On Teaching

"One should do what one teaches others to do; if one would train others, one should be well controlled oneself. Difficult, indeed, is self-control." -Buddha

I love this quote. My friend Patty posted it on her Facebook. She teaches Bikram. When James Figueira was visiting from Singapore, he was telling Curtis and Stefanie that when they begin teaching they need to be sure they are still making time for their personal practice. It is sad that when people being teaching, the first thing to be sacrificed is their own practice. The thing that inspired them to teach, they no longer have time for. I have to say, it IS hard waking up at 4:30 (most days) to practice. It IS hard to make it to my mat everyday. And it IS hard to stay disciplined enough to keep a balanced diet and schedule only so that I can be sure to practice everyday. I can't imagine how much harder all of those things become when you are then juggling a "regular" job, and a teaching schedule.

I am so inspired by Curtis' level of dedication to his own personal practice and his students. When I read the Buddha quote, I immediately thought of him. Since he began teaching (a month or so ago?), he has woken up on WEEKENDS at 4:30 so he could complete his personal practice before going to teach. On his days off from lululemon, he is still up and practicing. He told me (his first official day teaching), that he wanted to start things off on the right foot by being sure of completing his personal practice of the day before going to instruct others. He said it will build up samskara (not sure if I'm using this term 100% correctly) :) I thought that was so beautiful. I think he was meant to teach.