Category Archives: Teacher Training

Art of Teaching – Some Reflection on Starting Out

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What does it mean to teach yoga? For me, the decision to take up teacher training came when I realized I had wandered far enough into the woods to point out what a tree looks like (groaning allowed here), but not yet far enough that I could confidently find all the floras and faunas, and describe to someone the lay of the land.

After finishing my 200-hour teacher training, I wondered if I should start teach yoga right away. I had a solid training and was well prepared. Yet, seeing how vast this field is, and how much more I still had to learn, I doubted if I was truly ready.

Despite my doubt, I decided to step on the mat in the teaching seat. I had been teaching gentle yoga at work during lunch. A coworker who was fairly overweight came, and sent me an really touching message afterwards. “I didn’t think I could do yoga because of my size, she said. I never would have done it if you weren’t teaching here. I feel much better now, and thank you so very much for showing me that I can do it.” Tears spontaneously came down on my cheeks, and I just knew that no matter how crappy the rest of the day might turn out to be, I could not feel more rewarded.

I realized that, perhaps I didn’t need to save the world in one day. If I could just touch one person’s life and ease their pain in some small way, then that was my contribution to the world. That was all I needed.

Currently in my 500-hour training, and continuing to drain my retirement funds for even more yoga workshops and training, I’ve realized that there is no such thing as the end. The learning keeps going and going. I recently confessed (with a certain trepidation) to my teacher Judith that I feel less confident to teach now than before I was ever certified. “That gives me hope,” she said, “that you will keep learning, and that you will keep your students safe by not teaching what you don’t know. The danger is when you think you know everything.”

A certificate is the certificate to begin your studies – Judith Lasater

Experiential Anatomy Training with Judith Lasater

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Greetings from Feathered Pipe Ranch, Montana.

I’m currently half way through the Experiential Anatomy Teacher Training with Judith Lasater, who’s also the author of Yogabody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana. Apart from the beautiful setting, awesome food, and great people, the workshop is proving invaluable to my growth as a yoga student, teacher, and human being.

In her usual firm yet gentle and authoritative voice, Judith guides us through the meat (har) and potato of essential anatomical vocabulary and movement principles. She inserts in nuggets of wisdom about living and teaching yoga, and they are as inspiring as they are practical and helpful.

We are going through what seems like a lot of material, but in fact just brushing the surface of the vast studies of how the body moves. I am tweeting from time to time tid bits of what we cover, but that obviously does no justice to the actual experience itself. I highly recommend this training to anyone, no matter if you teach or not. It can truly transform your practice.

Teacher Training Retreat Reflection

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I spent this past week fully living in yoga, from morning to night, with a schedule packed with Yoga Asanas, Pranayama, Philosophy, Art of Teaching, and the Business of Yoga.

Without going into exhausting details of everything we did (and it was exhausting, physically and mentally), I will say that it brought me closer to my classmates and teachers, it tested my tapas–my endurance and energy, and it was full of joy and insight.

I learned a lot, absolutely, but the one thing I appreciated the most was learning how to learn, and learning how to teach.

How do I teach what people need to learn, while still giving them what they want? How do I even know I can give them what they want? How do you know when you’re “good enough” to teach something? These are some of the questions we discussed.

As students we are always eager to have the answer, all the answers, *now*! It’s frustrating not to have an immediate solution. But to be a student is not to get all the answers delivered on a platter. To be a student is to continually reflect on the teachings, to give it time to steep.

Our teachers guided us through our questions by asking us, do we have a consistent home practice? Do we know what we want to teach? Are we clear on our intention?

“Teach what you know, and teach what you practice.” And how do you come into your own as a teacher? My teacher Kathryn suggested setting intentions, which are different from goals. “You will figure out the right class pace and all that with time and practice, but the most important thing to ask is, did you get across what you wanted to  say? Did you deliver on your intention?”

Honoring the Tradition

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Up until recently, I had not paid very much attention to the idea of the yoga “lineage” or “tradition”, in the broad sense of the word.

I have nothing against it; I’ve just not felt any real kinship to any lineage or tradition. They all seem to have something good, something bad, and something in between, so I’ve picked and chosen what works for me and discarded the rest. 

For example, I love, love, love the alignment-based aspect of Iyengar yoga, but am not crazy about the rigid dogma. I love the fluidity of movement in Ashtanga Vinyasa, but, as a beginner, I didn’t learn enough to do it safely.

Because of my mutt style, the most dreaded question I get is, “What kind of yoga do you do?”. No wonder why teachers are naming and trademarking their yoga practice left and right. Perhaps, as a culture, we are accustomed to a need for brand names.

The Upanishads

This weekend, we read the Taittiriya Upanishad and discussed the history of Yoga, including the Upanishads, which are old–really, really, really old–ancient Hindu texts that contain the core teachings of the Vedanta – the teachings of Self-actualization. 

Upaniṣad is Sanskrit, and literally means  ”sitting down near” a teacher in order to receive instruction, from upa- (nearby), ni- ( down) and sad. 

As we learned this, we were all sitting down gathering around our teacher, Kathryn Payne. In one quick second, it struck me that, holy macaroni, we *are* sitting down near our teacher to receive the teachings. We are, indeed, following the tradition.

To be a Yogi

I admit, I have never been one to follow tradition. I have always viewed it as a rather sheepish thing, to do something others tell you without question, without reflection. With this tradition, though, I feel a sense of okay-ness, that I am here, I choose to do this.

More than that, I feel extremely, well, there’s no other way to put this, honored. Honored to be continuing this very long and very old way of learning and exchanging information. Honored to have the near-capacity to receive the teachings. Honored to be a yogi.

In a way, it’s comforting for me to think that, no many how many styles of yoga asana come and go, these teachings will always remain.

500-hour Teacher Training Begins!

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This weekend marks the start of my 500-hour Yoga Teacher Training at Pacific Yoga in Seattle. My classmates have come from such diverse background and traditions, from Iyengar to Kripalu to Baptiste Vinyasa, and from all walks of life, as artists, scientists, builders, technologists…  

I found myself to be the youngest person in the group, and jokingly said to my friend Candace that I feel like a “young punk”, that I might be in some, “American Yoga Teachers, the Next Generation” reality show. Truth is, my class has a nice age spread, from 20-something to 60-something. I am hoping to learn a lot from this, and it is a nice testament to how yoga is  a part of our lives, no matter the time of life.

Someone once asked me when my training ends, and I responded, “May 2010″. Then I paused and realized that’s not entirely true. This 500-hour training, in its formal capacity, ends in May 2010, but learning the art and science of yoga, and to be a teacher, I will continue that for the rest of my life. 

In the meantime, with the foreseeable future of one year, I’m glad to be spending it in this Yoga Teacher Training.