Taking Refuge in the Basics

This week, my intention is to reconnect with the foundations of my skills as a teacher.  I am looking back to the sequences that were provided to us in our training, and using them as a framework to simplify my teaching.

From a place of expansion, I am distilling and coming back to the core of the teachings... the bare essentials of teaching Anusara.  I have been teaching with an integrated perspective that has felt overwhelming... and consequently, I feel like I miss the opportunity to nail a very clear intention for my offering.

I reviewed the requirements for an Anusara-inspired certification, and found a very useful document.  It is the feedback form that provides guidelines for an Anusara class, and must be filled out by a certified teacher after having observed a class by a prospective Anusara-inspired teacher.

There is definitely a lot to cover, based on that document... however, there are certain elements that I feel are already an integrated part of my teaching style, such as linking breath with movement, or working with students in greatest need to get into the neighborhood of the basic form.  And then there are other areas that I want to target for my personal growth... essentially, to take my teaching to the next level.

Right now, I want to get super clear on weaving one specific heart theme into the class, and link it directly with a kinesthetic action that gives the theme more leverage.  I also want to focus on teaching the UPA's, and using postures that help students access the UPA's... starting with Muscle Energy & Organic Energy.

To teach the UPA's, I'm going to start super simple, and just speak through the 3 primary flows in most of the postures.  I want to practice speaking it through so that it becomes more and more natural.

I am wanting to get to a place where I can step into the classroom, and confidently teach the method in a way that any other Anusara teacher would say that I am definitively teaching the Anusara method.

In order to do so, I need to let go of other expectations... such as creative sequencing, a unique theme, students expectations about the practice, etc.  I am coming from my most humble and authentic desire to teach in a way that is representative of my deepest understanding of this method.

Swaha!

Playing the Edge

Teaching Anusara yoga and Hatha yoga is at my edge...

I now have the awareness to teach with greater skillfulness, and am making a dedicated effort to integrate what I've learned about class sequencing, instruction layering, observation, clear cues, adjustments, theming, etc.

It is at my edge, and everything doesn't fit quite right... I use focus and clear objective to stay the course, and trust that I am learning a great deal.

I continue to practice speaking about my own personal experience in context of a theme... as well as to distill theme into a succinct and effective message that I can repeat with efficacy, and demonstrate with clear embodiment.  I am reminded to keep it simple.

In contrast, I taught an AcroYoga weekend where I just felt like I was thriving in a big way.  I felt like my eyes were super sharp, and I was giving really supportive feedback to my teacher... specifically about teaching in bite-size portions, and keeping a clearer context of why we are teaching what we offer.  If I offer a variation, I want to inform the student to know why that variation is helpful.  Ultimately, we are teaching students to trust their own inner guidance system.

I'm looking forward to teaching the immersion, especially as I continue to reap the benefits of teaching at my edge in Anusara-inspired classes.

The personal aspect, to bring myself into the picture and be revealed, remains a healthy edge to play... I find myself still grasping at times for an authentic connection to my words, especially in the flow of a class.  I believe that setting a very clear them, with a clear connection to a personal moment or revelation, will help me tune into the personal significance of the theme whenever I share it out loud with the class.

The Yoga of Acrobatics (Halloween Weekend Download)

The Acrobatics weekend with Jonny as my co-teacher was a great success, and a very rich opportunity to gain insight from the experience of teaching.  It reminds me of a very insightful anecdote about teaching:

I offer my practice is service to my students.  My students offer their studentship, and give me the great opportunity to teach for my own benefit.

I learn so much from teaching.  Jonny and I spoke at length in reflection on the weekend, and realized how we could only plan so much.  I'm realizing how much of the teaching is a product of observing the students, and seeing how well they integrate what is offered... followed by a process of refining and expanding based on what is necessary.  It reveals the deep well of knowledge and skill that we have as teachers to make decisions in the moment about what is necessary... this is the fine art of teaching.

The art of teaching relates to how well a teacher applies their resources to the needs of the students... in measured doses, sufficient to challenge the students while maintaining their confidence and working within their range of possibilities.  It is a fine balance of giving in measured doses appropriate to each student's unique needs, while maintaining the high vision of the final form.

One clear intention that I had at the forefront of my mind was to give the students exactly what they need individually, and no extra.  In the past, when I have fixed my dristi on the desired result, I often lost sight of the students capacity to assimilate information, and I would try to force the download.  Every student has a unique capacity to receive and absorb the offering, and I trusted that everyone would receive exactly what they need to take their personal practice to the next level.

Our offering was to cultivate advanced awareness in acrobatics, and as teachers, we were practicing teaching with a heightened awareness.  I am grateful to Kaline, who inspired the weekend from the very beginning.  She was with us in spirit for our first offering, a Bhakti, Thai & Fly workshop on the Friday evening before the weekend.  Kaline has a very unique ability to listen to her intuitive wisdom, observe an audience, sense what is necessary, and in a seemingly formless space, facilitate an experience that brings students to the essence of the teachings.  She is incredibly creative in her teaching style because she is always listening... always attentive to what feels right in the moment... and she has a deep trust in her ability to transmit the wisdom through a clear channel.

Kaline reminds me to keep my channels open to receive guidance... she reminds me to listen and trust my intuition.

Our theme also included building a strong container... a permeable container that allows light in and shines light out.  The strength of our container enables us to cultivate energy in a way that expands boundaries, rather than breaking them.  So as a prelude to our physical endeavors, we planted seeds of cultivating both physical and mental strength... a strength of will and intention.

On the second day, we focused our intention on cultivating strength of mind... clarity of purpose... and a clear vision of where we see ourselves in our highest and best.  In silence, each of us cultivated a desire, a unique and individual objective for the workshop.  We then shared our desire in a present tense statement, as though we have already achieved our desire.  We used this as an affirmation for ourselves, and in so doing, created a gateway for the power of our mind to transform our reality.

By thinking it, speaking it and embodying it, we manifested our individual desires as a state of being in the present moment.  This process speaks to the revelation that we already have what it is we are seeking.