…the more I know I don’t know.
This is the space I am in today. I finished a year of yoga teacher training: 200 hours of instruction stuffed into my head. I am now qualified to teach yoga. What does that mean? I have taught tango for 26 years and if you don’t count my master’s in dance, I only had a few months of teacher training and no certification process to do that! For teaching English in Peace Corps, we had three months of training. I suppose that means I am better trained as a beginning yoga teacher than I was to teach anything else in my life! It helps that I have taught since 1986, so I know that I will eventually feel more competent.
“Nothing to prove, everything to share.”
I have been pondering the feeling of having NO IDEA how to incorporate all of this new information into my life (apart from sharing it with my tango and other dance students, which has been happening all the way along). I feel that there is so much I still have to learn! When I started teaching tango, I was very open about being a new tango dancer and my students and I learned together. That’s what’s going to happen with yoga as well. As my teacher trainer, Rachel Scott, said, “Nothing to prove, everything to share.”
In that spirit, I will soon be offering yoga classes at Shabu Studios where I teach tango on Thursday nights. I am grateful for Shannon’s confidence in my abilities. Stay tuned for days/times (probably in March or April).
Off of Mount Stupid
When I explained where I am in my learning process, one of my friends nodded and said, the Dunning Kruger Effect! Take a moment and click on this graphic. Every tango student I have shown this to laughs and points to the Valley of Despair part of the process of learning. I think that each of you knows that everyone goes through the same struggles as a learner and a tango dancer, but doesn’t it feel better that EVERY learning process works this way? It also explains that new college graduate at work :-) When you are on Mount Stupid, you DO feel that you know everything!
Slope of Enlightenment
Let’s climb up that slope together! Let me know if you are interested in yoga classes and I will add you to the list. Let me know if you are interested in tango classes and don’t already get my newsletter, and I will add you to the list.
Group classes are back!
Tango classes start again next week, February 17, 2022. The level is adventuresome beginners up to advanced intermediate. If you want class but feel that’s below your level, remember that you can always learn “the other” role, and that deep learning requires repetition of the fundamentals :-)
Here is the plan:
7 PM Warmup and solo technique for balance, flexibility and strength
7:30-8:30 working with partners to apply the technique to moves, musicality and different dancers (we start with easier and move into harder moves throughout class)
8:30-9 PM Time to dance, chat, ask questions, etc.
$15/class or $140/10-class punchcard, masks and proof of vaccination required
I hope to see you in class when YOU feel comfortable dancing in public. I understand that some people never stopped and some are being more cautious. You may bring a partner and keep them if that makes you feel more secure, and I encourage hand sanitizer between different partners. Let me know what I can do to make class as safe as possible for you!