Good news! The last time I taught my class, I had the biggest turnout ever. The students I'd been missing recently returned—and some even brought friends! After six months of teaching, I'm finally beginning to see some positive momentum. I have a base of students who come regularly. I get question emails from potential students every now and then. I even have one student who is using my class to get credit for her high school physical education requirement. Life is good!

There's only one problem. More students means more interaction between students. And in a class of teenage girls, that means more whispering, more talking, and more giggling. So I'm learning how to make sure the environment is fun, safe, welcoming, open, and orderly all at the same time, which can be challenging.

That said, I am loving the giggles.

A few weeks ago, I decided it was the perfect time to introduce my young students to Ujjiyi breath. I teach a lot of vinyasa-like sequences, so I wanted to show them how to really use their breath to help. I asked them to practice breathing as if they were going to fog up a mirror first, then again with their mouths closed.

As we tried the first round. I watched them look to both sides to see if the other students were participating. (Most of them had this classic my-teacher-is-insane look on their face, but they tried it anyway, bless their hearts.) Then, I asked them to try it with their mouths closed. I noticed I didn't hear any breathing but my own, so I asked if everything was OK. One student let out a gasp of air. "Wait. Are we supposed to be breathing out our noses now?"

I had forgotten to tell them that they were supposed to push the air out of their nostrils instead of their mouths. We all erupted into laughter for several minutes. In the end, I think we all learned a lesson about the importance of breathing—and the importance of laughter.