Holding the Reserve

I'm quite sure I've mentioned this before in other posts here and there. But today I really put it into play. It being, the importance of structure, diligence, and putting time aside for yourself.
I taught my 1st solid flow class today. (Thanks to Lady Love for the encouragement and instruction) My personal teacher, as I mentioned last time, gave me a map, if you will, of how a class can/should be laid out. I put it into use this time. All I had to do was spend all of 20 min writing down poses starting from peak pose and working from warmup to cool down. It was the easiest prep I'd ever done for a class and yet, I apparently kicked ass. I felt confident doing it. My poses were concise with the theme (which wasn't even that deep and meaningful, just about creating space and opening) and I felt fairly relaxed all the way through! I stumbled a few times on my wording but I simplified quite a bit from how I normally instruct and actually gave correct ques!
Oh, and a slight detail, my Monday morning flows usually have between 6 to 8 people TOPS. Today? Try 15. Apparently everyone wanted to sweat first thing in the week.

Apparently I'm writing this to brag. What I want to get across is if you just take a little time and effort and use it to your advantage, it goes a long way. If you think about it, who else would your time be better spent on? You can't be able to constantly give your energy to others or things if you have none left for yourself. As I've told a friend of mine many times (Monsieur Analytical), you have a gas tank. But you always need to keep a little gas in reserve for yourself. If you're always giving it out, you won't be able to run your own existence.

Just something to keep in mind, I guess...

M.

P.S.
Picture 1 shown above is the OM on the wall of the studio I teach at that hangs above my head while I'm at the front of the class. It makes everything better.

Picture 2 is the tools of my trade. I find them quite comfortable.