Email 1: You've been selected

*The following email was sent to 11 friends/colleagues/acquaintances that have voiced their interest in yoga. I was blown away by the response. This email represents my brief manifesto about me and my relationship to yoga. 


Dear Friends,

You are receiving this email because you have at one time or another shown interest or asked me about yoga. And now, I am finally ready to tell you that I am eager to teach starting in 2010. After much debate about how I wanted to to approach integrating teaching yoga into my life. I have decided to take the plunge and offer very small private classes, no more than 2 people for an hour and a half class.  In the near future I hope to offer a class open to anyone, but for now I really want to hone my skills and provide one-on-one attention.

There is a tremendous amount of fear around yoga for many people in our culture. From my many discussions with friends, family, and complete strangers I have discovered that the fear stimulates several reactions.
1) I am not flexible
2) I don't believe in that New Age stuff
3) It's too slow and not enough action.
It is to my dismay that these stereotypes exist and I have a lengthy essay written in my head about "Dismantling the preconceived notions of what yoga really is."  I do not want to write the essay in this email, rather I want to provide you with a brief explanation of what "Yoga means to me, and my teaching philosophy."

First off, I began practicing yoga to strengthen my mind and to strengthen my footwork so that I could be a stronger rock climber. What I discovered was a practice that would not only strengthen my mind and my footwork, but a practice that would strengthen every aspect of my life and inspire a lot of joy and creativity.

I consider myself an athlete, and I have had my fair share of injuries. Practicing yoga has been the best physical therapy I've ever paid for and has kept my unfortunate ankles pain- and injury-free. I know what it means to be frustrated with the human body and yoga has helped me discover ways of keeping the body strong.

Forrest Yoga, is the yoga that I practice and have been trained to teach (www.forrestyoga.com). This genre is deeply rooted in the Native American philosophies of living. But, what I have discovered is that no matter what any teacher tells you, or whatever philosophy they preach, the real teacher is within you. And as a teacher, I prefer to call myself a guide. I ask the questions you find the answers within your own body. The body, as I have discovered, is immensely wise and really cool to explore.

Yoga is a spiritual-sport-art. It inspires the creativity and concentration of a professional musician, painter, writer, etc, and builds  strength comparable to a marathon runner, diver, or gymnast.  As you advance, you will discover a remarkable energy within yourself that you may refer to as your "spirit," "soul," or something else, and that energy is "who you really are."

Yoga is not about flexibility, although you will acquire a flexibility in your mind and in your body that will support you when things may seem really crappy. To put it bluntly, yoga is about breathing. It is about becoming conscious and present in every moment through the simple act of breathing.

As a teacher, I would like to work with each of you. To structure individualized classes that fit your needs and the intents you have for your life.

I would like to offer a series of 5, 1.5 hour private/duet classes at the price of $15 dollars per person per class (this is how much you would pay for a drop-in class at a studio). You would pay $75 up front for the 5 classes. Or, if you are interested in bartering, we can definitely discuss another alternative.  I am open to coming to you or you coming to me.

Starting in January of 2010
Days: Thursday evening 6:30pm-8pm
    Friday evening 6:30pm-8pm
    Saturday afternoon 4pm-5:30pm

Please email or call me by January 2nd, 2010 if you are interested.

(If for some reason these times do not work for you, but you really really really really are interested, I am happy to discuss.)

Also, I am happy to discuss any question, concerns,  etc that you may have.  I know I have probably left something out that you are curious about.

Much love and peace to all of you during this holiday season!
Anne
Forrest Yoga Teacher