The Teacher as Student

I love teaching yoga! I love helping people feel better physically in their bodies and minds. It's rewarding work and hard work, but it's worth it to see people come out of my classes feeling and looking more calm and balanced than when they went in. But part of being a good teacher, is staying a student at heart. As teachers, it's easy to think that once we take our teacher training that it's over...we know it all and can do it all. But this is clearly not so. Completing a teacher training is just the tip of the iceburg.

I hope you can appreciate that it's much different on the other side of the mat when you are teaching as opposed to participating in a class. But we are privileged in this community to have so many yoga studios available. My schedule is so crazy that I sometimes don't have the time to take a class, but for the last 2 weeks I've taken classes, a hot yoga class and an Anusara inspired Vinyasa class. I had to put at least one class in no matter how tired or busy I was.

It was so beautiful to be a student and absorb the asanas and appreciate the varying techniques of my fellow teachers. So for me, to be a proficient teacher and keep learning, I must always stay a student. To bring this sense of excitement, newness and learning to my classes is something I always strive for and it's a lesson for me to never rest on my laurels or take this practice for granted. So thank you to Amber and Gloria.

If you haven't tried a yoga class yet, maybe it's time to start. Spring is just around the corner and you can almost smell the newness of life in the air. Why not celebrate that, by taking a yoga class. Radiant Fitness is adding more yoga classes, so check out our schedule for March.

http://www.radiantfitness.com/

Namaste,

Susan

Breath Body

We know that the human body is an intelligent complex system incorporating physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual elements, but in yoga they break the body down even further. One of those "bodies" or sheaths, is the breath body or Prana-maya-Kosha.

Prana means energy, life force or vitality and in yoga in can be reached through our breathing practices. That's why we as yoga teachers harp about the breath. Over and over you will hear us reminding you to "breathe", or "activate ujayi breathing", or "find your ocean breath", etc, because we know that is through the breath that we can tap into this powerful prana.

Prana resides in all of us. Don't believe me? When you are feeling good in your life, happy, peaceful, grounded, and at your optimal health your prana, that energy, is at its peak and all the energy systems inside you are balanced and running smoothly. Now tell me how you feel when you have a head cold or are depressed, stressed, or just feel out of sorts. This is when your prana, that vitality, is being leached out of you. So, now you have to work at plugging up the holes to protect that energy from draining further. Is there a time when you won't have any prana at all? Yes, and this is at death. Prana enters us at birth and leaves us at death.

So prana is a very tangible thing. You can feel it in your body; you can feel it when you practice breathing techniques when you exercise, or when you embrace someone or offer kindness. You may not understand it fully, but you know it's there. So when you practice yoga in a class, maybe my class, and you hear me say over and over to breathe deep, breathe fully, you'll know why I am saying it. Because it's the breath that is key and it's the breath that will help you tap into and incorporate this beautiful and powerful energy into our lives.

Developing a Practice of Gratitude

How often do you say thank you? How often do you express gratitude for all of the beauty and blessings in your life? When things are so rough out there, we need to take the time to find something we are grateful for. What does this do? It begins to shift the negative energy we've got built up in our lives and it does something miraculous....it transforms it into positive energy.

In your yoga practice you may feel restricted in what your body can do, but be grateful that you have this body than can, say fold forward, even if you can't touch your toes. Be grateful for the breath that moves in and out smoothly so you can flow from one pose to another. That's huge. Ever try doing yoga with a head cold? Ahhh...now you are grateful for your breath.

This week start a gratitude journal and start with one or two things, even if they seem inconsequential, like I'm grateful I have warm socks or lotion-infused tissues. What seems small to you, could be the biggest thing to someone else. We used to say grace after each meal. Let's bring grace back into our lives at every turn. Write your list and watch it grow and change and observe how your mental space and heart grows and changes.

Namaste,

Susan

The Yoga of Devotion

If you think of yoga as a tree having many branches, roots and flowers, you can begin to understand that there are many sides to it to help you explore and develop an awareness of your higher self and connect with the Divine, or God.

One of those branches is Bhakti Yoga (pronounced Bok Tee). It is the Yoga of Devotion. Yoga scholar, David Frawley calls bhakti yoga, "the sweetest of the yoga approaches and often more accessible than the other forms of yoga." In its purest essence, bhakti yoga is connecting to God or the Divine, whether through meditation, repeating a mantra, saying a prayer, or participating in a kirtan. What it feels like is complete love and connection, not only with your higher self, but with God.

It's a branch of yoga I am intrigued with and one in which I want to develop a more personal, disciplined practice. I can do this at home as I pray or meditate at my alter, practice japa (mantra repetition) on my mala or rosary beads, or sing along to some beautiful music.

One of the easiest ways to start practicing bhakti yoga is by going to a kirtan. A kirtan is a group call and response musical "concert" where the musicians/singers will sing beautiful chants/mantras and the audience repeats those words. You don't have to sing or be able to sing in order to participate. You don't have to sing at all and just sit and listen to the music.

It may sound a little strange at first and you may feel out of your comfort zone, but I promise you, you will feel something beautiful and expansive inside by sitting there and absorbing that heart-centered energy. Kirtans have been known to build the Shakti energy inside, bring more love, freedom and creativity and calm your mind.

If you are interested in attending a kirtan, well friends, there is one going on this Friday, January 30th at the Yogahome Studio in Symmes. Mike Cohen will be leading it and I always try to catch him when he's in town. I'll be there too chanting my heart out, I hope you will be too.

Please check out Yogahome's site for details and pricing. And yes, you can bring your kids too.
Some chairs will be available, but you might want to bring a cushion as you will be sitting on the floor.
http://www.yogahome.net/

Hope to see you on Friday.

Namaste ,
Susan

Yoga Day

Hi everyone,

I hope this blog finds you all well and that you haven't given up on your New Year's Resolutions to get fit this year. It's never too late to start and it's never too late to get back on track. If you have always wanted to try a yoga class, but been too hesitant or not sure you want to invest the money, here is a great way to check it out.

This Saturday, January 24 is Yoga Day USA! It is a national day to celebrate yoga and all across the country studios are offering wonderful classes for free or by donation. And if you can't make it to a studio, you can always pick up a DVD and practice at home and celebrate with fellow yogis across the country.

I know the Yogahome studio in Oakley is offering some great classes if you want to check it out. They are a great studio and where I received my teacher training.

http://www.yogahome.net/ Go on to their "upcoming events" tab and you'll see "Yoga Day USA" information.

You can also check out the main website for this event and explore other opportunities.
http://www.yogadayusa.org/


Have a wonderful weekend and hope to see you on the mat.

Blessings,

Susan

Sister Science

If you study or practice yoga long enough, you are bound to become acquainted with Ayurveda, (pronounced I-your-vaeda). Ayurveda which means the "knowledge of life" is the sister science of yoga, an ancient Indian healing system that encompases diet, lifestyle, and the subtle energies of the body. It sounds like it would be extremely difficult to understand or apply, but I bet you already do it and don't even realize it. It's all about listening to your natural intuition when you exercise or eat a meal.

For instance, in the summer time do you naturally gravitate towards eating hot, rich foods and hot drinks or do you "crave" a light salad, cold fruit and water? Maybe it's not a craving after all. Without knowing it, you are applying the ancient healing system of ayurveda by feeding your body what it naturally needs, at the right time, the right season, and the right amount to feel healthy and nourished. You eat the foods that are in season; you feed your physical body by exercising outside and you feed your subtle body energies by giving it sunshine, fresh air, and time in the garden.

When you realize this, you begin to understand how everything is intertwined. And this is true for yoga too. You'll begin to intuitively know what poses will work more efficiently for you to keep you at your optimal best. You'll have to experiement and decide, for instance, if in the winter time you do a hot, yang yoga practice or you switch to a slower, yin practice. It will take some time, but you'll get it.

Floor Yogi

Ever wondered why people of certain cultures have better posture or are more flexible? For instance take the Indian culture. And this could be the native people of our country or the Indians across thousands of miles, namely Hindus. These two cultures of people do something on a daily basis that we Westerners don't do often do at all, and that is sit on the floor. They sit, squat even lunge and they are the more flexible for it.

Oh we sit plenty, but it's not the "right" type of sitting. We sit in our cars or sit at desks all day in front of computers. When was the last time you actually sat on the floor? Were you 4 years old sitting in "circle time" at preschool?

Consider how tight are bodies have become over time because we sit in hard chairs that do nothing for our posture or our weight. We sit, sit, sit all day feeling our shoulders round, our backs slump, our hips tighten and our thighs widen. Everything just feels tight and miserable.

Take a cue from these wonderful people and sit on the floor once in a while. What are the benefits you ask? How about supple joints, a better posture, a stronger back and more open hips. The only drawback I can think of is for some, having the difficulty of once getting down on the floor, not getting back up.

So, start out small. Sit on the couch with crossed legs or feet together in a butterfly position. Your knees may start up pointing towards the sky, but eventually with time, they may open up. Sit up tall with a nice straight back, roll your shoulders back and down, and start to notice the change.

Blessings,

Susan