10,000 Vinyasas » teaching

Really Fun Practice!

carl — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:44:22 +0000

Ok, I’ve done this once before, when the gym I teach at had no yoga classes on a holiday (4th of July), and after hearing my students lamenting that fact, I came up with the idea of an informal practice, where I would go through much of Primary Series, not teach but just call out the names of the poses and those who showed up would just follow along. That worked well, and after detecting some similar interest on Sunday for Labor Day, I decided to repeat it. I had 6 show up this morning, one a woman who brought her young daughter who’d never practiced yoga, and we went through my “basic” practice, which is Suryanamascara A/B, all the standing poses, paschimottanasana, purvattanasana, and then skip to setu bandasana, backbends, and then the closing sequence, which takes about 55 minutes. I had a great time, and I think my students did too. I am inspired by my students enthusiasm and their willingness to keep practicing; another benefit of teaching I would have never experienced had I not taken that leap forward 2 1/2 years ago. It’s difficult to find the words to adequately describe the amazement and fulfillment I experience both from the practice itself, and the teaching and all the other experiences which seem to spontaneously come from it.

Injury Update

carl — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:43:38 +0000

I think the shoulder is completely healed, a combination of rehabilitation (Airrosti) and me being careful in practice. At any rate, we did 3 kickovers in a row at acro today without issue, and I believe it’s time to move on. Anticipating tomorrow’s practice with hope and enthusiasm. A death in the family this week caused me to miss some practice, and I was especially glad to get back to it; it feels like your body truly needs this and suffers when it is not available. Teaching notes: I am starting my fourth weekly class tomorrow, and intend for it to be a more vinyasa-style class, in the vein of what my original teacher used to teach. I continue to sub a different class at least once a week, which keeps things fresh and at the same time makes me appreciate my “regulars.” One of the unanticipated pleasures of teaching is watching people make progress. I imagine some of them may not even notice the slow but steady progress, but when you look at the group as a whole and compare them to the students in a subbed class, the difference is noticeable.

The Return To Practice…

carl — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 15:47:16 +0000

Well, I was kind of joking a few posts ago about the “sweatiest practice ever,” but I think yesterday’s return to my Saturday led Primary Series really was, in fact, if not the sweatiest, then certainly up in the top three. Also noted that this practice was done on perhaps the hottest day of the year here. At any rate, brought one of my students along to help him experience a different teacher and environment; he acquitted himself well. My shoulder has almost completely healed, and I did not aggravate it yesterday by jumping back (I am doing this with more awareness now, so I think we can continue without fear of further injury). I had missed the led Primary class quite a bit, and despite some normal difficulties, got through it with a sense of serenity and peacefulness. Looking forward to getting back into more practice, although I may have to attend to my “other” job more than usual this week. In other news, I have picked up a new class at the gym on Saturday mornings, and am scheduled to sub for a teacher at the gymnastics center not far from the house. Acro has been going well, also (pictures to be posted).

A Serious Injury

carl — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 00:57:47 +0000

I have noticed, probably without thinking much about it, that I have recently developed a weakness in my left shoulder, manifesting itself in pain when jumping back into chaturanga. When we resumed acro-yoga this week, I was doing a kickover when I felt a searing pain in the front of the shoulder. I immediately attended to it, and was actually able to do a regular practice of handstands, but the pain has really prevented me from doing my usual yoga practice, and in some of the classes I’ve taught this week, I most obviously cannot jump back in the normal manner. I discovered today that one of the issues was my left hand coming slightly off the floor when jumping back, and consciously planting that hand eliminated the pain. Further healing seems necessary, though, and I have decided to forgo my usual led Primary Series tomorrow and Mysore practice on Sunday. I can do some of my personal practice without straining the shoulder, and my teaching job at the gym enables me to take some rehabilitation without cost, so I have an appointment Monday for some of that. It’s a little discouraging, but I do have a history of using injuries in a positive way, to develop other skills or parts of my body. For acro specifically, we are working on extending my handstands by quite a bit, and that is developing my endurance. I am also emphasizing more of my splits, which are already almost developed, but need a little extra attention. It was kind of upsetting to have to teach in pain this morning after I strained the shoulder again (couldn’t help demonstrating something I shouldn’t), but I do think acro-yoga does slightly help the injury, since the alignment is fixed and the shoulder is worked in that position. Sorry to be so self-centered in this post, but I think it’s valuable to record some of my responses to adversity in addition to the positive ones (which, by the way, outnumber the negative exponentially).

Teaching Cues We Love

carl — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:53:10 +0000

Following a improvisational vinyasa class last week, and hearing an unfamiliar and startling cue, I started thinking about how as yoga teachers, we try to find new ways of inspiring our students to go deeper in their practice or into a particular pose. As yoga students, I am sure we are all familiar with the “aha!” moments when a teacher says just the right thing to help you find your way into a pose, or you leave practice thinking more about some spiritual aspect of yoga that was mentioned. At this point, I thought I would throw the floor open for helpful or inspiring cues that you’ve heard, or used yourself. You can attribute these, or not. I’ll start with a few:

On poses:

“take it to wherever it goes”–Ken Willian

“don’t hurry”–Lisa Long

“no forcing”–Ana Hollis

“surrender to the pose”–unknown (or, mine)

On the breath:

“let me hear you breathing”–Lisa Long

“soften your breath”–Ana Hollis

“without the breath, yoga is just exercise. With the breath, it becomes something else.”—mine

And one of my all-time favorites:

“I just make this crap up”–Meg Stecher

And here’s an original one from me: “some of my language is aspirational”

Now, let’s open the floor to readers…any takers?

Winding Down From Teaching…

carl — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:09:27 +0000

Well, last week I ended up teaching twelve classes, ranging in size from one (twice) to twenty-five. I taught full Primary Series twice, an advanced Ashtanga class with Second Series variations, and several basic or introductory classes. Far from being tedious or tiring, I found this experience to be educational, enlightening and just plain fun! I remember when I first started teaching and was trying to teach three or four classes a week; at that point, it just seemed almost too much, although admittedly some of the classes were not scheduled at convenient times and locations. Seems clear that I’ve come a long way in my teaching progress, and yet I do understand with quite a bit of clarity that it is really important to be able to continue practicing if you teach yoga. Your teaching should be an evolving process, and that can only come through a continuing yoga practice, which is also changing as you learn and move deeper. I have been gradually moving back towards Ashtanga in my yoga practice over the last few months, and I am happy with how that’s going, although the aches and pains of body parts occasionally require my attention. I am working on rehabilitating my knees, and hoping to get back to the correct form of padmasana (I have to draw the left foot in first right now), but I am also trying to remove myself from expectations about this practice and just enjoy the moving meditation.

This week’s schedule calls for only one extra class for me to teach, so I am getting a break, I guess. Hoping to get all three sessions of acro-yoga in before next week; we won’t be practicing for a couple of weeks after.

Teaching The Primary Series

carl — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:25:58 +0000

As mentioned, this week I was called upon to teach Primary Series twice for the very first time in my teaching career. As is true with my entire teaching experience, I found it difficult and rewarding. I have previously posted on the difference between counting the breaths and using descriptive words in teaching Ashtanga, and this week offered an opportunity to explore that. My first class was rather, well, like my first teaching experience: nervous and excited, but with some confidence that I could translate the knowledge I had to my students. After all, I have been teaching a modified version of Primary Series for quite some time, so I only had to add the rest of the series. Of course, I was somewhat awkward in my verbiage with these “new” poses, but everything seemed to work out well–I only forgot a couple. My second try was better. Ten people showed up, some of whom were obviously inexperienced, but they all stayed until the end. I also tried to add in the traditional elements of the led Primary that I have been taking recently, even chanting the opening and closing mantras, even though that is not often done at the gym (for fear of offending those who think we are trying to convert them to the “religion” of yoga). Of course, my counting is far from perfect and I need more experience in counting in Sanskrit beyond Suryanamascara A and B, but overall, it was great fun. I was quite impressed with the students who were new or had limited abilities continuing the class until the end, remembering clearly how ferociously difficult I found the Primary Series when I first encountered it. At any rate, I will be looking for more opportunities to teach Primary in the future. As always, I must express my gratitude to my many teachers who have given of themselves and conveyed their knowledge and skill to my great benefit.

Yoga Teaching Explosion!

carl — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:47:36 +0000

For some reason, probably because so many go on vacation during this month, I find myself with quite a few additions to my teaching schedule; specifically, I will be teaching Sundays and Thursdays at Yoga Shala (Beginning Ashtanga), as well as filling in for a couple of fellow instructors at the gym where I teach. This will give me an opportunity to teach the full Primary Series for the first time, something I’ve been wanting to do. This is the point at which I say, “well, you wanted to teach yoga, right?” Actually, far from dreading my full schedule, I am looking forward to adding to my teaching experience. I have reached the point where I have very little negative feelings from teaching; I feel accomplished enough to have acquired a bit of confidence in my ability to lead a class. In some ways, teaching is a furtherance of your yoga practice and the direct feedback you get is encouraging. I feel lucky enough to have had some really excellent teachers and instruction, and to be able to share that knowledge with others is inspiring and gratifying, in a way that my “other” job is not. I am completely impressed at this point with the direction yoga teaching has taken me, and am curious and eager to find out what’s next. Come by for a class if you find time in your schedule; namaste!

An additional note on practice: one of my favorite teachers is filling in at Yoga Shala at the end of the month, so I will probably have to wander over there a bit more.

Where Yoga Takes You…

carl — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 01:15:22 +0000

Well. I have become aware, since I started my yoga practice about four and a half years ago, that yoga was something different from just another exercise routine. Specifically, yoga takes you places, and yoga brings people together. I know these are somewhat banal, at least to those who practice, but they are and continue to be meaningful aphorisms in my practice and life. The culmination of these thoughts occurred in the past week, when I traveled to a resort south of Cancun, Mexico, and taught yoga there. This arrangement was facilitated by a group called FitBodies, which places fitness instructors including yoga, in resorts around the Caribbean and other places. Basically, the deal is you pay a fee to go teach for a week in an all-inclusive resort, which works out to be a substantial discount to regular prices. Since I have often traveled to the Riviera Maya in search of underwater experiences (i.e., scuba diving), this seemed like something to explore. I chose the most elaborate, expensive resort of all selections and it proved to be an outstanding choice, in quality and service. Everything was as luxurious as I expected from perusing the website, and the level of accommodations, food and service turned out to be simply amazing.

overlooking the pool

My only duty was to teach one class a day, and of course, that was just fun, from my perspective. It also gave me the discipline to practice every morning, before anything else, which I have not done before or at least in a long time. At any rate, it was quite an enjoyable experience, and enhanced by the fact that I got to teach a number of people who hadn’t practiced yoga before. One couple came faithfully and worked hard for the two days we had with them, and repaid me at the end by paying for my scuba dive! I would be more surprised, but I have also noticed that teaching and practicing yoga tends to produce these kind of experiences. Soooo, what I found was that yoga had taken me to a luxurious seaside resort and enabled me to take a quite excellent scuba dive, and all without any effort on my part. It also helped that the scuba dive was exceptionally exciting, since the currents were very strong, and the dive master who accompanied me actually drove from Playa del Carmen a couple of days after that to take my yoga class. All in all, a wonderful trip, and one I will certainly repeat at the earliest opportunity.

Teaching Update

carl — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:55:00 +0000

I am teaching this week at a resort south of Cancun. I’m intending to post a more detailed explanation of how I got here and my experiences soon but just to say today, it has been a wonderful experience and yet another example of how yoga just takes you places, opens doors, and connects you to people. If you are considering a yoga practice, do not wait, just do it now!