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Yoga

800 hrs. Yoga Therapy Teacher Training – thank you Niroga !

Reminiscing after the 2& 1/2 modules made up last weekend … Can I finally say that I have completed my certification requirements for 800 hours in training ?  I really hope so – seriously – as I had spend hours glued to the study videos (at the cost of great strain to one’s back – thus, Back Care Immersion with Judith & Lizzie Lasater and Mary Richards – highly recommended for yoga teachers and anatomy geeks interested in more holistic approach.), hours of reading, hours attending therapeutic classes (so good !) as if to counter all that sitting and studying. Pray for me that I have fulfilled the requirement at last. I know just 200 hrs. or 500 hrs. RYT is enough to teach any yoga – flow especially but yoga’s role in my fitness plan has always been therapeutic for me – nothing less.  That’s why when Yoga Alliance announced banning the use of that word, “therapy” for any of the yoga we teach, I was like …what?  WHAT?!  If yoga isn’t therapeutic, what is it then?  Just another fancy exercise – then why yoga – why not stick to soccer or zumba or dance or tennis or … stick to exercise, right ? Or is it a form of callisthenics and stretching ? Or is it acrobatics and refined human contortions?

Thus my search for yoga as I know it** to arrive at this Yoga Therapist learning. Sure, of course it’s exercise, a fitness program but it’s more – there are layers, sheaths, koshas that unfolds, getting us to the very core of our being … that intention and impact gets lost sometimes caught up in the ever accelerated pace of events unfolding all around us. I am happy I rediscovered that yoga, the kind of yoga we can savior and be sustained by.  It’s a sustainable practice of self-care, integrating the mind-body and maybe even the spirit unfolds and evolves to take you to the unexpected place.

Baxter Bell, MD, c-IAYT (find his classes and recently published book “Yoga for Healthy Aging”), on violin, and Perry (find his classes – Veterans Yoga Project !) on guitar  – here performing at our graduation, as we all broke out singing together in chorus, late-Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” ! (we OM too:)

Niroga Institute is winding down their yoga programs (200 hrs. basic, 500 hrs. advance study & 800 hrs. yoga therapeutics) this year to focus their energies to teaching Dynamic Mindfulness & Transformative Life Skills to school-aged students on-site by training the classroom teachers, counselors, and recruiting yoga teachers to serve on yoga-corps (like ‘peace corps’ but * yoga – “warriors of peace”:) to teach in the learning environment for K-12th.

With their latest shift in their offering, feeling especially blessed and lucky that I had the privilege to learn from these respective expert in the particular field.  It’s their last year offering this comprehensive a program…  Their wealth of knowledge as it relates to yoga and healing was … nothing short of inspiring.  We learned how to better distill the yogic techniques and methods holistically for that unique whole person who stands before us.

As you can tell by the course syllabus (see last post), each of the subject in our curriculum, we could spend a lifetime studying on BUT, we learned each of the subjects as it relates to the scope of our work in “yoga therapy”.  Yoga therapist is never in the business of diagnosing, that’s as we know the role of the medical establishment, but there to work for the client’s need to organically find wholeness & wellness, mindful of other health professionals if need be (MD, PT, OT, DC, etc.), a bit similar to a role of a say, acupuncturist in the Eastern modality,  to provide support through the application of this beautiful practice called YOGA.  The greatest difference being it’s self-administered and self-empowering as the practitioner is not relying on a treatment to be administered from others – it’s self-driven. We were taught to first and foremost, do no harm by acting out of ego but provide true understanding, be knowledgeable, have empathy, and finally, apply yogic tools and techniques so that the client finds the strength to discover the healer, the innate wisdom, within.  In order to do that we need to understand better our own makeup not just about the poses and the techniques.  We need to better understand and love ourselves from top to bottom, from inside and out.

Earthing !

Best way to get out of your own way – living yoga (title of Judith Lasater’s lovely book) – rather than doing yoga.

Teacher Devi (40+ years yoga teacher who started CalStar Yoga at UC Berkeley, yoga for people with disabilities) and here, lovely Winter Brown (teacher at Stanford Healthcare & @ Winter Brown Yoga), and a beautiful artist/dancer/yogi soul who wishes to remain anonymous:)

Labyrinth of a yoga circle – this year requiring 2+? circles to contain all the students. We all showed up! Niroga is a beautiful container for those wanting an advance study to further the practice with a sense of Seva – service at the core.

 

* yoga as in mindfulness and meditation for “peace”.

** Yoga to me is not about pushing your body beyond limits and see if it breaks.  Yoga is not about an “exhibit”, “contest” or “showcase” – yoga is not about what you can do or what you used to be able to do – it’s about overcoming ego and let’s face it – transcending many fears, especially of aging and loss – it’s really about living fully now – yoga is about healing if need be, self-care for preventative medicine or recovery, it’s about finding balance and your own center.  Check this out.  Love it – what a sage.

***I was once at Washington Park in Manhattan and performance artists showed up to exhibit “yoga” as people ogled at their Gumby Bendy poses – it was practically a freak show at a circus as I prayed that those so called yogis not have hip replacement and knees, or wrists surgeries in few years or deal with chronic pain.) Rather than bringing more people to try yoga, the show probably turned off many from even trying yoga – it did not appear inviting nor accessible.  Most of us do not start yoga practice from pre-teen age nor practice 5+ hours a day as BKS Iyengar had. (Actually when asked how many hours he practiced a day he joked? by answering – 24 hours:)  Some of us started the practice already into adulthood so … bear that in mind and be kind to yourself.  The practice can be both challenging but still relaxing.

The right practice, my yoga, brings about more lightness and you feel less stuck, less stressed and … filled with uplifted energy – prana – amidst the calmness.  There’s peace within the mind and a tranquil spaciousness in the body.  That is my intention.  How about you?  What’s the intention behind your practice?

 

By Kay T. Ananda

Yoga brings Joy!
Joy to your body, heart, soul and allows your mind to settle all the debris to the bottom of the lake, ripples gently subsides so that like that shining water, your lake in your mind is still and crystal clear. Only then, you can find your truth... when your mind clears and all distractions are gone, leaving you - stillness and clarity. Peace.
Dog is doing yoga all the time and brings you laughs!
Anger is borne out of fear; how do we find that fearless path of inner peace?
Why Bark when you can Wag to express your JOY Joy joy !!!???
無心でしっぽをふる喜びを表すあの子犬のようなJOYを糧に無理ない、各自のコンデイションに寄り添いながらもチャレンジ精神をとりかえす…そんなヨーガを:)
全米ヨガアライアンス公認ヨガ講師養成コース修了、リストラティブヨガ指導者認定登録、アメリカRYT500登録インストラクター、800hrsヨガセラピーIAYT今現在一瞬ThisMoment&NOWをCELEBRATEするカリフォルニア*ライフ!

帰国子女としてニューヨーク、テヘラン、カリフォルニアと転々、いずれ東京に帰る意識で日本語高等部卒大卒後シリコンバレーにとどまる。ヨガはカリフォルニア州立、バークレー大学時代、ストレス解消に効くと教授に教わり試してみるが... 合わずジャズサイズ、ウェイトトレーニング、エアロビックスのクラスに移転の20代、30代、産後、過労で体調を崩し大病も治癒。死ぬかと思った~大病後、久しぶりに足を踏み入れたヨガスタジオのヨガが大学時代のスローでポーズごと器械体操ごとく、つまらなーいヨガとはまったく違い進化していた。流れる踊りの振り付け的なヨガに魅せられる。数々の流派があることを習い、数種類のスタイルを試す。ビクラム、ホット、アイヤンガー、ヴィンヤサ、アシュタンガ・パワー、などなど。数年前サンフランシスコにて、ヨガアライアンス認定インストラクター養成を経て、インストラクター証書習得。同じ年にキッズヨガインストラクター証書ゲット。リストラテイブヨガ、インストラクター認定、陰ヨガのインターン、アシスト後、陰とヴィンヤサ、レギュラーハタクラスを教える。又プライベート、セミプライベートレッスンをクライアントのニーズの合わせ、ヨガセラピストとしてセラピー集中ヨガ提供。その為に2年間のアドバンスコースに挑みc-IAYT証書習得!ヨガ療法士としてIAYT(国際ヨガセラピスト協会)認定のヨガセラピスト、C-IAYT(Certified-IAYT) 10年以上、ベイクラブ、ヨガスタジオ、シリコンバレー社などで子育て中週4-5回レギュラーレッスンの講師を務める。3月2020にあの頃は最後とは知らずの週2教えていたスタジオにてのインパーソンヨガクラスを後に…遠方介護ニーズとコロナ禍を機に当分はパブリッククラスリードからはリタイア。
自分自身が心と体の調和で得た平穏…日常の小ちゃな事に見出す喜びをヨガ愛好者のどなたとでもと共有できたらと願うばかり。ジョイを共有し、ジョイフルライフを。そう、もし犬に例えるのであれば、恐れや威嚇で吠えまくる犬ではなく、シッポふりふり笑顔で愛と喜びに満ちた心持をヨガを通しシャア。恥じる気持ち等恐れず誰でもできる自身ジョイフルヨガを肝に銘じりたい。LOVE LOVE LOVE:)Shanti Shanti Shanti:)