Community that is not just lip service

Some of you might not know this, but I (Leslie) used to be an elementary school teacher. Yes, for a good few years, I taught a lot of grade 7 and 8 (I like living on the edge, what can I say) in a few different schools in KW. One thing that was heavily emphasized during my time in teachers’ college, and as a new teacher, was community.

I heard a lot of talk in the school system about coming together as a family. But at the one critical point when I found myself in a troubling and very challenging classroom situation, the support I needed was sorely missing. All that talk felt like empty lip service.

This lack was made particularly poignant because at the same time that my faith in that life was deteriorating, I was being shown the true meaning of community in another context. At what was then called Queen Street Yoga, I was volunteering, taking class, and all the while, observing the action behind the scenes of Leena & Emma’s first yoga teacher training.

For a few years, I got to witness (and benefit from) so much genuine care put into building and holding a real community in the shape of a long-term learning container. There were a lot of hugs in the staff room, endless carefully worded emailing, generous accommodations, plenty of extra help, and sharing food, clothes, childcare and studio space as it was needed.

This spirit of connection underpins everything, and it reliably seeps into the whole group. Here are a few of this year’s students talking about what it’s been like to access community (even when we had to pivot to a completely online weekend this past January due to Omicron).

Our next 250-hour teacher training will run October 2022 through June 2023. Curious about what it might be like? Come out to our Info Session on Thursday, April 21 at 7:15pm. Just like the program, you can choose online or in-studio. When you sign up, you also get a free drop-in class to enjoy. I’ll be teaching the Slow Flow at 6:00pm just prior to the info session, and I’m gonna make it a special one.

Hope to see you soon,
Leslie