SO, HOW'd IT GO?

"Guest Teaching" for Adam Ballenger, that is. It went well.

There were not as many people in class as when Adam teaches, but - since he announced he would be gone and there would be a 'guest teacher' - that's to be expected. Interesting that many students find exploring a new or different instructor - even for one class - is out of their realm of possibility.

A guest teacher, to me, means - at the very least (most?) - an opportunity to practice my beginner mind. Rather than skip the class, I look for the possibility of viewing my practice from a different angle or perspective. That's part of the yoga.

It brings to mind the year I was in Tucson with JF for a Therapeutics Training. He excused himself from the training after day two, and left - in his stead - Noah Maze, Sianna Sherman, and Martin Kirk. Each very different styles of teachers, but each with great knowledge to share. I remember being disappointed at JF's unexpected departure, but tried to understand. I also remember that it was hard to watch the others step in, try to fill his shoes, teach us -- not because they weren't measuring up, but because my expectation had been that it would be JF teaching, not someone else. I remember listening and comparing what each had to say to what I might be hearing if JF were at the front of class. Then, I decided to soften, to put on my 'beginner mind', to understand and relax. From each of them, I took information -- perhaps even more detailed that I might have otherwise received (no offense, John). This because they were each quite overwhelmed, themselves, by being thrust into this situation. We all survived. I learned. I'm sure they learned they were well capable of 'stepping up to the plate'. It turned out just fine.

But, back to your local yoga class -- I've noted that students new-to-yoga tend to latch onto the first (or one of the first) instructors they experience (I remember I did it). These first instructors make such an impact, introducing yoga to people, that it's hard to think someone else might do just as well. So, many students stay with that instructor and avoid any exposure to others (unless it's a surprise), even to the point of staying away from their yoga class when there is a 'guest teacher'. Oh, well, it's a 'human thing'.

The four students who did show up got to journey into bird of paradise pose. This has never been a favorite of mine, but I love to teach it and to watch students open to places they thought inaccessible. And, for these beautiful students, it just took activating both feet and opening their hearts to experience the pose more fully than previously.

Today?

• Just house stuff
• Perhaps run a few errands

Hope your Sunday is great

A BUSY WEEK . . .

An excuse? A reason? A validation? for not writing in this blog, that is. No just an explanation. Each morning has included computer time, but I have not allotted enough to get to the blog. I apologize to readers and to myself.

Last weekend, Monday and Tuesday, I was in Spokane visiting parents and dealing with some legal maneuvering on their behalf.

I flew back EARLY on Wednesday, in time to change clothes and make it to Gentle Yoga. We're still working with the Laksmi aspects, but - even that fell to the wayside this week. Once home, I crashed - literally. Naptime, big time.

Thursday had it's usual busy-ness - house stuff in the morning, Pilates in the afternoon, then a private, then the Level 1-2 class. Crash, again -- after a trip to CostCo.

Friday, I listened to the weekly classes from Amy Ippoliti. Got a lot of good ideas from this last session (and all of the sessions this February). I do recommend this webinar course -- it was low-impact (meaning not too stressful), it put me in touch with a group of great co-participants, and I learned more of the 'nuts & bolts' of teaching yoga -- like, how to get more people into class, the importance of managing the business side of my teaching (which some of us often neglect, piling it in with the personal or family stuff). There is so much to learning to teach Anusara Yoga, that these things often get neglected. Great stuff with great teaching and the "90 Minute Kula" (as I call them).

I forgot about Friday (Horrors!); so will offer a 'tip' here: (-PAUSE-) O.K., I've just spent 20 minutes reviewing my typed notes (BTW, I always type my notes after scribbling in workshops or trainings -- just easier to read. And, if I do them within 24 hours, but after 12 hours, the memory is interesting in that I actually remember more of what I heard and am able to add it to the typewritten format!) What did I come up with? Lots, but nothing that jumped off the page at me. I did, however, find numerous things that will help with teaching class today (I'm guest teaching for Adam Ballenger) and in the future. The point (and - perhaps - the 'tip'): Reviewing, re-reading, visualizing where I was when I did this or that adjustment -- all are great ways to enhance my study and experience. Because if you are like me, I forget and I will lapse into the same stuff over and over, forgetting about all the GREAT other stuff I learned. Oh, some of it gets in there, but certainly not all.

Review, review, review.

Today:

• Private at 7 am (yikes!)
• Teaching for Adam at SugarSpace at 9 am
• House stuff

Have a great Saturday (BTW, it's snowing like crazy here!),

BLOOMING

I took my friend, Susan, to her first yoga class yesterday. We drove to Garden Street Yoga (Coeur d'alene), and took a level 1-2 class taught by Jennifer Harbour.

(Remember about six months ago, I was coerced into a kickboxing class? Same friend, pay back time. But - in my mind - a good pay back.)

As we entered, there was the usual welcoming cacophony of voices in the room (no one meditating or warming up, everyone just visiting - happy to be in the room). Not that I have anything against meditating or warming up before class, it's just that the quiet can be so deafening and so intimidating to a new-to-yoga or new-to-the-group person. For me, a room full of chatter is a good thing.

Jennifer is on the same path as I am -- I don't know her exact timeline, only that she is an Inspired™ instructor who studies with Karen Sprute-Francovich. I have attended several of her classes over the past few years and each time, I see growth. In this class we worked on kidney loop and shoulder loop -- or, in her words, 'humble' and 'worthy'. As she talked at the start of class, the theme resonated with me so much that I found myself on the verge of tears! That doesn't happen often. Before we centered, she concluded with a poem by Mary Oliver, The Lily. Nice touch.

Class went well, also. The theme was carried throughout, her instructions were clear, and I found myself breaking a sweat even though we were moving slowly -- loved it.

Throughout, I found myself thinking about my friend -- how she was receiving (1) the practice and (2) the talk about humble and worthy. I asked afterwards. She clearly enjoyed the class; and it is all so new to her, that the verbiage probably wasn't focused on too much -- just trying to get into trichonasana takes a lot of the mental 'space' we have -- not much leftover for contemplating a theme. That's not a bad thing, it's a 'new-to-yoga' thing.

I was next to Susan (mat-wise), and the temptation was strong to offer 'tips'. However, this wasn't my class to teach, I was a student just like her. So, I remained silent, letting Jennifer do all the instruction. Whew! That's tough.

After class, we had a great bowl of soup at a local coffee shop, and returned to Spokane, where I spent much of the afternoon visiting my parents.

Obviously, I'm not in Salt Lake this weekend. Came to visit family, leaving Howard (husband) at home to take care of dogs, et al, and to shovel the snow that's been falling. (Another pay back from the many times he has been traveling and I've been shoveling over the years.) Good exercise, however.

Today? More visiting, maybe a little shopping, some research to finalize the sale of my parents' home.

Hope you have a great holiday (assuming you're taking today as a holiday)!

AND, IT'S FRIDAY

I've been up for a while, scouring e-mails, reading Facebook, listening to Amy's downloaded sessions from this week's "90 Minutes . . ." series, taking pictures (yes, even that). About time to get on with the day; but then, I remembered the blog -- which has been woefully neglected this week.

First, tho, a photo from this morning's 'moon-set':

It is Friday, so I'll re-cap the week and move on to the "tip of the week":

Monday, as you know, was Valentine's Day and my opportunity to teach at YogaTejas. Still vibrating from that experience.

Tuesday, taught in the a.m., on to Pilates, my private with 1/2 of the 'less-than-flexible' couple. Home to collapse, tired still from Monday's excitement(?).

Wednesday, Gentle Yoga defines this day. We had a smaller group, so I was able to focus on one student's low back pain and another's rib pain (brought on by a bout of whatever respiratory stuff is going on - severe coughing). What did we discover from this class? That ME, especially during transitions, will help to alleviate much of the discomfort being experienced. The other students in class, were subjected to listening to my theory many times over, but know that their turn may come in a future class - everyone gets their time in the sun.

Thursday, the busiest day of the week for me. First, my recently-hired housekeeper comes. That means I have to have the house pretty picked up, so she can do the deeper cleaning. Sometimes that's no easy task. On to another Pilates session (amazing to me how I see a correlation to yoga, especially as you do things for the second time around -- things/ability change and improve). The second private of the week for 1/2 of the 'less-than-flexible' couple; she is making great strides in her practice. She desires perfection; that's a lesson to be learned -- perfection is not the goal, accepting what we can do and working diligently to grow our practice might be the better goal. Then, a class to teach -- fun journey into some arm balances with a great group of fun-loving and open students. Home to crash, again.

Busy week!

I will go back to my teaching this week for the 'tip'. In recent trainings with JF, he repeatedly has reminded us to NOT get too stiff (energized) through the fingertips, to soften a bit. Why? When we energize too vigorously, and then visualize the prana moving in our body - it reaches the fingertips and stops, almost like it hits a concrete wall. As we create prana, we want to have it flow throughout our body, AND we want an 'escape valve' -- for lack of a better word -- a place for the excess prana to leave the body and - hopefully - be shared with others. What better place for this 'valve' than the fingertips. How to do this? I tried asking students to maintain strong muscle energy through the wrists, softening the hands a bit. As a teacher, when I look at students, I now see fingers that have a softness to them - even though they still are straight and extending from the wrist. Make sense? Try it. I've gotten comments that it is an effective instruction, and have consulted mentors about it; I believe it's a 'keeper'.

Today's schedule:

• Gentle Yoga, 10:30 am at The Yoga Center
• Misc. Appointments
• Private at 3:30, assuming others are timely

Hope you have a great weekend!

'GUEST TEACHING' (a better way of saying 'sub')

As I was reminded yesterday by one of my new friends from Amy Ippoliti's '90 Minutes to Change the World'. Better we say we are guest teaching than subbing -- sounds so much better.

So, I know you all are wondering how it went? To teach in a totally new environment, to teach a group who I barely know (1 or 2 were familiar to me, but the other 17-18; new to me), to teach a very well schooled group with one new-to-yoga person in the group, to teach with several injuries in the room, to teach more at one time that I have ever done. A few balls to juggle, and -- it went great!

I arrived early (husband dropped me off), let myself in, adjusted heat, turned on lights, opened blinds. Because I was dropped off, there was no car in the parking lot -- worrisome, because who will attempt to come in if they don't see a car? Fortunately, about 5 minutes into my worry, in walked a very nice, bearded gentleman, who assured me that - now that his car was out there - the people would come. And, he was right. A full house. More than I have taught at one time.

You know how you walk into some yoga classes and everyone is either sitting in meditation or warming up? How the quiet in that room is deafening? Well -- not in Driggs. Everyone came boisterously into the room, set up their mats (in great Anusara® fashion), and began visiting with each other. It was like a party; so fun and so tension-relieving for me.

I followed Amy's advice and walked to each person in the room, extended my hand (I think, to everyone), and introduced myself. I inquired about injuries and practice history. I think I might have missed 1 or 2, who came in right as we began, but -- everyone knew who I was; which - sometimes - I forget to do; I just get too wrapped up in the teaching.

Video'ing this class would have been a good idea, but I made a last-minute decision to just enjoy it; left the camera in the car. I focused attention on foundations and the opening that we enjoy with a strong, supportive foundation (on and off the mat). I used the word "vijaya", in my introduction and asked them to try to remember that word -- to celebrate each pose, no matter how full of an expression they were able to create in the pose (remember, vijaya means incremental celebration).

I could go on and on about what I did and how, but the end result is that I had a great time teaching a wonderful group of welcoming and fun students, who were respectful and attentive. What more could I have asked for?

After class, one student came up to me to tell me that my teaching reminded her of Sundari's (WOW!); then she went on to tell me two things I had impressed on her:

1. When I ask people to move to Uttanasana, I ask them to place 10 fingers on the floor (even if they have to bend their knees to do it). Prior to this class, the student had simply touched 7-8 fingers to the floor. The 10-fingered approach made her feel more grounded, she explained -- exactly!
2. Lately, I've remembered JF's advice about not getting too rigid in the fingers. The last two classes I've taught, I have asked students to extend their arms, reach through their wrists, have their hands energized - but NOT rigid. Experiment with it - extend your arm, make your fingers really tense; now try it with your attention on extending through the wrist. I don't want to see hands flopping all over, so some muscle energy is needed through the fingers; but I think John's intent is that we stay soft through the fingers so that prana doesn't feel like it hits a concrete wall as it approaches our fingertips. Make sense? I'd love feedback. Anyway, the student I mentioned above, pointed out this piece of teaching as one of the things she enjoyed exploring in class.

So helpful when students offer these kinds of thoughts.

Today:

• 9:15 am, Level 1-2 at The Yoga Center
• Noon, Pilates
• 2:30 pm, private

Have a great Tuesday,

SUBBING

This morning, I have been invited to sub for Bridget at YogaTejas - a great yoga studio in Driggs, Idaho. This, some of you know, is the studio formerly owned by Sundari, and now owned by Cate Stillman and Bridget Lyons, both Certified Anusara Instructors. Because we (husband and I) own a small house in this town, I frequent the studio whenever possible.

Great teaching and great kula in this little town, where there is still just one stoplight, no movie theatre, everything (almost) closes on Sunday. Major winter recreational activities: Skiing. Grand Targhee is just up Ski Hill Road 11 miles and Jackson Hole, about a 45 minute drive.

So, what do I teach to a group (level 1), who I don't really know -- oh, I've seen them in class -- but injuries? skill level? and, will the same students attend Monday as on Saturday? When I'm in class as a student, I don't look around to see who is able to do what. I did attend Saturday's class, taught by Deb Payne. It was a good one, and wouldn't you know that energy thing was around, and she taught many of the poses I thought would be good possibilities for this unknown-to-me group. Oh well, looking for the good here, this causes me to expand a bit. I have a feeling it will be a good idea to just keep it simple.

In preparation, I have a theme, I have a plan -- I'll post tomorrow on how it goes.

Immediately after the class, we'll hit the road for SLC. Not a bad drive, just long (5 hours).

Hope your Valentine's Day is great! Share your love with everyone, even people you haven't met. It's a good thing, today and as many days as possible.

Wish me luck,

TWO YEARS !

It's the two-year 'birthday' of this blog. 574 posts in those two years. All I can say is Wow!

When I contemplated the 'birth of the blog', I do remember that it was close to Valentine's Day. My husband and I were talking about ways to offer information, network, draw people to us in our respective professional endeavors. I saw blogging as a tool he could use. The longer we talked, the more excited I became. End result: I started a blog, he didn't (yet).

What was the purpose of this blog? At that time, I felt there needed to be a communication tool in the 'Inspired' community. I love the periodic newsletters to all instructors and interested students that I had been getting; but other than that, there was little to 'tie us together' as an 'inspired' group. So, I began a blog to share my experiences; to do my part to remedy the situation. FYI, at the time, I sent JF an e-mail, told him what I was doing and the reason. Why? If I am going to attach Anusara® to anything, I believe it's only good sense to tell the founder what I'm doing.

One of the struggles I noticed is that people, at that time, were not quite sure where/what/when they should be doing things to move them along the path to Certification. Not that I know everything, but I've learned a lot over the years. And, as I looked back at the things I'd done, it becomes apparent that a lot of self-effort is needed. What do I mean by that? At that time, there was no central place to ask questions and get answers, other than going directly to the source -- which, for many, is daunting. So, my goal was to offer my experiences for people to read about, perhaps get ideas from and proceed on their journey in their way.

And, what's happened? I think I've done as I hoped. I've had my wrist slapped a couple times when a reader didn't agree with what was written. I've learned a lot. I've become acquainted with the blog writings of others - which are wonderful sources of information, yoga-philosophy-shopping-etc. And, I'm still doing it two years later.

Today, we have more on Facebook to tie us together; more Certified teachers are offering mentoring courses (VALUABLE); and Anusara® has started the Forum - a great resource, in my book - we just need to use it. So, I'll keep writing and reading and moving along the path. On to year #3!

Today:

• Planning for a Valentine's morning class at YogaTejas
• Wind blowing - fiercely; that may affect cross-country skiing plans

Hope your Sunday is a good one,