Meet Laureen Smith
Where was the first yoga class you took and what
made you return to yoga?
My first class was with JJ Gormley
at the Old Town Athletic Club in Alexandria over 10 years
ago. My brother had suggested I try yoga, so after a
session of weight lifting at OTAC, I did. And I was hooked.
Like so many people, I just felt so good after savasana.
I felt really whole, grounded, alive, healthy, and I
thought, this is for me!
You are also a minister. Please talk a little about how
yoga and ministry blend together. Or what challenges
it may bring, if any.
To me, both ministry and teaching yoga are about accompanying
people on this wild and wooly journey called life. It's
not so much about religious systems or sets of beliefs,
but rather it's about being with people as they experience
the meaning and the depth of what it is to be human.
I often say that in being a minister, I am no different than anyone else - struggling with the same concerns, asking the same questions, cel-ebrating the same joys - but as someone who is ordained, I live my spiritual journey out in plain view. In public, if you will. Spirituality isn't a private thing for me. It's about how I live my day by day, and those choices that lead to growth, hope, love, and wholeness. This is true with yoga as well. Being a teacher means that I'm on the same journey as my students, but I'm also willing to share that journey publi-cally - showing my joys and my challenges.
What book have you read recently that you enjoyed,
and why would you recommend it?
Per usual, I'm reading
about 4 books at a time. I often read several philosophy/spiritual
books, along with fiction at any one time. I'm enjoying RoIf
Gates' Meditations from the Yoga Mat, as
well as a truly lovely novel by Takashi Matsuoka Cloud
of Sparrows. Matsuoka's
words allow me to enter into 19th century Japan at
the time of great cultural change. Matsuoka does
such a beautiful job blending together Japanese and
American paradigms of honor, history, value, spirituality,
and love that I feel transport-ed and awed.
What yoga pose has been giving you a challenge?
For
about a year now I've been rather irritated with
(thus exploring rather regularly) Sarvan-gasana
(or Shoulderstand.) Since Sarvangasana translates
to posture of the whole body," I've been working
less on getting up into the pose and holding it there,
than on just how and in what way
each part of my body is engaged.
I've tried to give my ego a little rest (not always an easy thing to do, I assure you!), and go back to using a strap, blankets or shoulder-stand blocks, and the wall. I've noticed that when I take my time and slowly inch my way into it bit by bit, each part of my body indeed becomes more and more connected to the whole! I've enjoyed really opening up my chest and letting the external rotation of my shoul-ders and arms be my firm base, not worrying whether my feet are at the wall or not. For me, playing in the poses are deeply necessary for emotional, spiritual, and physical growth.
What gives you the greatest joy in teaching?
Oh, there are so many things to choose from!! I've
been opening and closing my classes chanting the
Gayatri Mantra which seems to knit the class together
in profound ways. Right now I'm basking in the deep
sense of peace that I feel at the end of class as
students sink into savasana after the chant.