Coming off of yesterdays intense work with chakras, I had no idea what to expect from today. But then again, that’s Prana lesson #1: release expectations.
Hanumanasana, courtesy of houseofyoga.com
We spent the morning with H, who broke down all the Sanskrit pose names. Really interesting to learn how simple it actually is and which names are connected to Hindu mythology. (Hanumanasana for example. Hanuman was the Monkey God and he lept across the ocean to rescue Shiva’s consort. The split was named for him since it looks like his legs as he lept over the ocean.)
JB was back (double hooray!) for the rest of the day. We finished worked through our pose/asana book and then broke into two groups to teach. Same flow as yesterday. I didn’t teach today, and while I’m a little bummed, I’m more glad because I still have a lot to assimilate from yesterday.
We also did a breathing workshop where we really got down to the basics of ujjayi breathing. Learned some great cues to get people to be comfortable with it and some modifications for people who are congested, pregant or menopausal.
Some of the feedback we got after the teaching was great! I took a ton of notes. Some of the highlights are:
– Drop the “the” and “that”. Make the directions personal. “Lift YOUR leg.” “Drop YOUR shoulder.”
– LEAD! You’re the teacher. Be confident. This reminded me of that quote “go confidently in the direction of your dreams.”
– No matter how many salutations you teach, find them exciting. Make them exciting. Find joy.
It was a long day (10 minute lunch break and no dinner break) but a good one.
I’m going to get a little more personal here, because I think it’s important to share how much more yoga has become as I move beyond the physical practice. So, if you want to quit reading here, that’s cool. It’s going to get a bit navel-gazey and emotional.
