Learning with Lena
It’s not uncommon here on the island of Koh Rong Samloem to end up teaching a yoga class to a single student. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching, albeit accidentally in most cases, to classes of one. It’s really a wonderful treat as it allows me to sink down and focus on a single student, noticing their limits, their strengths and what asanas could best serve a particular student.
Lena is a beautiful woman in her fifties from Sweden. She has been practicing yoga for many years and has a svelt body many twenty year olds would envy. She has pale blonde eyes and blue eyes, quite atypical for those Scandinavians, eh? Lena signed up for a week’s worth of yoga classes, the entire duration of her stay here on the island. Her class time of choice was at an atypical hour for me, as my yoga classes were always in the morning. She preferred evening classes, which can sometimes be difficult given the herd of mosquitos that leaks out from the jungle as the sun begins to set. They arrive in droves. And while I believe in practicing nonviolence in life, these mosquitos are my breaking point. They are relentless and omnipresent during the twilight hours and the itchy welts they leave indicate they must be of a heartier breed than I’m accustomed to back home.
Anyways, I digress, so Lena preferred a 4:00pm yoga class as the mosquito war begins after 5:00pm. This time worked for my schedule so I added a class at 4:00pm. We were joined by just one other person two of the seven days, the rest of the classes were one-on-one. Over the week, I watched Lena as she gracefully melted into certain asanas and as others were clearly posing a big difficulty for her. We talked after every class about what went well and about what didn’t. I learned after our second class together, watching her in boat pose, I could tell it was difficult. I attributed it to core strength, but after class she mentioned she suffered from chronic pain in her tailbone. I eliminated all asanas that would pressure her tailbone from the next classes.
After the third class, Lena admitted that she found Sunrise Saltutations, no matter the variation, rather boring. It was a challenge for me to come up with a number of antirhumatic poses that would successfully warm up the entire body. The following days’ class she commented was really fun and different. I appreciated her kind words and the opportunity to explore a different kind of opening, warm-up sequence.
Over the course of the week, teaching Lena helped me become a better yoga instructor. Although it was unintential, the nearly one-on-one classroom environment, it provided an avenue for me to focus on Lena. Not just the physical limitations and strengths of her body, but also the preferences of her practice. It allowed me to focus on one person’s needs and to weigh each asana with more care than usual. She articulated her needs verbally, but I could also witness some through paying attention to her body. I’m grateful for all working with Lena has taught me.
“Your life does not get better by chance, it get’s better by change.” – Jim Rohn
