Categories
Yoga

In Teacher Training Intensive…

In Teacher Training all week for Advance? Level yoga teacher certification – To prepare last week, I checked into an anatomy course feeling that need from the basic level course. In the original course, my eyes glazed over from too many ??? moments, then went back to rereading her anatomy book. Got a little clearer – then came the crash course anatomy weekend – refresher- to really prepare as I want to be fluent in this “language” as well.

I am so in awe with a teacher who has this vast in-depth of knowledge and incredible sharp eyes for noticing the subtle intricacies of one’s body – it’s like she has this X-Ray vision. It must come from a true understanding about human physiology, kinesiology, and… experience. I mean, I do not know of anyone like her in the West – 42 years of teaching yoga! Just in utter awe and respect. When I say experience, actually I am not referring to classroom experience but more about her true life experience of someone who lived and is living an authentic life as a daughter, sister, wife and a mother, and a grandmother. Moreover, even as or more important as that classroom and life experience, is her intuitive understanding of human nature.

I relish every moment and feel so present when I am with this teacher. Perhaps because I had lost it due to the excuse of being “too busy”, I love her attention to detail whether it be about femur bones or hamstrings or… handling of props… First time I was exposed to her loving ways with a simple act of folding a blanket to such detail, that act actually reminded me of the way my late-grandmother used to fold the silk Obi and Kimono with such grace and care and … yes, refined attention to detail. You call that “mindful” in today’s speak. Then last night, I imagined that we are all a Princess from that fairy tale, “Princess and the Pea”. We are all sensitive. Royally sensitive, yes, we are. Those details do matter for us to be comfortable and at ease as we embody our body. She can uncover that pea under the layers that will give you fitful sleep!  And I hope to learn that technique from this master:)

Yesterday she says: Are you learning? I just want to give all I know to you. And so she gives and gives.

So blessed are we. A teacher appears when a student is ready – it’s just like she said.

This rings true: “As a teacher, you can’t teach anyone anything. A teacher just creates an environment in which people learn”. Per Judith, that environment is that of “respect, safety, and mutuality”. I further interpret that to mean that you cannot create the desire, only a student can create that desire, the thirst for knowledge, the motivation for change, the action. You are just a conduit. The teacher is the one holding a mirror on students’ path so they can see themselves and the well lit path. They can still stumble but … they now have the strength to get up and go even further. Illuminating.

*Placed a question mark after the word, “Advance” – I mean, is there really an Advance level? What I really mean is that it is more – just more. MORE in-depth and covering MORE applications to cover MORE situations and MORE cases. The students there are really intent on using this methodology to help people find MORE ease and joy in embodying their body to achieve optimal health. Advance? Actually, it’s quite basic.

Categories
Yoga

Magical Journey with Nancy…

Home practice is … nice… BUT practicing with the like minded is nicer. Humans are after all, tribal in nature. I thought Nancy’s Monday night Yin and Restorative class had been so magical, when she was there, I made it a point to assist her or take her class at this beautiful local studio. Subbing for her gave me great joy as it meant she trusted me and I always rise to the occasion no matter what, when I am trusted. But most of all, thanks to her, I trust myself and I believe in myself.

For me, at this time, I am not teaching yoga to become famous or have some need to stand out. In fact, I wondered why I gravitate to teaching when my life would be so much easier if I didn’t. I would do so much better to just go back to doing what I do really well already rather than reinventing myself by turning this unexplained passion into “work”. If it’s a hobby, Why didn’t I take up running or go back to tennis or volleyball (Varsity setter in high school – yey, for setters – we set-up and facilitate the success of spikers) why? I still might do all the above when I find the time but Yoga will be my foundation until I take my last breath. No, I don’t have a burning desire to be on the cover of yoga journal magazine. I don’t even want my name profiled on the studio or club’s website, really(but of course, students have the right to know.) I just want to help and serve people so they feel better and achieve their optimal health – why? I think when they do, I also feel better – it’s kind of like motherhood. Another kind of MOTHERHOOD. Besides, students are your best teachers. Yoga is uplifting taught by the right teacher and I guess just being appreciated more must be what I am hooked on. What’s wrong with me? Nothing. I think we all have that need.

So I thought I was just subbing 2-3 classes at most but realized that I subbed over 12 classes in the last few weeks and the styles have been very varied – family yoga, yin yoga, yin/restorative, vinyasa- all levels, vinyasa 2-3, hatha and the latest, Yoga for Athletes… What’s that you ask? Well, had to throw out my ashtanga-ish sequence for a lunar sequence switch as I too assumed all these muscle-bound athletic men would show up to this yogi’s class – and how wrong I was. A very diverse “athletic” group in the evening – Anyway, SO for all the variety I come across, I quickly felt compelled to freshen my playlist…to cover all those classes. Can’t just hit the “refresh” button on this. I have to put it together – thank goodness for Apple products that make it so easy for such tasks.

Tonight a lovely student asked for the names of the songs on my playlist so despite the fact that I fidgeted with the stereo system and pulled out a knob by mistake – whoops – a calming yogic moment – then fumbled with the volume control(so many knobs! yes, it was a comedy…), apparently someone was listening to the BGM – it is nice to know that there’s someone who appreciates the music selection since I actually work to put it together – SO I must say, she has such good taste:) as I try to make them varied but still with some running theme.

So few know this – I once dreamed of becoming a DJ at KALX college radio station(Go Bears!)…when I was there. So it’s nice to come up with a playlist – so fun.

Categories
Beautiful People Yoga

Learning from Judith…

Q: Who is Judith Hanson Lasater?
A: Judith Lasater has taught yoga since 1971. She holds a doctorate in East-West psychology and is a physical therapist. Judith is president of the California Yoga Teachers Association, and has been an advisor on three NIH (National Institute of Health) studies on yoga and health.

Her yoga training includes study with B. K. S. Iyengar in India and the United States. She teaches ongoing yoga classes and trains yoga teachers in kinesiology, yoga therapeutics, and the Yoga Sutra in the San Francisco Bay Area. Judith also gives workshops throughout the United States, and has taught in Bolivia, Canada, China, England, Egypt, France, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, and Russia.

I am privileged to learn from her and blessed to learn from so many amazing local and non-local teachers I hope to introduce in this blog. From them, I gained mind-expansive, heart-filled inspirations I bring into my own daily practice.