putting together flows, the team teaching I did was where I could see refinement. Diana, my mentor, and I really talked about strategies of teaching, how to turn the class away from the mirror, how to teach with the mirror, how to begin to connect the pose to what people may feel in the pose. We talked about physically getting through a class while talking and how that affects my breath. While I really appreciate the ability to take the Yogafit trainings when it’s convenient, I can also see the benefit of doing a more traditional training that may be 3 or 4 weeks long. I would imagine those trainings have time to ...

Sooo.... I've taught a few classes by myself now. I've subbed two classes for my fellow instructors at my rec center and I've done two volunteer classes at my local library. I would not say I feel like I have my class personality yet, but I do feel much more comfortable at this stage than I expected. I think that has a lot to do with my other fitness teaching. Let me tell ya, once you've taught in your bathing suit, in front of 25 people, 20 of whom are not in your class, your comfort level has been stretched, shall we say. I also teach dance cardio which can be rather complicated and work intensive with choreography. I know I use a lot of the same phrases my mentor Diana uses, but that's to be expected. Her class is my most frequented and she really taps into how I communicate with my own body. There is definitely a difference between my free classes and the rec classes. My friends have really shown their support by coming to my library classes so the v...