Yoga Teachers Need Yoga Too: A Morning in Popoyo

There are a lot of great things about being a yoga teacher.

There’s the community of other teachers who value movement and presence. There’s the accountability that comes with committing to a regular practice. There’s watching the transformation that happens between the moment students walk into a class and the moment they leave.

But one of my favorite parts about teaching yoga is the transformation I go through.

And sometimes, it’s nice to be reminded what it feels like to be the student.

The other day, I decided to join my friend Linda’s yoga class here in Popoyo. When we arrived, I was the only student.

I told her she absolutely did not have to hold the class just for me, but she insisted.

At first, we thought it might be fun to teach each other a little bit. But somewhere along the way, her teacher role took over and she ended up guiding me through the entire class.

Which makes sense, because her class is called Deep Slow Flow.

And deep we went.

The waves were crashing behind her. The ocean breeze was moving through the space. And there I was, doing yoga by the beach on a random Thursday morning in Nicaragua.

Sometimes I have to remind myself how lucky I am that this is normal life here.

When Your Body Reminds You It's Time to Practice

I had been feeling tight before class.

Since the yoga studio where I normally teach, Mag Rock, is closed for the slow season, I haven’t been teaching nearly as much.

And if I’m being completely honest, my at-home yoga practice is never quite the same as my teaching practice.

Neither is my presence.

I’m not ashamed to admit that this yogi might be slightly addicted to her WhatsApp notifications.

But when I teach, I’m there. I’m grounded. I’m present.

And because my home practice had been lacking lately, my body was starting to feel it too.

That’s the thing about developing a regular yoga practice: once your body knows what it feels like to move consistently, it definitely lets you know when you stop.

At one point Linda looked at me and said, “Since you’re a yoga teacher, I’m going to do some stuff I don’t normally do.”

Uh-oh.

Soon she had me twisted, stretched, and folded like a pretzel.

And I was loving every second of it.

From Deep Flow to Deep Relaxation

By the time we reached Savasana, my body already felt completely different.

Then Linda came over and gave me a gentle neck and vagus nerve massage.

With my eyes closed, I suddenly saw the color red.

Then she moved down to my feet and pressed into the arch of my foot.

Light blue rushed across my vision.

I thought I had been relaxed and grounded before.

But when I finally got up after class, I felt like I was vibrating on an entirely different frequency.

And that is one of the things I love most about yoga.

You can walk into a class carrying tension you barely realized was there—physical, mental, emotional—and an hour later, something has shifted.

Sometimes dramatically.

Sometimes subtly.

But you leave a little different than you arrived.

Take a Yoga Class in Popoyo with Linda

If you’re looking for relaxing yoga near the beach in Popoyo, Nicaragua, you can catch Linda teaching at Surf 99.

She also offers private yoga sessions at SoulTribe Healing Center, which is a great option if you want a more personalized practice while you’re visiting or living in the Popoyo area.

And if your body has been quietly telling you it needs to move, stretch, breathe, and slow down…

Maybe this is your reminder to listen.