Another great weekend of Training with these incredible students.
The theme for this weekend is about slowing the practice down for more focus on alignment and teaching techniques. I am generally not a fan of teaching Yoga with mirrors, as I feel this may bring distraction and is not necessarily helpful in creating a more internal conscious awareness .
I do, however appreciate that certain practices are hugely assisted by the use of mirrors, in order to teach students to check on their alignment, as well as placement. Many students coming to Yoga find it difficult to follow verbal guidance, as well as assistance. It can be very useful to check that your body is in the position that the teacher has instructed.
When we find the alignment for our individual anatomical make-up, we then find the strength, and often stability within the posture.
Using my original training in the Ashtanga Yoga system, with the incredible David Swenson, I taught the majority of the standing sequence together with a few seated postures.
When students begin teaching, it can be truly challenging to create Yoga sequences, and especially something which has a flow of cleverly woven breath synchronised postures, as in many Vinyasa flow classes today.
With this in mind, I kept it simple and with fewer transitions.
There is so much which we, as experienced instructors, take for granted.
How to set an intension, how to integrate Philosophy, and how to guide safely to a mixed level of students.
I know my teaching has evolved dramatically over my 20 years of teaching.
The stack of books I have at home about the subject of Yoga is still growing. I find many new insights in these readings, along with continuing my personal practice, and, time permitting, attending workshops and classes with inspirational teachers.
I also learn so much as I help my trainees along with their Yoga journey.
I have just returned from Thailand where I attended a Yoga retreat with my dear friend, and an incredible instructor, Andrea Kwiatkowski.
Andrea is truly an inspiration to me and she re-ignited my passion and love for this incredible practice. I am truly grateful for this.
I took some time to revisit some of my books on Yoga, Buddhism, and Mindfulness.
This has helped my teaching, and given me the opportunity to reconnect to my practice.
On Sunday the students were given a day of lecturing from Jozef Weiwel. He has an incredible knowledge of anatomy and its application to safe teaching.
This is an incredible preparation for our next weekend, which will be ''Anatomy and Physiology''.
I feel so blessed to be sharing my knowledge and watch the progression in these students.
You are truly inspirational, every one of you.
I feel honoured that you have chosen to begin your Yoga teaching journey with me, and it is the most incredible part of my role, as studio owner, teacher and mentor.
