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Winter/Spring 2012 Yoga Teacher Training Blog-

Friday January 6th- Back from a two week holiday break…Now that the year has click over to 2012,the light is shining (just a little ,but you can see it!), acknowledging that our journey of becoming great yoga teachers is in our reach.May 2012 is coming and coming fast…with much to do! Today’s class was about the Sutras, revolving poses and the use of props…And of course teaching. Teaching to the public is on the horizon…community classes starting soon…auditing classes…teaching and learning to teach,that is the goal…and to do it with confidence, kindness and sincerity.

Friday January 13th-Sutras,the philosophy of yoga.In finishing up Book 1, you come to realize the changes that are coming in your life…your outlook, how you once have thought and done things and the negatives and positives around you.The tough part is when the negatives are around you, how you adjust and use that energy to create positives for you and all around you (wow,sounds like super hero stuff…), tough but worthwhile when use see changes in others and yourself.Locks and Keys….use your positive energy ‘keys’ to unlock the negative ‘locks’…bingo!..the locks fall away and a new passage is opened!…The class wasn’t all about the sutras…we started to learn about and how to teach seated poses. Seating easy…ya…!Danger, Will Robinson!(..60′s TV reference, take nothing at face value!)…so many poses and so important to learn and the realization that you may be sitting but your muscles are in a constant state of relaxing and tensing…more to come on seating poses….Realize and realization..using those words alot now… :-)

****Found a great article****The Yoga I practice is a lot different than the Yoga I teach.

Week-end of January 20th-22nd-What a yoga week-end we had in teacher training…Friday night we finished up our seated pose classes and started Book II of the sutras (more on that next time-a lot to digest).The energy and intention filled the room.The class, directed be Sue T., brought us to the reality (there’s that word again!) that in all yoga the small movements and positive thoughts out weights the slam -bang of the world around us…Back to the class: practice and teaching and more teaching…sharing our energy and gaining our confidence to direct the group…and more practice. We must have done and taught over ten poses each !…Gaining confidence and practice, that moves us to Saturday! Saturday-open studio time for us newbies(sans teachers) to work together and show each other what know and what we don’t…to support and teach ourselves…a great exercise and something we will doing regularly. Sunday, a 7hr. day…Senior yoga/yoga with weights…Intensive time ! Sue T. shared her experiences and her joy about bringing yoga to seniors…Her stories, to the playing of 40′s music, to her compassion and kindness showed through the time together and touched us all…We started with a senior class…her teaching a seniors class to us, because really, none of us has ever been to one before…chair poses…easy twisting..and stretching…wow…a great workout and uplifting energy ! Then it came to us to teach…that’s what are here for…and did we teach. A round robin with each of us teaching a pose, transitioning from the pose before…kept us thinking and worked on getting us out of our comfort zone…we when around the room, it must be 6 to 8 times, teaching…teaching and more teaching. A great day…and more to come, continuing our journey to become a great yoga teacher!

Sunday January 29th-Twist poses-Sutras about Self and Ego-heavy stuff,but it all seems to be coming together…And Self-Evaluations do next week…time to take stock in where we were,where we are and where we are going…Wow…Twists-movement in such small terms makes such a difference.From twists on our backs ,to twists standing…a great learning day…Not much to say other than we teach,we learn how to engage the room and learn to teach some more…half way in and I am proud of my follow students (and myself) of just far we have gone…but still more work to do…coming up next week-end…Friday,Saturday and Sunday…and maybe we will cut a little early for the Big Game…LOL…Go Pats!

February 3rd thru March 11th- A world-wind month in teacher training…going from Prone to Supine poses…on our back…on our belly…safety and only going to your ‘edge’…to learn how to teach and teach correctly,that’s our goal.To the sutras…WOW…it is coming full circle…enough said. Our intensive days were a great mix of many subjects…fun and mind opening stuff here.From acu-pressure yoga, finding the spots throughout the body that effect change (kinda like acupuncture without the needles) to partner yoga…great fun (check out our facebook for pics) to yin yoga and great Ayurveda principles to balance your body with lifestyle and food choices…thanks to Stacey for the great Ayurveda food….and moving to the Body Energy-Koshas…peeling away the sheaths like a onion, to find our inner self…the bliss body.Heady stuff and the goal we all should work toward. Next we learned about adjusting and assisting…proper hand placement and that delicate balance that guides the student into the prefect pose.We ended this group of classes with yogassage (sic)…more that partner yoga…the nice mix of massage and yoga…then the opening up to new ideas…a great ear coning session with Sue T. and aura pictures of the group… enlighting and fun….Next on the horizon….Anatomy,power yoga,detoxing,cleansing,niyamas,restorative and the business of yoga…community classes for charity and graduation….and the Yoga Teacher Training Summer Semester…. more to come !

March 17th and 18th- A great week-end in Teacher Training…We talked poses-teaching and modifying…the bones and general anatomy-we learned about compression: the limit that your joints can go..the compression of  bones on bones (which is beneficial if done correctly) and that everyone is different and have different limits..and its all O.K..Then we moved to detoxing,cleansing and niyamas…and then move to instructing our fellow students on different styles of yoga .We were enlightened on the varied yoga disciplines such as Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Viniyoga, Kripalu and Jivamukti Yoga. A great learning experience and great presentations by everyone ( and two more to come!)… kudos to everyone! The bright light is shining…this 6+ month journey is coming to a new beginning….not a end….to move ahead to the ranks of the being a great yoga teacher. We are teaching and learning….sharing our new gift to our students….And with that note,please join us for our Community Classes….taught by us….only $5.00-cash only-all proceeds go to Yogathon charities. Hope to see you soon!

March 25th thru April 1st-The words are power vinyasa,restorative and inversions.The flow…The movement…The sequencing… Power yoga,called by many a name with many variations. Bikrim,Hot power,Baptiste…heated or unheated,it’s the flow that’s important! The matching of the breathe and your movement…creating the inner ‘tapas’…the heat from within. Then we turn 180 degrees to restorative yoga…just what it says,restore, regroup and meditate…tough, but so needed.Moving to head stands,shoulder stands, arm balances…oh my! The art of inversions…cleanses the body, gets the blood flowing…and to do it correctly and safely…with assistance, against the wall or standing (head) alone…how to teach them properly, that’s our intention and goal. Yoga teacher Training is winding down…teaching,teaching,teaching…Come to our Community Classes…taught by us…Only 3 training classes left! A life journey unparalleled.

April 6th thru April 13th- Only class this week-more inversions and sutras -Focus:Inversions and the sutras and teaching,teaching teaching…With practice comes confidence and feed back is so important.The confidence to ask your students-”how did I do?…what should I change?…the music,the temperature,the lights…it’s all good to know.Today I asked a student that came to one of my community classes,what was her overall impression of my class. With a little prodding (because most yogis don’t want to go negative) some great insight was gained…I am happy to say just a couple of mis-steps (Ya!) and they will be corrected….Winding down to May 6th…graduation…but for now…teaching,teaching,teaching !

Class members and Faculty… As we wind down this teacher training…How have you changed ? Has your mind opened up to new ideas ? Please share your thoughts and ideas for our next semester…

Teachers and friends, Share your experiences…What can we,as new teachers,expect as we go forward?