Lovesick Over Teaching

I am a newly qualified teacher who is having trouble switching off my brain and going to sleep! I love my practice, but I'm living it 24 hours a day. I go to bed tired and, rather than sleeping, I lay awake thinking about the classes I taught, or about my own practice. I wake up several times a night thinking about postures, and I dream about asanas. Instead of eight hours sleep each night, I feel as if I'm practicing an extra eight hours a day. How can I get some rest and avoid a total burnout before I've even established myself?
—Mandy

Read Aadil Palkhivala's response:

Dear Mandy,

I remember when I first fell in love. I could not sleep because I kept thinking about my beloved. Whenever we are madly in love with something and are unable to see the bigger picture, our subconscious mind is stimulated and reminds us of our infatuation constantly.

Please remember the bigger picture: Asana is not yoga. Asana forms an introduction to yoga for the physical body. Eventually, asana opens the channels of energy that flow through the body so that yoga can be practiced. Asana is not life; asana gives us the ability to enjoy life in the physical body. I sincerely suggest that you take some deep breaths and realize that life is much bigger than asana.

I also suggest that you find additional aspects of life to pour your passions into. I express my passions in writing, reading poetry, and educating myself in many different fields. Thus one passion alone does not control my subconscious mind.

Also, I recommend the following practice, which you should do just before going to bed. Take a few deep breaths. As you inhale, inhale peace and wideness into the nervous system. As you exhale, breath out the memories of your day. Do this several times until your brain becomes calm and centered, and then go to sleep.

Above all, remember that when you think too much about your classes or your practice, it is time to smile and remind yourself that life is more than your practice, and that yoga is not the posture you are doing, but the change you are becoming.

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