om body om body
How I happily became the worst ever yoga teacher. By Meg Jackson
I
hate yoga. It has changed my life.
It allows me to see myself for who
I really am. It brings a massive
magnifying glass up to all the things I
need to work on in my life, emotionally
and physically. It challenges me every single
time I get on my mat. It makes me see all my
limiting beliefs, shortcomings, flaws
and strengths.
Oh – no – wait. Those are the reasons I
love yoga...don’t I?
And this is me. The yoga teacher and
business-owner in a love-hate relationship
with the very thing she teaches and relies
on for her income. It’s what the kids might
call “awks”.It all started a few years ago. From most
of the stuff out there in The World (i.e. the
internet – which is pretty much the same
thing, isn’t it?) I thought for a while that I was
the only one of my kind. The more I trawled
through websites, blogs and heck even
printed magazines (what can I say – I’m an
old fashioned girl) the more I started to think
I was unique. And not in a good way.
The more I saw all those beautifully lit,
artily styled, anatomically perfect folks
bending themselves into poses that seem
straight out of Cirque du Soleil, then sharing
their ‘Top Recipe for a Life Changing Kale
and Kelp Smoothie’ the more it seemed that
I was in the wrong job.This is me
There are various qualities one is lead to
believe that are essential for a yoga person
to have. I was starting to think I didn’t have
any of them.
First of all, the bendiness. I am not a
naturally bendy person. Genes, emotional
baggage and years of falling off/under/
over horses (landing head-first on more
than a couple of occasions) put pay to that.
My body fights and flails like a Slipknot fan
at a Justin Bieber concert when I ask it to
effortlessly float through a Sun Salutation,
or rest peacefully in Kurmasana.
Then there’s my mind. It loves to regale
me with tales of all those times I triedBENDING THE RULES