Donation protected
On Thursday, July 28th, I injured my back. Nothing dramatic happened to cause the injury, and yet the pain of it brought me to my knees and was like nothing I had ever experienced. I promptly canceled all of my work at the farm and all of my yoga classes, hoping that after a two-week pause, I would be ready to resume my regular work schedule.
As I close out the second week of my break from teaching, I realize that although my back is doing much better, I am not ready to resume my regular teaching schedule.
The past two weeks have primarily been about pain management and rest. Now that the pain has subsided considerably, I look forward to working with my PT to rebuild the strength and stability that I need to prevent re-injury and enable me to begin teaching again. I will be pausing my classes until after Labor Day to give myself time to heal.
Arriving at this decision has caused me a lot of anxiety and brought up a lot of fear, but my back is telling me every day that it is the right thing to do. I regularly tell my students to listen closely to their bodies and abide by their wisdom. It’s now my turn to listen and to be patient.
I love teaching yoga and creating a space where people can drop into their authentic selves and be in touch with what their body and spirit need. Very shortly after the pandemic started, I began teaching a pretty full schedule online. I was committed to offering classes during this unprecedented and scary time and providing my students with grounding and comfort. I tried to be a reliable and consistent presence that folks could count on when so much else seemed uncertain.
It is an honor to hold that space for you and something that I hope to continue to do for many years to come. It is a vocation that I adore and one that comes with lots of challenges.
Yoga teachers, whether working for a studio or ourselves, do not have sick days, any kind of paid leave, or health benefits. When I can't teach, I have no income coming in. I buy insurance from the state marketplace, but it does not cover the care I now need, so with the encouragement and urging of friends, I have created this fundraiser.
As a thank you, I am sharing a link to some of my online classes that were compiled early on in the pandemic. They are geared towards beginners and have a bit of explanation at the beginning that you can probably bypass, but you might find them helpful in carrying you through these next few weeks. You can access them for free with the link below:
With gratitude and love,
Mimi
Organizer
Mimi Budnick
Organizer
Providence, RI