Category Archives: Yoga Teacher Training

Wow! The Power of a Good Inversion Assist

  By | , ,
5 Comments

In yoga teacher training today, we were working together on a variety of peak poses (including arm balances and inversions) that we might use for our final teachers.  In groups of four, one of us taught, one of us practiced, one did adjustments/assists, and one observed.  It was really so much fun and very revealing.

In assisting others into inversions, I noticed that I’m not that worried that I will get kicked in the face, but I am more concerned that I will pull the person practicing off balance or create a situation where he/she is not getting as much out of the inversion as he/she could, because I’m getting in the way.  However, doing the  practice of it definitely helped with that feeling, and made me feel more confident that I can be of assistance.

And then I practiced.  I got to be assisted in several poses, including adho mukha vrksasana (handstand), pinca myurasana (peacock tailfeather or forearm stand), and sirsasana (headstand).  Some of the adjustments were very informative, a tilt of the hipbones in pinca to create more length in the lower back, a lifting of the hips to ease the process into handstand, etc.  As I went into pinca myurasana, my assisting yogi, Yvonne, had her feet bracing my hands and her knees behind my shoulder blades.  Once I was in position up the wall, she encouraged me to push my shoulders into her knees and my lower back lengthened like crazy.  Neat!  Then later, in headstand, she had her feet outside of my elbows, keeping them from splaying out to the side.  Just that bit of extra help gave me some sort of oomph that I haven’t had ever before in the pose, and part way through I realized that my head was actually about 1/2 inch off the ground.  It was crazy and cool and crazy cool! (Have I mentioned how much I love inversions?)

We also did a little brainstorming of ideas for workshops or series.  Maybe it was all the blood that rushed to my head in the inversions, but I felt like there were so many great possibilities just running through my mind.  Sweet!

Yep, this is why I om.  😀

Namate,

L

First Time Out and I’ll Call it Good

  By | ,
10 Comments

Image from yinyoga.com - A great resource for yin

Unexpectedly, last week an acquaintance who lives in my area, and who I have practiced yin  yoga with on a number of occasions, asked me if I was interested in subbing her Sunday morning yin class.  My initial impulse was YES!  But, I calmed down a little and checked my schedule, confirmed that all was ok with insurance and certification issues, and then said YES!  Sunday snuck up on me pretty quickly, but with playlist help from my loving spouse, Derek, and class planning help from my  yoga teachers, I was ready to roll.  I wasn’t super nervous, but there were a few butterflies in the tummy Sunday morning.

I arrived at the class location about 25 minutes before it was due to begin and started scoping out the room, setting up music (momentary panic when I couldn’t get the  speakers to work turned out to be an issue with my iPhone case not letting the pin make full contact in the jack -whew!), making the props available to students, setting up my little area, and generally familiarizing myself with where things were in the room.

As students started to enter, I greeted them, suggested props to those who seemed uncertain, and invited anyone who wanted extra time in heart bench to go ahead into that shape at any point.  Before long, it was time to start the official portion of the class, and with an introduction of myself to the group of about 15-17 students, off we went.

I have to say, I’m glad it was a  yin class, because the time in poses was good for me to stay on point and be sure of where I was going next.  There was also less to remember about sequencing, and much less to do in terms of adjustments.  But, I got to chat a little about yin (trying to be sure to maintain periods of silence during each pose), offer modifications for people throughout, and watch the process unfold.  It was great!

I don’t know how much impact this will have on my final vinyasa teach, but I think it will at least make me feel more confident that I can do it if I stay calm and just share yoga with the students.  And, that’s what teaching is all about, right?

Namaste,

L

A Sanskrit/Yoga Word Root Post

  By | ,
6 Comments

I’ve been compiling a little list of root words.  I’ll add to it over the next few weeks.  Let me know if you see something that is off!

L

adho – downward
anga – limb
angusta – big toe
anna – food
ardha – half
asana – seat, posture
asta – eight
baddha – bound
baka – crow
bhujanga – serpent, cobra
cat / catur – four
chandra – moon
danda – staff
dhanu- bow
dwi – two
eka – one
garuda – eagle
go – cow
hala – plow
hasta – hand
indra/ endra – lord
janu – knee
jathara – stomach
kapota – pigeon
karna – ears
kona – angle
kurma – tortoise
mala – garland
mayura – peacock
mukha – face
mula – root
nava – boat
pada – foot
padma – lotus
parivrtta – crossed/twisted
parsva – side, lateral
pascima / pasci – west, or back
pinca – tailfeather
pranam – bow
prasarita – spread out
pursvo – front of body (or east)
raja – king
salabha – locust
sarvanga – all limbs
sava – corpse
sirsa – head
supta – reclining, supine
surya – sun
svana – dog
tada – mountain
tri – three
urdhva – upward
ustra – camel
utkata – awkward
utt – intense
uttan – stretch
utthita – extended
viparita – inverted
vira – hero
vrksa – tree