A New Motto?

    I recently gave an extra credit assignment to my college students. The assignment was to watch one of two shows on Netflix: Hungry for Change or Enlighten Up! Quick sidebar: Enlighten Up! is a movie about one guy's journey to find out if he commits to a yoga practice how his life might change, and Hungry for Change is a movie about the food industry and eating healthier; pretty diverse topics on the surface. It's been my experience in the past that many of the students at the college don't take assignments seriously from a junior college yoga teacher. The work that many have turned in to me in the past has been underwhelming to say the least. I'm afraid I've become jaded when I give out homework at the college (full disclosure: I stopped reading their assignments). I told myself I was too busy (isn't that the most cliché excuse?) and that I knew what I was going to find anyway. Last semester I gave out a similiar assignment and instead of reading each paper I simply glanced over them to make sure they had dotted all their i's and crossed all their t's and then gave them credit. As I sat down with the papers in front of me I noticed one student had made a cover sheet that was quite professional and he had placed his work into a plastic sleeve to assure safe delivery. What kind of schmuck would I be if I didn't even read that one? Then it dawned on me that each student had taken their time to watch what I suggested, to type out their opinions about what they had seen, with the expectation that I would at least read them. Didn't they deserve for me to take a little time out of my oh so “busy” day to read what they had written? Of course the answer is YES!

    I found the usual suspects when I began to peruse the papers: pages filled with empty facts trying to kill some space so they could be done, facts mixed up, skewed perceptions, words misspelled (how does that even happen with spell check?), and then I happened on a genuinely sincere paper. This particular student is a young, single mom who took offense at some of the issues presented in Hungry for Change. At one point the documentary says something like, “feeding your children cereal is like feeding them heroin.” The producers are talking about the high sugar content, as well as the GMO's (genetically modified organisms), that can be found in many cereals. I continued to read and noticed a pattern taking shape. In paper after paper students were waffling between defensive and self-deprecating about their life choices after watching this film. I found myself instinctually making notes on some of the pages, words of encouragement, gentle corrections when they were misinformed, yet, I don't even return these papers. Hmmm? Still not sure of what to do with the sense that I had somehow done them a disservice, I continued to read on. I picked up the next paper which happened to be on Enlighten Up! Krystal wrote the usual fare at first; what the documentary was about, the characters, how she felt about it, and then she WOWed me. In fact, what she wrote is going to be my new motto for life. Krystal said that what she took from the Gurus was “Yoga practice is simply to become better, whatever your version of better may be.” SHAZAM! This was the answer. I went in the next day and wrote Krystal's line on the mirror with a bar of soap. I had to improvise since I have no whiteboard. I told them I noticed a theme that was insidiously weaving its way through many of the papers I had read, as well as in yoga classes around the west, and that is that many of us believe we aren't quite good enough. I read the line again and then asked if they had changed any habits based on our discussions, the documentaries, asana practice. I received a resounding nod to indicate “yes” (they don't say much). So it seems to me that the answer is simple; just be the best “you” you can be today and stop worrying. I like to think my students got it, but, if not, I know Krystal and I did.