If I learned anything from my year-long yoga teacher training it’s that some days all you can do is go to your mat. You might not do any physical practice that day, but you can still benefit from the discipline of going to your mat daily.
That’s about all I could handle today. No Micheal Jackson Experience or physical asana practice for me, just meditation and pranyama: pure and blissful. I did about 25 minutes of breathing, relaxation techniques and meditation on God’s Word; Psalm 139.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you. –Psalm 139: 7-12
Teaching Yoga
In today’s email from Yoga Journal, there was an interesting “Challenge Tip,” which I thought could be useful to not only include in one’s own practice, but also for a teacher to explore in class:
“When practicing standing postures, it’s best to keep your eyes open. That helps with stability and balance. It’s also important to keep your gaze soft, especially when attempting more challenging postures. Staring hard at something can contribute to tension in the body, whereas soft eyes help you relax into a posture” (Yogajournal.com email, Jan. 10, 2012).
I was intrigued by the idea of writing up an entire sequence based on “feelings.” It would be a fun practice to play with and help students become more aware of their bodies.
For example, playing with the eyes open and closed in a simple balancing posture (near a wall, of course). Or even something as basic as playing with the position of the feet in tadasana (parallel to the mat, toes pigeoned, toes in second position, etc. Through out the class the teacher could make several inquires such as, “How is your balance with your eyes closed? or How does this position of your feet feel in your hips or knees?”
Anyone else have thoughts on this or written a sequence on this? What areas could we teach students to feel and explore their bodies?
Shawnee
I once attended a Yoga class at PCC where the instructor asked students to close their eyes for most of the class. This really forced me to listen and internalize my focus. We did simple standing and floor poses; did not use the wall at all.