Teacher Training

To Teach or Not to Teach?

I never wanted to teach yoga. The idea of teaching a room full of people all at different ability levels, with varying energies and experience didn't sound fun to me. You got Joe over in the corner sweating just thinking about trying to touch his toes, you got Mary up front eager to show everyone the "correct" way to do each asana and then you got Bob who ignores all of what you say and does his own thing in the corner. Ahhh. No thank you. I am however lucky enough to be in Flagstaff where the Mary's and Bobs are few and far between. There are of course Joes but Joes I can handle.

So what changed your mind you might ask? Why teach yoga now? Well truthfully it was the experience of teaching yoga itself that changed my mind. After just a few times of , "oh come on teach me please", I was hooked. I was even told I would glow after teaching. Sharing something that is such a personal experience can be a scary thing. Here are some pointers from my experience as well as from the teacher training for anyone who is interested in teaching or just deepening their practice of yoga:

• Practice! It is important to teach from your personal practice. Why? Because we always teach best what we know from personal experience. If you stay committed to your practice of yoga doors will begin to open up.

• Teach from the heart. This is related to teaching from your personal practice but different in that it is important to teach what moves you and not what you think others are expecting to be taught. There is a balance here. It is important to consider the experience, physical limitations, and state of each student in the class and conform your approach to them while maintaining the theme of what is meaningful to you as the teacher.

• Learn the history and traditions behind yoga including some Sanskrit. Why? Because it gives you the opportunity to connect the dots. There are many many many translations of the Yoga Sutras and other yoga texts. Learn some Sanskrit and figure how what they mean to you. This allows you to teach from your experience of what it all means.

• Learn some anatomy. You don't have to run out and get a doctoral degree in anatomy although it would be helpful. But at least familiarize yourself with basic anatomy and how the asanas are different for different bodies. Why? Because it will help you in your own practice to make deeper connections to what is going on inside your skin and it will help educate you so no one gets hurt. Yoga is for healing not hurting.

• Find a good teacher! We are all still learning on this path of yoga and even the teacher needs a teacher. There is always someone who knows more. Continue to challenge yourself by finding someone who can help guide you along the way.

What is meaningful for me? The themes I am currently exploring in my personal practice are acceptance, compassion, devotion, and ease in effort. Acceptance for my physical limitations due to injury on the mat and acceptance of all those around me off the mat; because really we are all the same and merely at different places on our paths. Compassion and love of myself on the mat so that I am able to share that compassion for others off the mat. I do believe it is compassion that tears down barriers we build between ourselves. If we are able to accept someone for who they are it becomes easier to have compassion for them despite any actions we may not agree with. Devotion. For me devotion is to my practice of yoga. It's warm in bed and cold and dark out there but I get up anyway and practice. I'm tired and grumpy and feel irritable towards this person but I search for compassion anyway because I am dedicated to practicing yoga no matter how many steps back I may experience. Ease in effort. I am always searching for ease in my effort during my asana practice. Sometimes I find it. Sometimes I don't but I always try to remain aware of it on and off the mat. It's a special moment when I suddenly realize I can try a little less and breathe a little more. I forget now and then and find myself stressing over my to do lists but of course it is a practice.

Do you "DO" Yoga?

Do You “Do” Yoga?

Many of us have been asked this question, and many of us may have stumbled in our attempt to answer. While this question is certainly innocuous, it is also powerfully evocative in the thoughts it triggers: what does it mean to “do” yoga?

Certainly in a studio class, our yoga practice includes the asanas (physical poses) but for many yogis, their practice simultaneously values and transcends the asanas; they find their practice when standing in line at the grocery store just as much as when they are in Warrior I on their mats. After all, isn’t the practice of yoga about our awareness, our mindfulness, ability to focus, and our willingness to look at ourselves with honest eyes and minds and know when we may need to slow down, wake up, or stop and take a few deep breaths?

Depending on how we approach the question if we “do” yoga, we will often hear others, or ourselves, say something to the effect of being “good” at it: as in “I’m not very good at yoga” or “You must be really good!” With the sentiment of “good” people likely mean that you must be a real-life version of Gumby in your “bendiness” and/or of Herculean strength to lift yourself into Scorpion. But, really, what good does any of the physical skill mean if the same person is rude on the road? And it is at this point where there is a sort of reckoning in our practice: we balance ourselves with the physical practice of engaging our “edge” to inhabit the strongest, healthiest body we possibly can, and the trust that our practice of yoga is much more than our physical ability. For better or worse, there is no clear path to this balancing act, which is the winding beauty of each individual’s practice of yoga. Perhaps we support the delineations of different types of yoga and subscribe ourselves expressly to one style; or perhaps our practice disregards such categories and instead sees in each style valuable, unifying principles of yoga. Regardless, we can learn more about ourselves and how we practice by taking time to reflect. This practice, this journey, will ask for many things: the least of which is honesty, patience, and a willingness to be open to receive our individualized answers.

So I know how I may humbly answer the question whether I “do” yoga: with every breath. And as for being “good”, I choose to look past the word and rather trust that I constantly apply effort in my practice—sometimes this is remembering to practice awareness as I extend through my fingertips in Warrior I and sometimes it is remembering to practice patience when I’m standing in what feels like an interminable line in the grocery. I trust that if I apply genuine effort and awareness, I will be where I need to be when it is time. This is my practice of yoga: what is yours?

Please send in questions, comments, concerns, etc. so that this can be the beginning of a thread found in subsequent NAYC newsletters.

30 Day Yoga Challenge Ends Tomorrow!

The following folks have been entered into the raffle! Congrats!

Jordan Buchhagen
Annie Borling
Krista Coquia
Lauren Driebe
Mitch Driebe
Rachel Durben
Mechelle Felsted
Kim Holland
Leslie Hutchinson
Chris Kassar
Karla Kennedy
Eric Marlatt
Sandy Roberge
Ayala Steinitz
Liza VonRosensteil
Michelle Wells
Cathy Wolfe

You still have one more day to take class. Hope to see you!