100 shared adventures - where to go from here?

100 Posts! I have a hard time believing it, but this is the 100^th post on Is Yoga Legal. From that night in savasana in Tempe, Arizona to a small town on the south island of New Zealand, and every post in between, this has been an adventure. I was unsure what would become of a blog dedicated to yoga and the law. I was unsure of where I would end up, what words would be set forth, and what life would throw at me, and all of us, along the way. One of my friends expressed doubt that there would be sufficient material. Secretly, I agreed with her. But life kept offering new avenues, and conversations kept opening my eyes.

100 posts later, I am sure of one thing: I have learned so much from sharing this community. And for that, I am eternally grateful to everyone who has shared this journey thus far.

This blog was not designed to be a personal blog about my day-to-day affairs but a place to share yoga with stressed out members of the 21^st century. It was to be a place to explore what yoga means to us in a modern world. From the philosophical underpinnings, to injuries from asana, to disaster preparedness, this blog has grown and evolved in ways I never imagined.

There were many reasons I wanted to do a yoga teacher training program. The most “superficial” reason was because I was moving to a new city, where I only had a few friends, and I was working for the Court, so I knew that I would have an 8-5 job, perhaps for the last time in my life. A chance to meet new friends and do something I love was a great kick start. I also wanted to teach at the Juvenile Detention Center in Pima County (yes, they have yoga for the kids there), but they told me I had to be certified. Reason number 2.

The most important reason, however, was because I wanted to deepen my own practice. I wanted to learn. The best way to learn, I have found, is to try to teach others. One reason, of course, is that you have to make it understandable if you are going to try to teach others. But there is more to it than that; it is from teaching that we are challenged by others. Many, many people have shared their comments on this blog, both publicly and privately, and these comments have become deep conversations. I feel as though I have gained so much.

The question is whether this endeavor has offered anything to the world. I hope it has. Those discussions make me think it has. But I want to know what would make it more useful. Do you have ideas for helping create a community? Do you want posts on particular subjects? The facebook page has weekly intentions and daily tips, except sometimes when I am traveling without great internet access.

But what else can this community become? The internet has a way of bringing people from all sorts of backgrounds together. We can engage with one another on so many levels. I have learned a great deal, and after 100 posts, I am positive I want to keep this going, but the direction is anybody’s guess, so what do you want to see happen?

Thank you all for sharing this journey thus far. Through teaching, on and off the interwebs, I have gained so much, learned so much, and changed so much.

Namaste!

© 2011 Rebecca Stahl, all rights reserved