First Epic Fail as a Yoga Instructor

Last night I was faced with a situation that I should have reacted very differently to. I knew what to do. I have been taught how to handle such a situation but I let ego get in her way and I'm afraid I wasn't true to the yoga I know.

The situation was thus: having seen a friend of mine do a very bad wheel pose, I offered to teach him how to do it correctly and give him some adjustments. We went to a grassy spot and tried to do so. 

Many things were wrong with this situation. First, I was teaching yoga as though it is just a bunch of cool tricks that I can teach one at a time. That is not the case. Yoga is a tapestry and each thread is important to the picture. You can't hold one up and admire the color and call it yoga. Second, I had not inquired diligently into the experience of my friend. I knew him to be an athlete and strong enough to do what I thought would be a simple pose for him. I didn't take into account his utter lack of flexibility in his back. Third, I didn't listen to the signs of challenge. He was asking me to teach him not because he wanted to learn yoga or even get the benefits of yoga but because he wanted a challenge and was feeling competitive. I betrayed the yoga I know because I tried to throw it in front of someone I should have known wasn't ready for it. 

I taught him the pose and he said it was painful. And then I tried to adjust him in child's pose and he said even that was painful. This man had obviously not done a lick of yoga and so did not have the foundational breathing or alignment to get anything out of even the simplest pose I could give him. It was like I told him to fry and egg but didn't give him a pan or heat or butter to do so. I just cracked the egg in his hand and, not surprisingly, he tossed it away. 

This was a hard experience for me. I tried to defend yoga and was easily hit down. Not because yoga is wrong or even wrong for him, but because I took it to a place it shouldn't have been and I misrepresented it. I have learned that I must have the patience and fortitude to let people know that I will teach a class in the proper setting and time and if they won't take that, I need to let it go and let them come to yoga on their own time. I can't convince everyone that yoga is happiness. Everyone will come to it in their own time. I have also learned/been reminded that I need to give them the essentials to fry an egg before cracking gooey stuff in their hands. 

I hope I will never react to such a situation as I did last night. It left me frustrated and broken. I feel so sad for the impression of yoga I must have left with this man and I eagerly pray for an opportunity to amend my stupidity.
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