by Molly Oser, Yoga teacher at Leap yoga – Folsom Ca.
I have been teaching yin yoga for almost six years now; a brief pause in the big world but a defining time in my little world. How did it happen? After a long, pretty steady fifteen years of practice, I was faced with life changes, an end to a long, passionate career. I wasn’t sure what to do or where to head except that I was sure I wanted another field that I could be passionate about. My son was studying in Sweden so I was going to visit him. Stacy Whittingham, my teacher (pre Leap), told me to bring something back with me. I knew she wasn’t talking about a souvenir. At the time, the yin practice had become part of my life, part of my heart. So I looked on line, and it so happened that one of the few yin teachers around was leading a teacher training at an ashram in Sweden. There it was. So off I went… on faith. And it was beyond amazing. I began coming out of my mourning of losing my career (part of my identity) and opened up to a new journey of helping others. I knew that was the only reason I would ever consider teaching. That was my purpose in my first line of work and I knew that if I worked again, it would only be through those eyes.
I began teaching upon the encouragement of a studio owner and since then have completed another 50 hours of yin training (total 125 hours) and 300 hours of Embodyoga teacher training. But as time went on, I began to feel that something was missing. The embodyoga principle is to move from the inside out and to find the work and the ease in every pose, in every thing. To move from integration and wholeness. To find contentment from the inside out. Yin yoga also works from the inside out along lines of energy and through the organs and tissues using long passive holds to lengthen fascia. I was looking to bring it all together. Again, Stacy came into the picture. She had returned from a trip to Boulder where she went to a studio and took this odd sounding yoga, Kaiut. She told me to check it out, it brought it all together. So I looked at the little bit of information on line, and bought my tickets to Toronto. All on faith. I had never taken a Kaiut class and you know, Toronto is the place to be in early February!
I showed up like in a deer in the headlights. Completely open and not having any idea what I was going to experience. After two days, (six classes), I was hooked. This was it. It brought all my trainings together, but more than that, I felt so good. And Francisco Kaiut held us so confidently and completely that I let everything go and followed on trust, and yes, that Faith word again!
That was February 2017. I returned and practiced…and practiced. And once again, Stacy showed up. When are you going to share? When do you want to try it out? So I started, community classes and then Leap put it on the schedule. Purely on faith. And people showed up. And started feeling the changes in their bodies as traumas began releasing and they were noticing that they were aching less. Low backs were easing, knees were bending and ankles were folding. Even nasty shoulders were hurting less.
So I was convinced in my own body and seeing relief in the students. Watching as the fear eased and they let the practice and the poses work. It is that faith in the practice that encouraged me to sign up for the second one hundred hour training this past September. ( a much more inviting month in Toronto!). And before I knew it, the Leap owners were signed up too. They had each taken one class but were convinced that they wanted to learn what this was all about. So off we went, me with my passion and Butch, Micheal, and Cindi on faith.
When I got to Toronto, I was exhausted. I had been teaching quite a lot and my mind and body were spent. When I saw Francisco and exchanged pleasantries, I told him I was there to heal. Yes to learn, but to heal. Please help me heal. So I practiced. And with his steady hand and skill, I began to come back to myself. I allowed myself to open to exactly what was happening at every moment and to begin to touch the joy and the passion that is yoga, again. We all get caught up in life, to have this time to step back and to be guided was such an amazing gift. And over the course of the nine days, I felt the healing. It started with exuberance that I was there and able to be led through the practice, followed by exhaustion, followed by healing. Exactly the same as it has been in February minus the four below temperatures! And I watched the glow come to Cindi, Butch and Micheal. I watched the fear, the letting go and the ease…I watched the yoga work. I watched my body ease, strengthen, and my aching right knee stopped talking to me! For the first time in months and months, I could sleep on my right side without the pain in my shoulder. I had developed a steady home practice, but being taught three classes a day was the kick that my body needed.
And here we are. I have been teaching Kaiut for eight months, Butch and Micheal are just beginning their Kaiut foray. And the Leap community is responding. By letting go, and trying something completely different. On faith in the practice, the teaching, the studio. And because of you, Francisco Kaiut is coming to Leap Yoga on Thursday January 18, 2018 for four days! You will be amazed, you will be softened, you will be healed. Don’t miss this opportunity. Leap is a lot closer than Brazil. Let yourself be held, let yourself be taught. Let yourself have faith.
For more information about Molly, Leap Yoga and Kaiut, please visit www.leapyoga.net