1. First a couple apologies -- I was to have attended a book club meeting to discuss the Upanishads (Eknath Easwaren's translation) last night. Thursdays are always long days to begin with - 3 classes to teach, 1 class to take, plus whatever other parts of my life fill in the spaces. That, coupled with a bit of confusion about a late class (too much to discuss here), and a broken water dispenser leaking all over the retail space floor, caused me to miss. Just too much for one day -- sorry, Jen. Besides, next time, I may be more into this translation.
2. Second, go back to yesterday, it's not April's blog, but Katie's, that I mentioned - April, in her generous manner was simply sharing it with us through Facebook. I love that she does that - shares stuff. And, I'm sure that sometime in the future, she'll find time to write a blog, or articles, or a book, or something. Lots of yoga teaching and knowledge in that lady's history.
3. Third, go back to #1. As I've begun reading this translation of the Upanishads, I've had a revelation. I truly dislike 'Introductions'. I know they have a purpose, especially in this type of reading. But, they are so loonnnggg. Just my personal observation.
4. One of my Thursday morning students is learning English, which makes teaching yoga to her a bit of a challenge (she is a new-to-yoga person). I'm pulling on the skills I developed when I taught the group of deaf women from a while back. Lots of demos, lots of made-up signing, like that. She's a great student, good body awareness and lots of potential.
I did have a somewhat horrifying thought, tho, yesterday. I noticed her mimic'ing my arm gestures - gestures that are not part of the poses. I worry these may carry forward to other classes - wouldn't that be a sight; student pointing at backside dramatically indicating that the glute muscle must aid in the bending of the front knee, as she moves into Parsvakonasana. To counter that, I repeated each pose without the hand gestures, just to make sure she understands the gesticulating hands/arms are not part of the pose.
5. Some of you know my morning routine - get up, sit, check e-mail, write in blog, walk dogs, do other housework - as there is time, and off to teach or take a class. Yesterday was similar, but because it had rained, the earth was soft enough to quickly go out and spend 20 minutes roughing up the soil, pulling weeds, making a couple flower beds look a bit better. As I dug, I thought -- there's a story and a theme here. A theme about softening. The soil was soft from the rain, easy to move the 'claw' tool through and get the weeds out by their roots. I used that theme in each class - relating it back to my story and our philosophy as when I soften it's a balance of the strength I've cultivated, an opening to new knowledge, new possibilities. When I soften, I grow.
6. I find myself teaching arm balances in many classes this week. Must be the energy BJ left in her wake. For students, it's an awakening to their power; for me, it's a fun and rewarding challenge.
7. What would 'notes' be without the tip of the week. I love this part; as good for me, as for anyone. Why? because I'm re-reading my notes looking for something relevant and, in doing so, reading lots of stuff I've heard over and over, but - perhaps - have forgotten (or, not forgotten, but just lost in the wealth of knowledge being shared). So, I pulled a few bullet points -- things we may know, but have 'lost':
- Allow the pose to grow before stepping in; unless there is a red flag somewhere (red flag = dangerous mis-alignment)
- Hyperextended knees - how can we be sure? feel the back of student's knee, if bulging then knees are hyperextended. What do we do? Ask them to back out of the pose and start over. This is one red flag, not to be ignored (per JF). I usually have students with this tendency bend their knees, firmly press their feet into the floor before straightening the knee. I find this action mitigates the tendency to lock back.
- Why are we on fingertips in lunges? 1) to create space, 2) to strengthen the hands, 3) to strengthen the arms (especially those triceps), and 4) to give us greater sensitivity in the pose. Contrast between flat hand and fingertips is a good demonstration of the power of the fingertips
- In every pose, teach some element of quiet - balance the action with quiet / softening (there's that theme idea). I tell students that I knew I was 'getting' a pose when I could take one or two un-stressed breaths while in a pose.
Better go walk the dogs -- they are impatient this morning.
Have a good Friday!
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