TIME FOR REFLECTION . . .

Each time I return from a training or workshop, I have notebooks full of ideas, tips, words of wisdom, cautionary notes, etc.  My routine is to take these scribbled notes and transcribe them into an easier-to-read version, typed & 3-hole-punched & safely stored in a binder.  Then I read them, re-read them, read them again.

I might take a tidbit or two from a training and teach them right away; it depends.  Like this weekend, Desiree asked us to bend our knee into Warrior II using outer spiral, rather than simply bending the knee.  I hope that makes sense.  For those of you who study Anusara and know the 5 UPA's, as you stand with your feet wide apart, turn the right (or left) leg out, inner spiral your thighs, then outer spiral the turned leg more than the other, and initiate the bend of that knee with the outer spiral.  Play with that one for a while!  I guarantee your glute muscles will feel it.

Why did I feel I could teach that tidbit?  Because I had heard and practiced it before in Adam's classes.   I was also regularly doing it in my own practice; I just wasn't teaching it that way, YET.

I must always temper the urge to rush into class and teach everything I heard during a workshop or training in one class.  The reading, re-reading, then practicing it many times myself, will give me the confidence and knowledge to teach something effectively.

And, I realize that there are many things I heard months or years ago, that I am reminded of during these events.  Like using outer spiral to initiate and carry out the bend of the knee -- when reminded, I can contemplate it, then incorporate it into my teaching.

To rush in is not authentic; it's not my voice or my experience.  To serve my students, I have to embody the teachings for a bit before I pass them on.

SOMETHING I NOTICED:   In the past, I have asked students to turn their foot out in preparation for some of these wide-stanced poses.  I noticed a couple weeks ago a student who did as asked, but their knee stayed somewhere inbetween.  At that time, I reflected on Christina's teaching from July -- where she commented that the whole leg must turn.  I knew that the whole leg must turn, but students might not and will do what I ask them to do, and simply turn the foot - leaving the knee somewhere inbetween.  So -- I must use new verbiage.  Now I ask students to turn their whole leg out - from hip to foot.  Better!

Going to Wayne's class this morning, then some free time before 4 pm YogaHour.

Have a delightful Tuesday,