my yoga journey
I try not to be shy about asking my teacher when I don't understand something. I feel some increased imperative now, as I seek to clarify my own knowledge so that I can best support my own students. I take care not to give an alignment cue simply as he does, but to ensure I... Continue Reading →
I sit with the teacher a little before class. She talks about the weather and birdwatching, we talk about mundane weekend plans and what we're having for lunch. We also talk about the non-sense of 200 hour YTT programmes, how little they equip anyone for the reality of teaching. We consider the difficulty of assessing... Continue Reading →
My class laughed when I said I was going to miss them while I'm away for a few weeks. They often laugh incredulously at the things I say. They don't believe that I will actually miss them, just as they don't believe that teaching times are my favourite times of the working week, that I... Continue Reading →
Had we but world enough and time ..... But at my back I always hear Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near; (Andrew Marvell) One of my teachers asked me last week how my own teaching was going. "Really well" burst from my lips before my usual reticence caught up to the conversation. "As far as I... Continue Reading →
Facebook just alerted me to the fact that it's been two years now since I obtained my yoga teaching certificate. So I've been teaching that long! A 'time flies' moment if ever there was. How can I have learnt so much AND so little in this time? I remember one of the things that vexed... Continue Reading →
So guru purnima is coming up and this is always a time of year when I take a little more time around and through my practice to reflect on my teachers, what they offer me, how I respond to that and how I might carry forward their teachings within my practice -- or not (yet).... Continue Reading →
I was talking recently with a student who volunteered that she finds meditation in noisy places easier than in silence. She has stopped getting up so early for practice because she found the deep silence too difficult, whereas the noise of rush-hour traffic was much easier! I've found this to be true for myself too.... Continue Reading →
So I just gave my Second Ever Yoga Workshop today. I'm feeling super-proud and a teeny bit accomplished! But I'm keeping things really modest, baby steps and all. The groups were really small, a handful of students each time, and the second workshop was essentially a repeat of the first for those missed it. Repetition... Continue Reading →
Holding space. It's an expression that pops up a lot in yoga, as perhaps in more directly therapeutic work. I guess the idea is about creating a safe container for someone, to allow them to have their time and space. The teacher's role is to provide the context for the examination but not the answers.... Continue Reading →
