Downward crying dog

When I'm in Cambridge I go to as many jivamukti yoga classes as I can. It's an energetic spiritual style that usually involves some chanting and some advanced stretches and moves such as headstands.

I've become attached to it primarily because the teachers have been good and having an inspirational teacher makes all the difference to how you are left feeling. One teacher Hayley buggered off to Australia not so long ago to undertake more training. At today's class, Andrea, who is a highly experienced teacher and delivers classes with clarity and authority (rather than that breathy style which I like less), announced she wasn't teaching at the studio any longer. For teachers who want to improve their students' craft a commercial classful can compromise the ability to examine postures and help with adjustments. That must irk many teachers who want to give more attention to individuals.

After the energy of the class, the announcement was enough to produce tears, which made the following chanting impossible. I will hugely miss Andrea's classes and hope the replace jivamukti teachers are as commanding. I'll also track Andrea down where she goes to teach her own smaller classes, which is no doubt what the studio fears when good teachers leave with their mini fan base.

A strange powerful feeling to be crying in the middle of a group of people chanting. But I'm sure a yoga guru's advice would be to roll with it, accept it, and just 'be'.