As I sat down hoping for a silent ride, I found myself seated next to a friendly, though somewhat overbearing chatterbox.
His first question was your typical American opening line: “What do you do?” I replied, “I teach yoga.”
This simple answer lead to three hours of conversation that started with his reply back to me: “Oh so you are really flexible like those girls on Instagram and can put your leg behind your head?!” I tried not to roll my eyes in an obvious way as I briefly answered, “That’s not yoga, that is contortionism.” So off we went, instead of a silent three hours with my book, I had a lively conversation with a stranger about mindfulness, and balancing flexibility with strength, working within a healthy range of motion and so on.
By the time I landed, I had realized that my understanding of yoga was unique. Over the years of teaching, I created movement based on the most current safe techniques and ideas in physiology and anatomy, a blend of ancient Eastern and Western philosophy, and modern cognitive therapy. Spira Power Yoga became different from yoga elsewhere. You would think I would have figured it out sooner. So many of you since Spira opened come back from vacation, and say; “I just cannot find another studio like Spira.”
It took me a while to believe and realize that what we created at Spira Power Yoga is different in quality and technique. You can read more about the M3B® method that underlies Spira Power Yoga®’s teaching methodology in this link.
So where do I go from here? I see a book in my future, a book on Spira’s method of yoga written for yoga teachers as well for practitioners as self-help.
I do not know if I ever see a physical expansion. Seattle is so expensive currently that it is simply prohibitive to think of signing a new lease. I love to teach. I am good at running a business, but I will never sacrifice the quality of my teaching to make more money. I love my West Seattle community, and I hope to keep providing you with many many more years of Spira Power Yoga®!
Thank you for giving me the gift of teaching.
Peace be with you,
Namaste,
Dora Gyarmati – owner, director, educator, and writer
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