I really enjoy back-bends. Sitting at a desk all day leaves my spine in a less than ideal condition. I also have a few minor neck injuries that feel a lot better when I practice lots of back-bends
In fact, I’ve recently made it a habit to fit in a good array of back-bends into my home practice, even when I only have 20 or 30 minutes for a quick session. I’ll do a few Sun A’s and B’s, transition into a few twists (usually Twisting Crescent Lunge and Twisting Chair) and then start out with the back-bends. The focal point is usually 3 Wheels held for 5 long breaths each.
At the end of this short home practice, I always feel great. I also notice that doing backbends on a daily basis keeps my spine more supple throughout the day. My neck and shoulders are far less tense, and when I do make it into the studio, I don’t feel super stiff.
I just wrapped up the 4-day Baptiste Power Yoga Assisting Workshop in Cambridge, MA. The event was a great follow-up to Level 1 and 2 trainings earlier this year.
Throughout the course we learned anatomy, practical assisting techniques as well as exercises in “being present” and assisting with clean energy and intent. There was plenty of learning by doing as well….with partner work and even the chance to assist an entire 90-minute class!
Coming away from this workshop I’ve been reminded of a few things that will greatly improve my assisting going forward.
Assisting starts before you ever lay your hands on someone. Your presence in the room, awareness of the students and presence to their unique condition are all important factors in assisting.
Breathing is the moment powerful assist. Just standing next to someone and breathing can greatly improve students experiences.
Every body is unique. We all have the same skeletal structure, but the bones are not arranged in the same way. Respect the differences in the human bodies you touch.
I’ll get to apply my new assisting techniques on Tuesday when I assist an introductory class at Shakti Vinyasa.
I’m in Cambridge, MA attending a Baptiste Power Yoga assisting workshop. Over the next four days we’ll learn how to safely and effectively guide students into poses through hands-on assists and other techniques.
I’ve done assisting training at my studio (and current assist two classes per week), but figure this would be a great chance to learn additional techniques while also reconnecting with friends from my Level 1 and Level 2 teacher trainings this summer.
I arrived last night and immediately went to the 5:45pm class at the Cambridge Baptiste Studio to settle in. Boy was that a hot class! One of the hottest Baptiste classes I’ve taken in fact. It was a great practice, especially after spending all day on a plane.
This morning we started the program at 8am, and went through until 5:30pm or so with a short break. We practiced a bit in the morning (short practice) and had a full practice to close out the day. In between we had a lot of information given through detailed anatomy instruction, practice assists for Sun A and Sun B with partners and some other exercises to help us better connect with ourselves and students.
I’ve already learned several new skills and the energy is super upbeat. I’m also surprised with how many people from my previous Baptiste trainings have come out here. It is turning into quite the reunion! I’m really happy to see such a thriving community of yogis (both Baptiste students and teachers alike) around this practice.
I just got home from teaching three classes today (substituted 2 classes for another teacher), on top of a very full (and busy) day of work where I was running a long term planning workshop for a bunch of leaders across my business.
Being new to teaching (I started in September), I’ve only taught about 10 classes, so today increase that total by 30%! Only teaching about once a week (my normal class is Monday’s 6:30am) is good but it doesn’t give me enough opportunity to really come into my own teaching voice.
Today did it in a big way! When I used to race triathlons, I found that a good weekend of training could work wonders for breaking through a plateau. Today, I really felt an opening where I was able to step into my real authentic voice. It took a couple classes, but it happened.
I was able to forget the “script” for the poses that I teach and really be with the class and teach based on what they needed. It felt natural, not at all contrived…because it was natural.
I’m going to take advantage of more substitute teaching opportunities from now on!
Change. That’s right, the hardest asana is change.
We are creatures of habit and this serves a great purpose for us in our lives. It gives us predictability and security which are all needed to some extent. Unfortunately, becoming who we are meant to be requires change, not achievement.
It is not about getting somewhere and then holding on to that thing…like some grand trophy fixed upon a mantle, or in the case of an asana practice, mastering some advanced posture.
It’s about, consistently and steadfastly, moving toward the person you are meant to be in life. It means leaving behind who you are and stepping into something entirely new in every moment.
To me, “finding your seat,” in a yoga practice is not about stillness, but the complete acceptance in and boundless awareness of the ever changing nature of everything in this world, including you.
I was teaching my 6:30am class this morning and partway through, realized I totally forgot the floor series of belly back bends. I teach a Baptiste Vinyasa style class, and the belly back bends come right after triangle serie (triangle, pyramid, reversed triangle).
For some reason, I took the class straight from downward dog to the top of their mats and right onto their backs, preparing for bridge pose! I realized right before I moved the class into bridge that I was totally missing something.
For a moment, I thought about just moving forward anyway. This would have been the easy thing to do, but not the correct thing. I then realized that recovering from this mistake could be an easy thing, and given that it was an early morning class, most folks probably wouldn’t even notice
So I had everyone “rock and roll” three times, tapping their feet on the floor each time before shooting back into low-plank, up dog and down dog. Now I could pick up where I left off!
At the end of the day, recovering from a little flub in class is easy if you make it easy. You don’t need to admit any “mistake” out loud, just carry forward and do so with composure and your class with never miss a beat.
I left work and was preparing to head over to a yoga workshop today at a studio in Downtown Seattle. I was looking forward to taking this class by a visiting Master Teacher, but was also pretty exhausted from a lot of travel and yoga training of late.
I went home, changed and prepared for the 1 hour commute (at rush hour) to the studio. About 10 minutes into the drive, I turned around and headed back home.
I was hungry, tired (extremely so) and just didn’t feel up for 2-3 hours of yoga into the evening.
I went home, watched a move and ate a big meal instead.
Sometimes, you just gotta know when to relax. That is yoga too.
I just got back from 10 days in China. I was traveling for work, which meant long days and little chance to get out and take in yoga at a studio. I did manage to locate a studio in Beijing, but it was pretty far from where I was staying.
No worries, I kept up with regular practices in my hotel room. I don’t have a regular home practice at the moment (I live practically next door to my studio!). However, I really enjoyed practicing on my own for the past week or so.
Before I left, I downloaded several of Philip Urso’s Baptiste Power Yoga podcasts. Wow, these are really good. He’s a really entertaining instructor and has classes of varying length and intensity. I highly recommend them.
I particularly likes the 3/7/08 session “Letting Curiosity Replace Your Fear.”
Last week I returned from an amazing week in Estes Park, Colorado. This was the site of the 2008 Yoga Journal Colorado Conference, Yoga Journal’s main and largest event. In fact, it was the largest Yoga-specific gathering in North America, with almost 2,000 attendees throughout the week.
The Grand Gathering
The first three days of the week were for the Anusara Grand Gathering. At the conclusion of which, the main Yoga Journal conference commenced featuring a variety of practices and lectures from numerous master teachers.
Prior to this event, I had only taken 2 Anusara classes before. I figured that if I was going to make the trek out to Colorado from Seattle for the Yoga Journal event, I might as well attend the Grand Gathering as well. I was also interested in taking Master Classes with John Friend and learning more about what is one of the fastest growing Yoga styles in the United States.
