i just teach yoga

I teach yoga full-time.  I believe from the depths of my soul that I was put on this earth specifically to do this even though it took me a long time to get here.  I teach Hot Vinyasa every single day at one of the most "successful" studios in the country and after almost 5 years I am still amazed that I get to do this and pay my bills.  Now, I realize that I may lose some of you (maybe many of you) by what I will be revealing and exposing and writing, but its time.  There seems to be an idea floating around that yoga teachers are all the same; that we are selfless, equanimous, skinny, perfect and guru-like; that we only wear white, only eat healthy, and only do good.  Some believe that our lives are simple, while we spend our time meditating and teaching and studying.  Maybe that is true for some teachers, but not me, not yet anyway. Hats off to them!
So here we go....I am not a vegan and I smoke cigarettes. Are you still there?  I have road rage on occasion,  my mood is often effected by the number on the scale each morning, and I only wear white when I'm trying to portray a little innocence to turn my husband on before bed.  I have panic disorder and take medication for it, yes, prescription medication and I get anxious in social settings to the point where I could be described as a loner or hermit.  I love sugar, white sugar, and ice-cream with all the stuff and I even enjoy a few reality TV shows.  I can be selfish, insecure, uncompromising, and irrational. Oh, and I am vain, really  vain.
Now, if you're still there, welcome to my blog about being a real person, maybe just like you, who happens to teach yoga and is a yogini. 
I am not all bad nor a yoga rebel but I am a work in progress.  I love so hard.  I love all the students I teach with passion and I would do anything for my four legged animal companions, or anyone else's for that matter.  I believe in the power of yoga to grow and heal and change.  I want to make a difference in the world and create a happier place for us all to be in together.  I do meditate, I practice yoga everyday, and I rarely eat animal products and never consume their flesh.  I give everything I have, in every class I teach, because I want to help people who are ready to change themselves.  Its my purpose, my calling, my duty on this planet to do good and teaching yoga allows me the opportunity for this.  I may disappoint you and this scares me, but my hope is that I can inspire you to take chances, follow your heart, to believe in your own strength and wisdom, and to recognize that we are all much more alike than we are different.  Every time I teach I ask the students to be real, to take chances, and to allow themselves to feel uncomfortable knowing this will help them to grow.  I am doing the same thing with this blog.
 I am far from perfect but I have stories to share and knowledge gained on and off the mat that I hope you will connect with.  Maybe you'll feel a little less alone and become more forgiving of yourself and others. I will write about students, classes, mishaps, heartbreak, and joy.  I'll post pictures and quotes and stories that I hope in some way will bring us all closer.  I believe that yoga brings the opportunity to liberate ourselves from the prisons of our mind and make changes that lead to living a more fulfilling, authentic life.  Welcome all...as you are.  namaste-