a sad goodbye

I said goodbye to a sweet, sweet yogi today. I scoured my yoga pictures looking for a shot of Hiromi and this is the only one I had. That's her in the middle. I wish you could see her bright brown eyes are and the big smile that she always had on her face.

Hiromi was one of of my most faithful students. She came to class four days a week, always. She would come to the early classes while her children were at school. She brought her teenage daughter to class several times, and introduced other Japanese friends to Barefoot Works. She even brought a friend that was visiting from Japan, saying that she wanted to experience "American yoga." She was such an advocate for yoga and for the studio. I'm still amazed to this day at how quickly she progressed with her yoga practice.

After not seeing Hiromi in class for a few weeks I sent her an email to see how she was doing and let her know that I missed not seeing her in class. She emailed me back and said that her husband had been transferred back to Japan for work. She had been busy selling things, packing and preparing for the big move.

After teaching today's class I was so happy to see Hiromi coming up the stairs to say goodbye. Not happy to see her go, but happy to give her a hug and let her know how much she would be missed and thought of. And she was, as sincere and sweet as ever. Thanking me profusely and telling me that she would miss the studio and all the people that were so nice to her. And she said the five words that makes this yoga teacher's heart flutter...."I've been practicing at home." She also told me that I needed to come to Japan and teach yoga sometime. I told her that I would love to, should I ever be in that "neck of the woods".

Hiromi was such a small, petite gal, but she packed a lot of power in addition to grace and charm. I'm sad to see her go, but so happy that I had the privilege of getting to know her...all through the practice of yoga.