-
Dear Physically Gifted People
Dear Physically Gifted People, Please stop using words like “easy” or “simple” when doing a demo, teaching a student or posting a video or picture. Why? It is too subjective. Just because something is easy for you does not mean it is easy for someone else. Using the words “simple” or easy, with a student who finds the movement to be difficult, can make them feel like there is something wrong with them, that their efforts will never be good enough, and that they are inadequate. It can make them feel shame and question whether or not yoga is for them. I understand that this is not happening on purpose. …
-
Adventures in Mysore India, Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized
The Gift of the Local Ashtanga Teacher
From Christina Sell’s Blog Post, the Process Works “Q:What is the definition of an expert? A: Someone who lives out of town. Given that the majority of the teaching work I do these days involves me getting on a plane to go teach, I enjoy the “expert” status that comes along with being a teacher from “out-of-town.” I figure that means that the students are typically a little more patient with my long-winded explanations, detailed demonstrations, and slow-paced teaching style than they might be if it was Wednesday night class and we shared the same zip code. “ TRUTH This phenomenon is so interesting to me. People who argue…
-
What does a Good Yoga Teacher Look Like?
Today, I read an article where the characteristics of a certain celebrity was being used as a model for a good Yoga teacher. This celebrity did something that the author considered brave. While it is true that the characteristics, listed in the article, make a great Yoga teacher, I was concerned. I was concerned because there are teachers out there that do have these characteristics but they usually are not that popular. I was concerned that we cannot recognize these characteristics unless they come in a pretty, wealthy, high visibility package. I was concerned that we don’t have the ability to recognize the teachers that spend 24/7 bravely living their truth…
-
Ashtanga Adaptability, Ashtanga Quotes, History, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Teach Whatever You Want, Just Don’t Call It Yoga
“Yoga is broken.” This statement came up again in the interwebs. Yoga is not broken. The people who practice it are broken. As members of the yoga community, we need to know the difference. For if we don’t, we will continue to walk through the house of yoga with our dirty feet and blame it on the house itself. Real change will not happen until we take responsibility for our contribution to the dirt and wash our own feet! To take it a step further, the people who practice are not even broken. Some people have forgotten their own luminosity and have turned away from the purity of the Self and turned…
-
Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Pose How To, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Does Your Yoga Teacher Really See You?
When your teacher looks at you, do they really see you or are they trying to figure out how they can apply their dogma to you? This is important. There is nothing wrong with devotion to a teacher or style of yoga. Total immersion is a great way to learn any skill. The problem happens when we loose the ability to see things for what they are. Two of the mental modifications that yogis are seeking to get rid of, according to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, is misconception and verbal delusion. Both point to not being able to see things as they really are. It is one thing to…
-
Advice For Yoga Teachers on Motivating Students
Great Blog post by David Garrigues David: There is a direction of flow and this is very key. And the direction of flow is that the student has got to want the teacher’s knowledge and that desire has to be very strong. And so without that there is nothing you can do for the student as a teacher. But when there is a sincere and sustained desire to learn then the teacher has a lot to work with. It is necessary for the teacher to be encouraging of the direction that the student wants to learn, to be enthusiastic about the particular aspects of the practice that interest the student. I…
