Updates and Reflections

Years ago, one of my Iyengar yoga instructors told a story: He and a group of the senior teachers were in Pune studying with Mr. Iyengar. They asked Mr. Iyengar to show them how he would teach beginners, suggesting that they would pretend to be beginners and he would show them what he would do. According to this legend, he said he teaches who is in front of him, not imaginary people. He told the senior teachers to go out on the street, find twelve people who have never done asana and bring them back to the classroom. So they did. Twelve strangers off the streets of Pune came in for an introductory lesson from BKS. Prasarita padasana, or how to take a wide stance, was the first pose he taught them.

Years ago, someone asked me if I would ever come to their town and teach a 90-minute class "like I would in my own studio." I laughed, thinking, "I can definitely teach a group of strangers in 90 minutes instead of 3 hours. That being said, it wouldn't be what I would do with a group of people who I have taught regularly for years." In my experience, it's not the time-frame that makes the difference as much as the ongoing participation. In fact, I can get more done in 90 minutes with regular students than I can in 3 hours with people who are new to me. It's more about shared language and experience than the time. (Although, some of that premise does fall apart in the 15 or 20-minute time frames, which are becoming increasingly popular.)

I've recently been thinking of this story as I continue to teach online and many people who were new to me in the beginning of the pandemic are now 3 years into the journey so we have covered a lot of ground together. I need to make a few shifts in my presentation and offerings to account for the growth and continuity. I probably don’t need so many reminders about agency and options as I did previously and I am scheming about a better on-ramp for new students than what I currently have in place.

And, it's with this story in mind that I am teaching the majority of the asana studies portion of my upcoming Teacher Development program through my ongoing livestream classes. Not only will the participants see "real life" examples of how to teach (and how not to teach since I make plenty of mistakes and not every class is awesome), they will have manageable lessons through which to learn details about the poses, basics of anatomy, pose modifications, embellishments, and breakdowns. And probably the most commonly asked question in teacher training is “How would you teach that in a real class?”

First of all, all classes are real classes. But, yeah, I get it. So often we learn in a workshop format and then have to apply the lesson to a shorter-form class or to a group of students who are not taking a copious amount of notes or paying close attention to be able to teach the material to others. Also, this format will allow people in the training to attend that are appropriate for the level. I have yet to teach a teacher training where everyone was ready for the same poses or where everyone even had the same interest in the postures. Seems like someone is always left behind and someone is typically held back.

I decided to call this a “teacher development” program (even though it is a Yoga Alliance approved Teacher Training program and allows people to register at the 500-hour level, should they so desire) because it has become abundantly clear to me that I am not really “training” people in any formal sense. Additionally, the realities of our current era make it very difficult to tell anybody what they should do, since the variables are too endless to name. I typically know what I would do in a given situation— but I am me, teaching in my little online world, making occasional forays into the larger world as a guest teacher and that yields a certain outlook. You, being you, will most certainly have your own unique perspective.

More important than training a “way” to teach or providing a set guideline of “what” to teach, is having an ongoing interest in what’s going well, what could be shored up a bit, what feels real to me as I present it, what lands well with my students, and so on. By opening the conversation up from “right and wrong” or “good and bad” we get to a more nuanced understanding of ourselves and the variables present in our circumstances at any given time. Maybe on the surface, teacher development v. teacher training is not such an important distinction. However, I’d rather be working and playing in an atmosphere of development than of training, so I think it’s a distinction with a meaningful difference. And, at any rate, I’ve been hard at working compiling a new manual and getting content up for the weekly online lessons, which has some tedious “drag and drop” work to it as well as a good measure of creative expression.

In other news, I spent last weekend in Phoenix, AZ attending a Functional Range Conditioning course. I even passed the certification test, so that is wonderful. There is a lot of overlap between FRC and yoga, as far as I am concerned, especially since I teach with strong muscular engagement throughout the body. One notable difference is that FRC is “joint specific” and intentionally works to create usable ranges of motion in each joint required for any given activity. Whether it is an overhead shoulder press in the gym or a handstand in the yoga studio, having the requisite mobility in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists is going to play a key role in one’s success over time. Instead of working on handstand, FRC works on getting a good bend in the wrists, stability in the elbows and flexion in the shoulder. It feels to me a lot like “deconstructed yoga poses” and then some. (The “and then some” is a whole host of engagement strategies to create flexibility, strength, and control.) I will probably be rolling out some “joint specific” classes in the Live the Light of Yoga Online Community, so stay tuned for more on that.

And, before I leave for the day, come practice with me and the Live the Light of Yoga Online Community on Thanksgiving morning. (Or afternoon, depending on where you live.) Expect a doable sequence, bad jokes, ongoing considerations on gratitude and, as always, spotlights on, and commentary about, the yoga-loving animals out there in Zoomland. I am offering this class as a gift to the larger community, so join us if you can.

Register here for the link. If you are a member, you already have this link.

All right, that’s it for now. Let me know how you are doing out there. It’s been a while sine I have posted on the blog, but I am planning to be here regularly again. thanks for your patience, support, and companionship along the way.