The Yoga Arms According to Stock Photos

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Nikki Chau

Comrades, lock your doors, hide your children, The Yoga Arms are here, and they will make you cry.

Last month YogaSpy wrote about the yoga arms:

In Iyengar yoga, teachers emphasize classic yoga arms: straight but not stiff (including wrists and fingers). If tight shoulders prevent you from raising your arms straight and parallel, in line with the ears, just separate them into a “v” shape. This ain’t ballet!

…

Some softly flexed their elbows. Others (and this offshoot amused me to no end!) kept their elbows straight but cocked their wrists and splayed their fingers in a dramatic flamenco-rivaling gesture.

Whassup with that?

Seriously, whassup with that?

My first reaction is, I don’t know. As I mentioned in my video on goals and intentions, people have a million and one reasons on why they do anything, and it’s futile for us to try and understand them all.

And so, I let it go.

Well, for a moment, at least With the Super Bowl in February and a post by YogaDork about Yoga in TV commercials, I started to think about how yoga in commercials influences people who aren’t as familiar with it.

Choices, Choices, Choices

I believe in choice. In the asana practice, the more we know what our choices are, the more we can make conscious decisions to explore how our body works. With yoga so widely used for advertising, in and out of the yoga industry, it’s inevitable that someone will look to the advertising images as authoritative sources. And this is where it gets dicey, because they think that whatever they see is what they’re supposed to look like, and that is simply not true.

*Important note:* Before I go on, I want to stress that I do not have the perfect yoga pose. I am in the business of practicing, not posing. Here’s a comment I left on the aforementioned post by YogaSpy:

You can do whatever you want, as long as you’re clear on the options available and your own choice. For the longest time, I didn’t know I had these options, I simply mimicked what the instructor did without questioning why and how.

Okay, back to our regular programming.

So, I will say this about the yoga arms: you can, and should, reach your arms all the way up *if* your shoulders allow that movement. Seriously, try it, like, right now! Put your arms up over your head, bend your elbows, and put the hands together, so you’re in effect making a trapezoid with your arms and framing your head with it. Now, *if and only if* your shoulders will allow it, reach your arms up, the fingertips extending towards the ceiling (or sky), press the palms together and cross the thumbs. Your shoulder blades will slide up.

How does it feel?

For me, the second option feels much more spacious, taller, and energetically bigger and more expansive. And if we were to go there, I would even say that I feel more connected to the Gods and the Cosmos than the option of keeping my arms low and bending my elbows.

Now, lest you think that I’m disregarding those who can’t raise their arms all the way up, I am not. I believe that your yoga practice will serve you with whatever body you have at any moment. I am simply saying that if your body can and will allow for a certain healthy and normal function, you have the choice to do it.

Years ago when I was in college, one day I discovered a cartoon on a Professor’s office door, it was Bob the Angry Flower‘s guide to the use of apostrophe. I laughed my face off and fell in love with Bob then and there. So, in the spirit of Bob the Angry Flower, I present to you, Ben the Angry Lotus’s guide to the yoga arms. (I’m still working on the name, so it could very well be Lenny the Angry Lotus next time).

What is *your* experience with this? Do you have any Stock Photo Yoga sightings?

If Stock Photo Yoga Arms ran the world...

And here’s that awesome Bob the Angry Flower’s guide to the apostrophe

Bob the Angry Flower and the Apostrophe

Weird and Wacky Yoga News – Yoga Bust Up

Posted on February 20, 2010 by Nikki Chau

Really? Like, really? Just when you thought the yoga world doesn’t get any weirder… it does. I got a tip from my teacher Theresa Elliott about this revolutionary technique! For only $79.99, you can be on your way to increase your bust size by doing these yoga moves for just 7 minutes a day!

I’m speechless, so I’m just gonna leave these screen shots up for you to see, they really speak for themselves. Also, turn on your speakers to enjoy the lovely Chinese music. Yes, that’s right, Chinese music.

www.yogabustup.com Home Page

Exihit 1: www.yogabustup.com home page with the quote by Alice Walker: “The nature of this flower is to bloom.”

Exhibit 2: A thousands years of techniques could bring you the bust line you’ve always wanted.

Where do I sign up?

Your Gym is a Terrible Place to Do Yoga – What Your Yoga Teacher Will Tell You, Part 3

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Nikki Chau

This is part 3 of What Your Yoga Teacher Will Tell You, a response to the Smart Money article: 10 Things Your Yoga Teacher Won’t Tell You. Read Part 1 and Part 2.

6. “Your gym is a terrible place to do yoga.”

Not surprisingly, gyms have jumped on the yoga bandwagon. Although most gyms try to hire good teachers, they often don’t provide a yoga-friendly environment to go with them…

Whereas many dedicated yoga studios discourage arrivals that are more than a minute or two late, some gyms keep an open-door policy. What’s worse, those who roll in late aren’t warmed up and often miss critical instructions. – Smart Money mag

I mostly agree with the author on this one, and let me explain why.

How Health Clubs Hire Yoga Teachers

A couple years ago, I had the revelation that I might want to wear spandex to work and increase the number of times I say the word “perineum”, by like, a lot. How does one go about becoming a yoga teacher? And how does one get hired?

An answer revealed itself to me during my annual visit to my gym, oh, let’s just say it’s one of those national chains that opens all day all night. They were doing an Instructor Search for all sorts of things: yoga, pilates, aerobics, kickboxing, etc. Hey, did they mention yoga? Well, I’m there!

The audition process went like this. You showed up, signed in, gave them your info, the typical process. Then, you did a round-the-world workout, where the instructors who were already working there lead you through a rousing round of all the different group classes, 20 minutes each. Then they told you what you need to do to get hired.

For yoga teachers, they suggested you check out YogaFit. I remember being assured, “Oh, it’s just a weekend or a couple weekends, it’s pretty easy.” They also suggested that you get certified in Pilates and PiYo, and anything else you like, because that increases your employability. You could be called to sub or teach a variety of classes. Then, after submitting your resume, you would come in for an audition, when the Athletic Director would judge you based on your presentation.

That’s it.

YogaFit – A Diversion

YogaFit is a popular training program, most typically for gyms and health clubs, that “adapts” yoga for fitness. If you are interested in the YogaFit debate, you will find plenty of heated discussion on online yoga boards, which you can read to your heart’s content. A good one to start is the Yoga.com forum, where you will encounter many opinions, ranging from a gentle inquiry like this:

That would be my concern in taking some quickie teacher training then holding court in a public forum–do you think you’d be prepared to deal with prople you don’t know rolling into the health club to take class? What are their physical restricitions? Would you be prepare to deal with a student’s physical emergencies? WOuld [sic] you be wisened enough not to have prople getting hurt, i.e., a 25 year old woman’s body is quite a bit different from a 50 year old man’s.

or drawing an analogy to make you go ”hmm”…

This is akin to learning how to do a reverse punch and a front kick in a weekend seminar and calling yourself a karate teacher.

or just flat out calling an ace an ace

This is not stretching and it is not lifting weights nor is it a way to get an ego boost. Teachers of yoga encounter different challanges with their students. It is not just physical exercise. There is a reason it totally rehabilitated your body. A yoga teacher MUST have something more then a weekend certificate.

It takes dedication and personal practice and experience. Otherwise, you will be able to model a pose nicely, but when it really comes down to a specific challange [sic] with a real human being, that certificate will be worthless and may result in injury and suffering.

Okay, end diversion.

Now, I have to warn you that the Instructor Search process was just my personal experience with one particular gym a couple years ago, which means it may or may not be true elsewhere now.

Let me also stress that I know many good yoga teachers who teach at local health clubs and gyms. A friend in my 500-hr Yoga Teacher Training teaches at the same chain, and she is a wealth of knowledge and a super talented teacher. I am simply saying that the experience of yoga teachers at a gym will vary enormously. For example, yet another teacher friend of mine used to sub there, and they were astonished that she had so much yoga training.

Why Your Gym May Not be the Best Place to do Yoga

The second, and perhaps more important point is exactly what Smart Money said: “Although most gyms try to hire good teachers, they often don’t provide a yoga-friendly environment to go with them.” As someone who has taught in a gym setting, I will whole-heartedly agree to this.

First, there is the gym-goer mentality. It’s one I know well, because I can slip into it easily if I want to. It’s the mentality that says, “Hey, they probably don’t care if I come in late or leave early.”, or, “I’m gonna check it out and if I don’t like it I’ll just leave.” So, it’s understandable that some gym-goers may approach yoga classes the same way.

The problem with this is, at least for me, I plan the class sequence to gradually warm up to what we in the trade call the “peak pose” or “apex pose”. Then come the counter poses and cool down. To get the full benefit of the class, not to mention to avoid injuries, it’s a good idea to take the whole class from beginning to end. However, it is not uncommon for some gym-goers to only show up for the more intense portion of the class, and then roll up their mats, presumably because Savasana doesn’t burn a whole lot of calories.

Then, there’s the size of the class. No yoga teacher, no matter how good they are, can sufficiently *teach* everybody when there are a lot of people in a class and not a lot of time to work with them all. I occasionally teach at a club where membership is limited, and the class size is smaller than other gyms. With an average of 10-12 people per class, I’m already maxed out. I often have to let certain things go. (This isn’t exclusive to health clubs though, some yoga studios will try to cram in as many people as possible, making it impossible for yoga teachers to keep an eye on everybody.)

One thing that many yoga teachers do is to check in with everybody, to watch out for any injuries, pregnancies, or bodily particularities. This is not as easily done in a setting where there are a lot of people, and who really feels comfortable shouting out to 20, 30 other random strangers that they have scoliosis or that they’re on their period?

Proper equipment is another essential part of yoga, at least according to a props aficionado like me. I totally dig yoga gadgets: blocks, straps, blankets, bolsters, whathaveyous. I’m a total believer in their usefulness, based on years of doing hot and power yoga *without* props, and then learning Iyengar-based yoga *with* props.

At certain health clubs, props are a luxury. My friend who teaches at a gym told me that she insists that her students buy and bring their own props. I still remember a class I took at my gym where I was doing yoga on one of those foam mats. I’m hopeful that times have changed, but looking back, I can see a lot of opportunities for me to dislocate something.

Um, Dude, But it’s Free!

Yup, there is that. Nothing will beat “but it’s free”. Nothing will beat “it works for me.” After maybe skewering gym yoga a little, I’m going to eat my words. After being super ideal, we inevitably have to come back to the practical. I have said this before in my post about Bikram yoga, and I will say it again here: it’s about what works for you, right now.

If you do yoga at your gym, I’d recommend a couple things:

Bring your own mat, and get blocks and straps if they’re not provided.
Let the instructor know of any issues in your body privately.
Stay until the end unless there’s an emergency. Savasana is the best part!

Yoga teachers, what else would you advise?

Finally, I like what this person under the user name “tourist” said in the Yoga.com forum about YogaFit: we all start somewhere.

I want to study with someone who has practiced and studied for a good long time under a teacher who has observed their practice and teaching. I want to study yoga with someone who understands my struggles and can lead me knowledgeably from where I am today to where I might be tomorrow. Someone with depth and a connection to a lineage of teachers who understand and honour the roots and wings of yoga.

Now, not everyone wants this and that is ok. We all start somewhere and wanting a better butt is not the worst reason to start yoga.

And then I'm hittin' the yoga mat!

New Yoga Teacher to New Yoga Teacher – Tools to Improve Your Teaching

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Nikki Chau

From having no experience teaching at all, the first couple months of teaching yoga is where you can potentially learn and grow the most in your teaching.

When I first started, I had the luxury of having Jean Massimo, an Anusara-inspired teacher at Village Green Yoga, in my class, observing and taking notes, mentoring, and giving me advice. On the everlasting quest for growth, I have found these two things to be particularly useful:

+ Have another yoga teacher observe you in action and get feedback.
+ Record yourself, watch and listen to yourself, take your own class.

New Yoga Teacher to New Yoga Teacher – How We Teach

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Nikki Chau

Something that has been on my mind lately is how to help out new yoga teachers as they start out. I’ve barely begun this career myself, and I’ve learned much and documented what I’ve been through. It dawned on me that there aren’t a whole lot of resources out there for new yoga teachers. Or if there are, I don’t know about them.

The two books that I know of on the Art of Teaching and the Business of Teaching Yoga are The Business of Teaching Yoga by Larry Payne and Teaching Yoga: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship by Donna Farhi. Neither of these are specifically for brand spankin’ new yoga teachers. So, I’ve taken it upon myself to start this conversation, in the hope that my experience will be of some use to new teachers starting out out there.

In this video I talk about teaching from your experience and practice vs. reciting from a script and repeating what you’ve heard or seen.

Announcing the First Ever Sit-off, a Meditation Competition

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Nikki Chau

Gentle blog readers of Yoga with Nikki Chau, can you hear it? The grumbling, the rumbling, the bottled-up shakti shakin’, the face-off of the century (so far) in the yoga world: is yoga a sport? Can it be competed? Can it be in the Summer Olympics? Hell, why not in the Winter Olympics too?

In the left corner, we have those who just might pass out from the kumbhaka in their chest, their eyes have found a permanent place in the back of the head, not as a result of an Advanced Variation of Simhasana, but because of the thought that yoga would be portrayed as no more than a parade of limber bodies in speedos vying to have the best assana.

In the right corner, we have those who say, “What’s wrong with competition?” “History is full of competition!” (Never mind that it is also full of misdirected ego.) “Competition is healthy!” “It exposes people to yoga!” (Possible exposures may include “balls like atom bombs, two of them, 100 megatons each.“)

Gloves up, ladies and gentlemen.

Now, it is a perfectly legitimate thing to ask, “WHO.CARES?” Do we not have bigger matsyasana to fry, like, oh, unemployment, war, famine, poverty, clean water, people going rogue, dirty dishes in the sink, laundry, just to name a few? Why, yes! We do! But considering that here in America we seem to have an affinity towards First World Problems, like The First Lady’s sleeveless arms and whether or not The President should swat a fly. Anything and everything can stir up “intense national debates” (also known as Controversy Sells), and yoga is certainly not exempt.

To debate the merits, or lack thereof, of yoga competitions, we would need all night and a couple bottles of wine, and we’re not here to do that. (But in the spirit of Live and Let Live, let’s raise a glass to everyone.)

We are here, however, to sit. It is kind of the point, isn’t it? And if yoga can be competed, it follows that meditation can be too. So, without further ado, I hereby announce The First Ever Sit-Off. I say first ever because I’m unaware of any such event, outside of Tricycle Magazine’s Commit to Sit challenge. And everyone knows a challenge does not expose people to meditation, it doesn’t lead to “inspiring millions of youngsters who wouldn’t otherwise cross this otherwise esoteric, difficult path.”

The Rules of the Sit-Off

What. The Sit-Off is a competition to see who can meditate the best! Judging will be based on:

How long you can sit without scratching your nose, as PETA unleashes hordes of deadly flies in the room
How long you can go without thinking about checking your Facebook or Twitter
How many times you label random thoughts that has nothing to do with what you’re doing right now, like, “Twilight is totally playing off a girl’s fantasy of having two hot and handsome yet gentle and sensitive men fighting over her.”
How long you can practice loving-kindness while playing Cotton Eyed Joe on repeat, and repeat, and repeat…

When. 28 days from today, Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 to Monday December 21, 2009. Why? Because I recently turned 28, and conveniently enough, Tricycle’s Commit to Sit is also 28 days. And it seems like Hollywood likes the number 28, so after the commercial success of Enlighten Up, maybe someone will do a documentary on the Sit-off. Hey, you can be a Meditation star! Plus, I like palindromes like 12/21.

Who. Do you want an excuse for sitting around and doing nothing? Do you want to tell relatives at Thanksgiving dinner that you’re training for a competition? “Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?” If so, comment and say, “I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.”

Why. So we can bring meditation to the masses, of course! And it takes a competition, people!

Prize. Soon, Meditation will be an Olympics sport, and you will have had your training during this Sit-Off, (and many others to come as this catches on) and you’ll win Olympics Medals! (You’re welcome).

Now, this'll be a straight sit-off, old school rules. First model sits; second model duplicates, then elaborates. Okay, boys - let's go to work!

The Cost of a Website for Your Yoga Business

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Nikki Chau

I am frequently approached about creating a website: the steps involved, the research, and time, and most importantly, the cost. So, I thought I would write a summary of the typical process and cost of building a website here, with the precaution that this varies widely, depending on where you live, what kind of website you want, and who you hire.

A Few Good Names

The first thing to do is to register for a domain name, using any one of the registrant out there, including register.com, Godaddy, or Yahoo. The cost for registering a .com domain name hovers around $10. It is easy to think, “10 dollars a year? Sign me up!” but hold your horses. Before you register a domain name, you must first find out if 1) it’s already taken, and 2) it’s been trademarked. In either case, you’re out of luck, and you’ll have to find another name.

There are occasions when a domain name you want is already taken, ie. registered, but is not a “real” site. In some circles, this is called a “parked” site. The telltale sign that a site is parked is it has a bunch of link advertisements, and in most cases there should be an option for you to contact the owner to buy the domain.

If you are really really, and I mean, *really* emotionally attached to a domain name that’s already taken, it’s possible to purchase it, but be prepared to pay loads of money. The process of how this is done is another post unto itself, but I will say that if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s not a bad idea to get help from a professional.

Naming Domain Names

What domain name should you go for? In short, the shorter is better. However, it should also be easy to pronounce and spell. When you think of a name, literally, write it out as you would in a URL. Don’t make the unfortunate mistakes that Experts Exchange or Pen Island did. expertsexchange.com or penisland.com may bring some web traffic and giggles, but as a yoga teacher or studio, you may not want to be known as *that* yoga studio or teacher. Okay, one more, Speed of Art sounds great in name brainstorming, but speedofart.com makes you wonder what kind of business this company is in.

As yoga teachers, there seems to be some unknown pressure or trend to come up with a name for ourselves and the yoga that we teach. And so, we come up with all sorts of names that we feel representative of us. We add “yoga” to our favorite plant, favorite yoga pose, or Sanskrit word, from where born “Red Rose Yoga”, “Arjuna Yoga”, “Hanumanasana Yoga”, etc. Names are creative expressions and they inspire us to go beyond our current concept of ourselves, so that’s all fine and good.

However, in addition to those creative names, consider also the fact that as a yoga teacher, the goal for your website is to establish yourself on the web. So, if someone is looking for Jane Smith yoga teacher, they might type “Jane Smith yoga teacher” in Google, or directly type janesmithyoga.com in their browser. If you were Jane Smith, and decided that you call your yoga Eka Pada Rajakapotasana Yoga, and your web site is ekapadarajakapotasanayoga.com, well, it would be much harder for your students and prospective students to find you.

There is much, much more on the topic of names, but I hope you’re starting to see how you might spend more than $10 per month on a website, because you might have to register a few domain names, including any potential misspells. And, if your budget allows it, it’s not a bad idea to grab the popular extensions of .org, .net, and so on.

Finding a Host

After you register your domain name, the next step is to find a hosting service. Think of this as where your website will live. It is like buying anything from the store, after you pay for it, you need to take it off the shelf and find a home for it elsewhere. Hosting service can run anywhere from $5.95/month at the bare bone, which brings you to $71.40 per year without taxes and other fees.

Hosting services depend on all sorts of factors, including bandwidth, support, and software available to you. Some popular hosting companies include Hostmonster and Dreamhost.

So, let’s say you go with one domain at $10 a year, and $71.40, we now have $81.40 running on our tab.

The Cost of Designing and Developing a Website

Consider that designing a website involves graphic design and web development. You need to design the layout of the site, the logo, the look and feel, and then develop, meaning writing code that actually makes the design come to life. In a web design company, this usually includes two people with two skill sets. If you work with someone like me, you can get your graphic design and development done by one person, but this comes with pros and cons. It might take longer, for one, and when someone has a broad set of skills, they are making tradeoffs for not going deep into one area of specialization. For example, I can create very functional web sites, but I don’t do very fancy database development.

Let’s say you’re an independent yoga teacher, and you would like a simple website with 7 pages. Web design companies have several structures of payment. They can charge you $350 for the home page and then $75 for each extra page, as this company does. That’s $800 at the minimum with no fancy custom graphic or logo, not even stock photos. Now we’re at $881.40 to start with.

Another cost structure some companies have is price per hour. A small website may take somewhere between 40-60 hours, up to 100 or even 150 hours, depending on how many meetings you have with them, how many times you want something fixed, etc. At a company I worked at, we charged $125/hour for a website, which included not only labor but also overhead such as rent, insurance, and equipment.

Let’s say you work with someone (not naming names, but she might be writing this blog ) who charges a reasonable $50/hour and the project takes a conservative 20 hours, you’re now looking at $1000, for a total of $1081.40.

Brochure Site vs. Dynamic Site

In certain circles, an informational website is called a “brochure site”. But aren’t all websites informational? Indeed they are, but some sites also have functionalities such as a Contact form, a Newsletter, shopping cart, a Flash video, etc. So, the prices we’re looking at so far are for brochure sites. You’ll notice that anything extra is another item to be rung up, as shown with this company we were looking at.

Maintenance

A website, in reality, is never really “done”. There are always updates, especially for a yoga teacher: changes in your schedule, rates, workshops, announcements, etc. Maintenance fee is another cost that is often overlooked. Some companies can charge a monthly fee of up to $1000 a year to keep your site up-to-date. So, if you know HTML coding, it will be useful since you can do this yourself.

Let’s say someone charges $30/month to update your website, we’re looking at $360/year. That brings the cost up to a minimum of $1250, give or take a couple dollars.

Other Ways to Get a Website

Of course, you can create a blog from WordPress or Blogspot for free. I won’t discuss the pros and cons of going this route here, since this post assumes that you want your own website, but yes, I’m aware there are many options out there. I would say, however, that nothing is truly “free”, even if you use a free blogging service.

As a small business owner, and I consider all yoga teachers small business owners in some capacity, you will need some customized work, perhaps a design for a newsletter to send out to your students, perhaps coaching on how to analyze how many people are coming to your site, and what kind of information they seek. This is a whole other part of a website cost: traffic analyzing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, which can cost anywhere from $300-$1000 per month, and so on.

For more information about how much a company might charge for a website, Webpage FX has a breakdown on what a typical company might charge.

I hope you find this information useful, and if you have any thoughts or questions, please leave a comment, or send me an email at nikki @ nikkiyoga.com.

Tech support kitty is here for you

When Yoga Becomes Yog-ouch

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Nikki Chau

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, or if you’re a student in my class, you may have noticed that I talk a lot about pain. “Are you some sort of masochist?”, you might wonder, “What is the deal?”

I can’t offer any good reason for my proclivity towards pain, other than the fact that I’m enormously intrigued by it. I hungrily eat up titles and teachings such as Break Through Difficult Emotions, When Things Fall Apart, and Listen to Your Pain. For me, “leaning into the sharp point” has produced some incredibly tender and humbling experiences, and learning how to work with those sharp points has proved liberating.

Though pain comes in all shapes, forms, and sizes. I want to talk here about physical pain, especially injuries, and especially injuries from yoga. To put it plainly, I have seen the writing on the wall. Twelve years of combined Bikram (and no more) and Power Yoga, with all of its Flow/Vinyasa variety, have taught me that yoga can easily become yog-ouch (a term yoga teacher Cora Wen coined when we were talking about… well, yoga )

It is not that I enjoy injuries, I really don’t, despite what it may look like. I’d rather run without shin splints. I’d rather climb without rotator cuff tears. And in yoga, I’d much rather launch into a hand stand or fall into a drop back without undesirable consequences. But, injuries don’t care if I like them or not. They’re inevitable in any yoga tradition, under any tutelage. Since it is impossible to have a pain-free existence, I’ve taken on a personal quest to understand them and learn about them, in the hope that I can 1) avoid preventable injuries, and 2) work with the party-crashers, the injuries that show up without an invitation.

Additionally, as a yoga teacher, my job is to help others minimize the chances of getting injured by yoga. It’s almost a moral obligation, really. So you might imagine my crankiness when I see things that appear to undermine my effort (this is just a perceived reaction on my part, which may not reflect other people’s reality.) For example, a recent newsletter from a Seattle yoga studio touted how many calories you could burn in a hot yoga class, or another one advertised that Acro-yoga is for everyone. Really? Everyone?

Anyhow, today I received a newsletter from Yoga Journal in my inbox, and, as usually the case, I almost sent it to my Trash folder, but the title caught my eyes, “When Yoga Hurts”, it read. I’m glad I didn’t delete that email, because I got to read Roger Cole’s guide on how to avoid injuries on the mat by caring for your knees, hamstrings, and sacrum.

I admit, I haven’t been the biggest fan of Yoga Journal magazine lately. I can do without the onslaught of ads that verge between Maxim soft-core porn and Cosmo anorexic fashion. But that’s a different issue altogether, and I digress. I’ve got to give credit where credit is due, and kudos to Yoga Journal for paying attention to the fact that yoga doesn’t have to hurt.

I’m Just Here to Get Lucky – What Your Yoga Teacher Will Tell You, Part 2

Posted on November 10, 2009 by Nikki Chau

This is part 2 of What Your Yoga Teacher Will Tell You, a response to the Smart Money article: 10 Things Your Yoga Teacher Won’t Tell You. Read Part 1.

What your yoga teacher won’t tell you, number 5: “I’m just here to get lucky.”

While many gyms, training schools, and yoga teachers’ associations frown on liaisons between instructors and students, with all that bared skin and limber bodies, it’s no surprise that this rule sometimes gets broken. It’s not always a big deal, but on occasion these matside flirtations have been known to erupt into full-blown sexual scandals.

I was in my first year in Business school when the Enron debacle broke out. A flood of talk and activities spurred around the topic of Ethics in Business, as if it were something new. I remember being quite snarky about it (some things don’t change, eh? ). Really? We’re supposed to be ethical in business? Geez, I hadn’t thought of that!

Over time, I realized how naiive I was. Ethics is more complex than any personal belief of “right” and wrong”. It is not always black and white, as is true for most things in life. This means there should be a forum for it to be discussed, to be defined, to set boundaries, to be taught, and to create awareness.

Human affairs are complicated, and I admit that I prescribe heavily to the laissez-faire philosophy. Live and let live, I say. Yet, hypocritically, I tend to have reservations towards teachers who form romantic relationships with their students. I’m not even really sure why I feel that way, because rationally, I’d say that whatever happens between two consenting adults is no one else’s business, and not for anyone to judge.

However, as a yoga student, I am handing over not just my physical safety, but also my emotional and mental states, and I feel mighty vulnerable. So, I wonder if my prejudice stems from something deep-seated within, maybe some trace of doubt about the teacher’s boundary and my own security?

When I first started teaching, I would try to get my boyfriend to take my classes, and lamented the fact that he wouldn’t. But now, I’m actually glad that the early morning hours prevented him from making it to my classes. As a new teacher, I’m still learning many things, including coming into the role of a teacher. I have taken to heart what Judith Hanson Lasater often stresses: “You must create a sacred circle of safety for your students.” I’m not so rigid to insist that my boyfriend *never* goes to my classes, but I am aware that his presence will change the dynamics of the class.

So yes, sex scandals can erupt anywhere (har, Smart Money, don’t think I didn’t catch that). If it can happen in a somber religious environment under clerical cloaks, then it can surely happen with “magic ass pants” in a Down Dog. If 105-degree heat won’t raise your heart rate, then staring at scantily-clad sweaty bodies in the mirror for 90 minutes certainly will. The Yoga world is absolutely not exempt from unethical wheelin’ and dealins’ and sex scandals.

If you are reading this and thinking, but hey, love is love, and many singers, writers, and poets have rightly declared: you can’t stop love. I would agree. Although, in this case, I don’t know if it’s just simply about boys being boys and girls being girls. In the issue of sexual (mis)conduct, to me, it’s about us knowing our power and needs, and not abusing them to our advantage.

The key to understanding this student-teacher boundary is simple: The teacher is to consider all of his or her actions against a backdrop of the student’s welfare – Judith Lasater, 30 Essential Yoga Poses.

What do you think about this? Have you been in class with the teacher’s boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse? How do you feel? How *would* you feel? Are you a teacher? Does it feel different with your significant other in the room?

For further reading:

Article: Questionable Conduct – Is the yoga community turning a blind eye to ethical transgressions in the classroom? Who will draw the line when the boundaries between sex, power and yoga are blurred? (Thanks to Yoga Spy)
Related article to the one above: Yoga Guru in compromising position (Yes, He Who Will Not Be Named Yoga Teacher is revealed!)
Donna Farhi’s book Teaching yoga : ethics & the teacher-student relationship for advice and wisdom on how to conduct in and out of the classroom.
Code of Professional Ethics set by the original California Yoga Teachers Association
No one goes to Hooters for wings, and other useful advice from Chris Rock, including the (in)famous: “there is no sex in the champagne room”.

There is no kissing in the yoga room?

10 Things Your Yoga Instructor Will Tell You, Part I

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Nikki Chau

I recently read an article titled 10 Things Your Yoga Instructor Won’t Tell You from Smart Money Mag, and naturally have a thing or two to say. (Let’s forget for a moment the blind cowboy “buy now” advice, and that not everyone heeds their words, but I digress big time.)

(Caution, long post ahead, brew some tea )

Long road ahead

1. “I just started doing yoga myself!”

The problem is that there’s no real standard for how much teacher training is required of instructors, so almost anyone can lead a yoga class. Yes, there are plenty of certification programs around, but they run the gamut from thorough training—like that offered at the Advanced Studies Program at the Yoga Room in Berkeley, Calif., which requires 500 hours of classwork covering such subjects as philosophy and anatomy—to mere weekend workshops.

How, then, to avoid un- or underqualified instructors? Check with the Yoga Alliance, a national education and support organization. Although joining the group is voluntary and many perfectly good teachers haven’t signed up for its instructor registry, you can check to see if yours has at least attended a YA-approved program, which must require a minimum of 200 hours of teacher training

First off, Hallelujah! Since yoga is “so hot right now”, more and more of us are foraying into teaching. It’s right on the money (har) to call out the lack of standard in yoga teacher training, which then leads to a wide array of qualified teacher. Let me be super clear that I’m totally onboard with the Twainian philosophy of not letting schooling interfere with education. Could a teacher *with* a certificate lead someone to harm? Yup! Could a teacher *without* a certificate offer a great yoga class? Absolutely. The issue of certification and experience versus education is complex and deserves its own post, or even book, so I won’t go into it here.

I want to focus on the fact that since there are no “real” standards, and the implications for yoga teachers and students.

1) If you are contemplating becoming a yoga teacher, do a lot of research on training programs since they are not created equal. It may be more expensive, it may take more time, but because we are working with people’s emotional, mental, and physical states, in my humble opinion, it is more than worth it. In fact, if teaching yoga turns out to be your calling, I bet that you will end up doing many, many trainings for the rest of your life. (You can read up on my experience of finding a quality yoga teacher training program)

2) If you are a yoga student, just like you would check out your car mechanic, realtor, physical therapist, it follows that you’d want to check out your yoga teacher as well. As Smart Money mentioned, you can check out if your teacher received any certification by *either* checking out if they are listed in the Yoga Alliance registry *or* if the school they graduated from is registered as a certified teaching program.

The minimum is a 200-hour (pdf) level standard set by the Yoga Alliance, and subsequently a 500-hour (pdf) level. In some styles of yoga, you merely need to go to a weekend training or a boot camp. In contrast, in traditions like Iyengar or Anusara, there is a different certification process, which require the teacher many years of studying, practicing *and* teaching in the classroom. (The issue of why some teachers don’t register with the Yoga Alliance is political and financial-based, but here’s more on choosing a yoga teacher.)

As a side note, Donald Moyer, the Founding Director of the Yoga Room mentioned above will be in Seattle at Two Dog Yoga in two weeks! I’ll be there, and say hi if you see me!

2. “Sure, we have mats you can borrow—how about a case of athlete’s foot, too?”

Though some facilities do try to wash or disinfect their mats regularly, most don’t get sprayed on both sides… With 30 people sweating for 90 minutes, the room’s a petri dish. Our advice: Spend the $20 on your own mat—or go without.

If you get your own mat, and if turns out to cost more than $20, it might be worth it. “It’s just a mat, what’s the big deal?” You might say. I spend a lot of time on yoga mats, and mats to me is like Bentleys to Bikram Choudhury, so I’ve sampled quite a few of them. I will say that from a safety and injury standpoint (not brand name, status symbol, aesthetic, etc.), be sure to look for a mat that’s sticky enough, and has enough padding, especially if you just started out. Slipping and sliding on your mat distracts you from learning other things.

Okay, I don’t normally endorse anything, but I’m going to break my rule slightly here. Um… okay, maybe not publicly. Email me, and I’ll tell you the pros and cons of the mats I’ve tried, and my favorite (which may or may not be yours).

3. “You’re not ready for this class . . .”

Yoga classes tend to be rated by level of expertise—typically beginner, intermediate, and advanced. But if you say you’re ready for an advanced class, chances are no one at the sign-in desk will question you. It’s not a bad idea to call the studio ahead of time and ask them which class is most appropriate. And be honest about your abilities. After all, you won’t learn much if you’re in over your head and become too discouraged to continue.

Once during a training, Judith Lasater asked, “Do you guys want to know a secret to getting your students to try something?” Our ears perked up with anticipation, as she mischievously smiled, “Tell them this is the advanced version.” We broke out in chuckles, realizing a certain truth in her joke.

For a very long time, I had it in my head that I was much more “advanced” than I really was. I came to a level 2-3 Iyengar intensive thinking I was more 3 than 2, and after one month, realized that I was more like 0. I wasn’t necessarily overconfident or full of myself. I had made the classic mistake of equating time = experience. I had spent soo much time doing yoga, what reason was there to think that I was a beginner? The thing is, I was in classes where there was little time alloted for instruction and correction. I was mostly going from one pose to the next, without really thinking about where I was going.

I believe this stems from our desire to get a “good workout” from yoga, to burn calories and to sweat. This too, deserves its own post, so I’ll direct you to something I wrote about the Yoga Teacher Dilemma, and leave this topic at that for now.

4. “. . . and you could really hurt yourself.”

Some yoga poses are universally acknowledged to be risky—in particular, inversions such as shoulder stands and headstands. Since they cause blood to rush to the head and can raise blood pressure, these poses are potentially dangerous for anyone being treated for glaucoma or chronic headaches, or anyone who’s recently had a stroke; they’re also not recommended for anyone who’s more than 30 pounds overweight, since they compress the vertebrae in the neck. Good yoga instructors will caution a class before going into inversions and will keep a careful eye out for anyone doing the pose improperly.

Ah, yes, my favorite: pain and injuries. If your yoga teacher won’t say it, I will, loud and clear, “Yoga doesn’t have to hurt. But it can, has, does, and will.” If we can hurt ourselves getting out of bed, picking up a kitten, then we can certainly hurt ourselves in yoga. No one is immune to pain, and no activity is exempt as a source of pain.

And yet, and yet, I’ve seen teachers too zealous and hasty with putting students in poses like headstand and handstand. I remember a time when I went through rounds and rounds of chaturanga with elbows wide as Shaquille O’Neal’s coat hanger, inflaming my wrist and shoulders. I can’t recount how many times I was told to “push and push and push” in a camel pose when all I was doing was dumping in my lumbar and sacroiliac.

I’m pretty sure people have hurt themselves or gotten hurt in a yoga class for a long time, but this is becoming more and more at the forefront of our collective consciousness, notably with the most recent lawsuit against Richard Freeman’s studio in Boulder. As students, there is no surefire guarantee to safeguard ourselves against any kind of pain. The teacher may be top-notch in the field, we can take every pre-caution possible, and one day, some mysterious pain will still show up. It is part of having a human body that’s subject to breakdown and eventual disintegration.

Knowing this, the awareness of pain is perhaps our most trusted ally. Being aware of our body’s susceptibility to injuries and the inevitable pain that comes keeps us vigilant. When I climb on a rock wall, being off the ground constantly reminds me that I can fall. That acknowledgement doesn’t stop me from falling, but it reduces the chances of me seriously injuring myself.

This could hurt you more than it hurts me

To be continued, with other riveting things your yoga instructor will or won’t tell you

Yoga with Nikki Chau

If you want to be happy, be. ~Leo Tolstoy

Category Archives: Business of Yoga