My Strange Addiction

LEARNING!

Yeah, you didn’t see that coming, did you?  Yep, I’m a learning junkie.  It’s so true.  I love to find out new things – not just little tidbits of information, but really dig into new ideas.  Ok, some of you saw that coming, because you know that I spent about 10000000 years in school.  Actually, I’m still in school.  Ha!  So, this post is just a little love note to learning from me, in celebration of a new semester.

Recently, as you know if you have been reading, I’ve been in yoga teacher training.  This means a whole big bunch of learning.  Some of it is “facts” – like the major muscle groups and how the body’s joints work.  Some of it is philosophical or spiritual. And, some of it is experiential.  Nice.  It doesn’t really matter to me what we learn in a particular session of class, I like all of it.  This week, we talked quite a bit about doing adjustments on students in classes, and how to do that in a way that provides assistance without getting in the way of their practice.  It’s not easy to figure out, but I’m certainly enjoying thinking about it.  We’ve also been discussing the Bhagavad Gita (see my previous post here) , and – though I’ve read it before – I’m learning whole new ways to understand it.  Today, one of my classmates spent a vinyasa class practicing adjustments to assist me in my poses.  This was also a good learning experience.  I’ve had many excellent yoga teachers who have offered advice and correction, but I’ve never taken an individual class.  So, there were things that were corrected today (like hip position in a lunge – which I suspect had been somewhat askew for the last several years) that I just hadn’t noticed before, and therefore hadn’t learned.  Friday, I get to trade jobs with my colleague and be the “adjuster” to her “poser.”  Nifty!  A little bit nerve-producing, but cool, and I’m sure it will be a fabulous opportunity to learn new things about yoga and myself. Last week we started a discussion of meditation, and this coming Sunday I will attend my first real meditation sit.  That is definitely going to be something to take in.

I also started teaching a new class today.  While the material isn’t strange to me, in the large sense, I’m using readings and assignments that I’ve never used before, which means more opportunities to learn about things.  I’m also utilizing a whole new digital platform.  While this can be a little frustrating, I actually really like diving into new technology, because it’s just a web (ha ha! get it?) to untangle, and a whole set of skills at which I can become more adept.  So, I’m just happily wiki-ing along, and I’m sure some of the students would like to sock me in the mouth.  But, I see some of them going into the wiki and just deleting and replacing the same sentences to see if they can, so I suspect I’m not the only tech nerd in the room.

Yep, it’s the start of a new semester.  So, even if you aren’t in school, pick something to learn and go to it!  Maybe you learn how to make homemade vegan pecan pie (and then you make me some).  Perhaps you learn how to knit.  You could start a Zumba class or just check out a few books on Nietzsche.  Or, heck, haven’t you always wanted to learn to play the harmonica?  Go for it!  Learning is good exercise for your mind (and maybe your body) and it’s even addictive.

Namaste,

L