Today was my second long Saturday yoga teacher training session. I really enjoyed the class, and have continued in reporting my little bits of learning (to go along with all the big learning that is also going on) here.
Image from *The Human Body and Health Revised* - 1908
- Sitting on the floor for a long time gets easier, but it’s not easy yet. Today I was having an RA flare, so that added a little complexity. But, on the up side, my sides don’t feel nearly as unhappy as last week after class.
- At some point, I’ve become a very visual learner. I don’t think this used to be so true for me, but it certainly is now. Sometimes things said just don’t really go in. But, if I can see them, it’s much better. External rotation was just not making good sense to me until I saw it a few times.
- Adult learners in a yoga teacher training (including me) are a lot like middle school kids. We want to sit in the back of the room and when the teacher asks a question that we aren’t sure about, we all put our heads down.
- I LOVE hearing about how other people are working through their processes. One of our tasks for this week was to observe ahimsa (non-harming). Hearing all the stories of people’s experiences during the week was probably my favorite moment in the class.
- Things that I can do easily while moving just go right out of my head when speaking. I can’t remember when to inhale or exhale when I start talking. I also have no idea whose voice that is coming out of my body when I try to lead the class. It does not even sound like me. I am usually extremely comfortable with any sort of public speaking, but I can’t even get a sentence out in a normal vocal rhythm. Wow.
- Many parts of the body seem to have about six ways that they can move. Interesting. Knees are pretty much only made to move two ways, but there are six possible. Ouch.
- There are two basic divisions to the skeleton – axial (skull, ribs, spine) and appendicular (everything else). The structure of bones is directly related to their purpose. Long bones provide leverage for movement. Flat bones give us stability and allow for muscle attachment. Short bones are the weight bearing bones. While this is all the case, everyone’s bones are different in many ways, including their “twist” – because bones don’t really grow in a straight line.
- There are basically for curves in the spine. The thoracic spine and sacrum have a convex curve. The lumbar spine and cervical spine have a concave curve.
- I remember a lot from anatomy and physiology classes. It’s funny how much I like such things when I’m not even on the scientific spectrum of what I research.
- This group of students is starting to feel very comfortable to me already, which is quite cool since we were mostly strangers when we started.
So, that’s my top ten tidbits for this week. Yay for yoga teacher training!
Namaste,
L