Why I Called Myself Out in Front of My Students

It’s true- I was teaching last Friday and my phone was ringing in class .

It was one of my worst fears. I am careful, very careful with my phone around the yoga studio. In fact, I keep my phone on silent most of the time whether I am teaching or not.

For those of you who practice with me, you see me use my iPhone as a tool. It helps me makes sure that I am on time for class, it holds my best playlists for class, and I even have a special note with all of my favorite inspirational quotes to read before class starts.

I was so excited for my meditation on Friday… I had a great quote to get class started. I had led the class through a short meditation, we were sending away our offerings. That’s when my worst nightmare happened… my phone started ringing! Ring-a-ling. Is anyone home?

Seriously, I was mortified. I call out people anytime a phone is ringing in class. If I see as student trying to sneak a text, I am the first to call them out. Phones do not belong in yoga class… unless you are using it as your music player.

Besides being completely embarrassed and calling my own bad self out in class, I think this can be a huge lesson not only for me but for all of us. We come to yoga to disconnect and take some time for ourselves. Whether we are teaching or practicing, the point of coming to a yoga class is to focus on being present with the practice and not somewhere else. I do need my phone in order to teach, but I learned a huge lesson, turn the damn phone off before I even walk into the room.