KEEPING A JOURNAL

SOME THINGS TO PONDER

A student of mine suggested I keep a journal, so a week ago, I began. It has helped me to focus on the here and now and on the important things in my life. Here are some of my insights:

I consider myself very blessed. I have good health, good friends, a roof over my head and enough money in the bank. And, especially,  I have loving and warm children and grand- children.  I am sometimes not kind to them. I talk before I think. (foot and mouth disease)I did this to my daughter last week and it bothered me a lot. So I called her and apologized. She was pleased that I had. 
I have a saying in my car on my visor that is: 
                         T   Is it True
                         H   Is it Helpful
                          I    Is it Inspiring
                         N    Is it Necessary
                         K    Is it Kind
I will post those around my house to remind me.

Then, I was inspired by one of my yoga teachers to pay more attention to all my students and take my ego out of my teaching and just teach. Always wanting to expand ways of appealing to more people. I am a teacher. I love to teach, but without students, I cannot teach. I have, for years, been expounding on the Iyengar emphasis of quality, not quantity. Doing one thing right instead of doing many things wrong. And this is how G-d laughs. He/she has given me wonderful quality in my students, (and I am grateful), but not the quantity I now need to stop running around so much.  I’m looking for more people to come to me in my home. 

Another day, while talking with a new friend, I came to see that I want to leave this life like I came into it; loving and open to learning without losing my mental faculties.

Please share.

Dena Glazer
Certified Iyengar Teacher
Licensed Massage Therapist
786-253-3060
Sunrise, FL

Journals From My Heart
Dena Glazer, Feb 2, 2015
Approaching my 81st birthday , Feb 7.

I have had a phenomenal 81st year!  Inspired by Yoga.

Just recently, Rosa, one of my teachers, paid me the ultimate compliment. She overlooked me in class while mentioning the other teachers as helpers in the class. In the past, my monkey mind would have had resentful thoughts. But I just let it pass and continued to do my yoga. That was really big for me. Later on in the class, she saw me helping another student and quickly said, Oh! You were so quiet, I forgot you were here. She loudly acknowledged me as able to help, too. After class, I thanked her, and she said, ‘You have mastered the art of being invisible.’ You come to class and work deeply with your own understanding of what you can and cannot do.  I had never thought  that sometimes one can fade into the crowd and become invisible. I realized then that I had touched on “being” my yoga in that moment.

I have more dedication to become stronger in my practice. The older I get, the harder I have to work to maintain what I have and adjust to what I do not have, health-wise.

I have found a community of local teachers who have respect for what I know that they have never heard, or looked at in the way I do. We need to listen to our teachers. Hear what they are saying. I am blessed to work with them. They have much to teach me, and I, them.

I am grateful to Rosa, owner of  Yogarosa, Pom & Enrique, owners of  Miami Beach Iyengar Yoga Center, and to Edwin, owner of Yoga That. And to their students and teachers who have supported and respected me by encouraging me to teach and share my knowledge with them. This is why I am proud to be an Iyengar teacher. We are actually helping so many others to help themselves through the integrity we have had instilled in us through our own studies and practice. I have learned from every class and every teacher as well.

Feb 8, 2015

I also want to thank all the many people who sent me good wishes yesterday. I heard from over 45 people. This includes many of my fellow learners from Temple Israel in Miami where I studied Kaballah for 13 years with rabbi  Mitchell Chefitz.  Yoga and Judiaism (liberal) have almost parallel beliefs and 'do's and don't's'. I enjoyed combining the two. Both emphasize good health and constant practice. And also my long term friends from far and near. I love you all.