At this time, ten years ago, I spent the bulk of my work week teaching private sessions in Toronto. Despite having clients spread out all over city, I was determined NOT to waste my time sitting in traffic.

If you know Toronto, you know traffic is nearly impossible to avoid. Between road closures, one-way streets, inconvenient merge lanes, and volume-driven gridlock, most people in the city come to accept that you'll spend more time sitting in your car than actually driving it.

But if you know me, you know I love being the exception to the rule. So while everyone else is stuck in traffic, I'll use every trick in the book to avoid the same fate.

I used to start with the obvious, opting for side streets instead of main thoroughfares. I'd choose speed bumps and stop signs over traffic lights any day of the week—unless it was garbage day, in which case, I'd have to engage Plan B.

Plan B leveraged my mental map of alleyways that, over years of practice, became etched into my brain. I knew every cut-through south of Bloor Street, as far west as Lonsdale and as far east as Greenwood. I knew which ones were dead-ends, and which ones barely left enough room for two cars to squeeze past each other. I remembered which ones weren't plowed in the winter, and which had potholes big enough to swallow my trusty Volkswagen Rabbit.

I internalized that map through trial and error. Mistakes were made. Once, in a dark alleyway in Rosedale—after I'd thankfully had my last session of the day—I swerved to avoid a racoon and drove the front passenger-side wheel of my car over the edge of an opening to a stairwell that led to a basement apartment. Thanks to front wheel drive and that one tire hanging over the rim of the stairwell, my car got 100% stuck. Needless to say, my roadside assistance membership came in handy that night.

When Nick and I started dating, it didn't take long for him to notice that I drove with a certain je ne sais quoi. I never relied on Google or Waze to tell me where to go. He repeatedly told me that I'd make more money as an Uber driver. My intuitive sense of where and when to turn made me look like a superhero—especially when we were late for something. If you know the story about the time we stole a bike (back), it should come as no surprise that I was the getaway driver.

Despite driving this way for years and coincidentally starting a business called Yoga DETOUR (lol) it never occurred to me that the way I drive was the perfect analogy for the way I teach a class.

But during a 5-day Yoga Detour intensive in Melbourne, one of the participants said something at the end of the week that stuck with me.

"It feels like, up until now, I've been teaching with GPS. I've been trusting something else to make my decisions. But now, I feel like I not only know where I want to go—I know a zillion ways to get there. I can choose whatever way I want to go based on whatever the class needs that day."

🤯 🤯 🤯 🤯 🤯

HELL. YES.

Teaching with GPS = relying on the scripts you learned in teacher training, or trusting a predetermined sequence more than you trust yourself.

In the same way you might use GPS in a foreign country, those scripts served you well at first, when you needed them. But if you never turn OFF the GPS and truly learn your way around, do you ever really know where you are, or where you're going?

When you step on your mat—whether it's to teach, or to guide your own practice—my hope is that you feel just as empowered as I did from behind the wheel of my VW.

You don't just have a plan to get where you're going.

You have the means to pivot accordingly when needed.

If that sounds like the kind of teacher you want to be—and you're not already Detour trained—you'll get there with Detour Method Online, which I'm relaunching in September as a 4-month training called The Movement Map. Add your name to the waitlist for first dibs on what's going to be the first live cohort of this program since the pandemic.

In the meantime, let's move together.

Here are this week's class recommendations:

​Strength Snack 2.0 (NEW!) (28 min) - A sub-30 min strength class that requires minimal space or equipment while targeting the full body: core, glutes, and upper body.
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​SI-igh of Relief (50 min) - Explore how different movements influence your SI joint and lower back to build greater awareness of what your body benefits from most.
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​BAM: Shoulder Mobility (20 min) - Squeeze 20 minutes of movement into your day that your shoulders will be grateful for.
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​Sidebum Salute (27 min) - Light a proverbial fire under your literal tush with this quick practice.
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​Core Subsystems Movement Bite w/ Drew (15 min) - A visually simple, but practically difficult little series of movements in classic Drew style.

See you on the mat,

Cecily

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