When You Give, You Get

I think my favorite thing about teaching Yoga is the amazing people I've gotten to mee, and yesterday is the best example of all. I was teaching my volunteer class at Hope Lodge, a residence for people from out of state who need a place to stay during cancer treatment. Few people come to this class but yesterday I had the privilege of meeting Barbara, a 72-year-old immigrant from Poland who has been battling cancer for 19 years, through five different places in her body -- colon, uterine, both breasts and now lung -- and who is a Holocaust survivor. Since she had surgery a few days ago on both lungs and can't move or breath very well, our Yoga was extremely gentle and she spent most of the time sharing her incredible experiences with me. How a person has the strength to withstand a lifetime of such intense challenge must truly be from a deep, hard-wired instinct. Later on in the session we were joined by her husband of 54 years, Abe, also a Holocaust survivor, who had survival stories of his own to share. Barbara and Abe live in Florida and they go around to high schools there talking about their experiences. They were gentle, sweet and humorous, and it was deeply moving and humbling to have them share themselves with me. It reminded me once again that so often when I give through teaching, I receive so much more. Om shanti.