Yoga in Japanese

We are starting to slowly build a routine here at Misawa.  The kids mostly love to play outside in the big green area behind our house.  They look for kids outside and run to join them. I am glad that kids are so willing to jump right in with each other.  It helps make the transition easier in this military life.  It has been rainy for the last few days.  The weather is very different than Las Vegas and I find myself wishing we could go to the outdoor pool in the heat.  Why do I always miss what I leave behind and do I appreciate things in the moment? I am appreciating the free time the kids have to just play like kids in the trees, the grass, and the green.  The kids are taking lessons this summer which helps to structure our days. Pants has ballet, Bear has ballet and lyrical, and Bub has karate.  They each have various summer camps as well.  I always like to keep busy.

            I taught my first yoga class at the Potter Fitness Center today.  I taught three lovely Japanese women who spoke very little English. Couple this with my very little Japanese and it made for an interesting experience.  Misawa Air Force base holds three US military branches, Air Force, Army, and Navy, and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.  I was excited to be able to mingle with the Japanese people and learn about their culture.  I have been listening to Japanese for three months and we are taking a Japanese Survival Language class on base. The only thing this has helped me with is recognizing some words/phrases and my pronunciation of common greetings.  I have little confidence in my ability to actually converse.  I did use my greetings with the ladies and was able to count to five in Japanese.  I quickly realized that I would need to learn Right (migi) and Left (hidari) in Japanese.  I found myself demonstrating more of the asanas because I did not know how to communicate the transitions and adjustments. I was hoping that Sanskrit, the yoga language, could help to bridge my gap, but the teacher before me did not use Sanskrit.  So we will all be learning together.  Just when I think I have this teaching down, there is another challenge for me to work through. Arigato and Namaste!

Color Run on the 4th of July at the Base beach, Lake Ogawara