[KHuttsell]

I chose to practice during the mid morning on week days and Saturday mornings. For many, these may seem very typical times to practice – but for me they were the times that I tend to be typically tied up with work and children’s activities such as soccer.

For the weekday mid morning practice – I found I had a high energy level early in the morning as I prepared for work and helped the kids get to school. Then I needed to transition into a more low key energy level to enjoy the relaxing practice. Then following the practice – I had to become high energy again to tackle my day. Mentally I found this difficult and didn’t feel as connected to my practice.

Lessons learned for teaching mid morning on weekdays: The students attending during this time may have already been very active within their day or they could just be beginning their day. There may be a vast level of diversity in the room’s energy level. Be prepared to adjust the sequencing and modifications to accommodate multiple students concurrently.

The Saturday morning practice was an amazing way to start my weekend – however, the balancing act within my family commitments so I could attend class detracted somewhat from my enjoyment. However, I did notice such a positive, high level of energy in these classes. It seemed like students were excited for the down time of the weekend – and energized to start their day.

Lessons learned for teaching Saturday mornings: These classes should help students transition from a busy week into a more relaxing state for the weekend. However, with what typically seems like a strong energy level from the students – many of these classes could be structured as more challenging to address the high energy flow. Saturday morning classes also seem to bring new students to class since it is a timeframe that is accessible to most. Therefore, it is important to have sequences that will be able to support both the more advanced student along with the new yogi.

[KHuttsell]

Assists seem to be a tricky topic to me. You will hear some individuals rave about an assist they received that allowed them to go deeper into a pose or feel something new in a pose they had not previously experienced. However, it just takes one bad experience with an assist to make a student feel uncomfortable, emabarrassed or even physically hurt.

I personally am a bit hesitate to perform very physical, hands on assists. With a society that is not often comfortable with personal space – I feel that a more long standing relationship with a student must be developed before offering an intense physical assist. With that being said, however, I believe light touch on the back, shoulders and hands to validate a pose or make a slight adjustment could be part of my teaching.

In addition, I plan to use verbal assisting to aid students. I know I personal like the cues I have received to check myself in different poses. These cues allow me to improve my practice but also empower me to make the changes. This empowerment makes me feel more positive about my abilities – and makes me more likely to enjoy a class and/or a particular teacher.

[KHuttsell]

Music for me is truly the rhythm of life. There is not much that I do that doesn’t involve music. Music evokes emotion, energy and mental awareness. It can make you smile, cause you to dance or even reflect on a great memory from years ago.

However, I do understand that music for some can be intrusive to their practice and may even evoke emotions that are uncomfortable or painful. I know we plan to address this topic later in our training – so I hope to learn a lot during that time so I can be congniscent of my students.

So when music is appropriate – I will use it to enhance and provide a quiet melodic line to my classes. Nothing is worse than music that doesn’t fit the practice or is so loud it overpowers the students’ mindfulness.

I feel many different types of music can fit in a practice as long as it is purposeful and “flows” with the movement of the class. For example, savasana should be a more quiet time with soft music while a more powerful song may fit an apex pose and give students motivation to embrace the pose.

The music should also be a reflection of a teacher – they should be comfortable with their selections. I’ve seen teacher make Michael Jackson truly “rock” their classes. While other teachers have been able to bring traditional classical music to their classes.

My style is very eclectic. I have started making a list of music as I hear things that inspire my yoga practice. I have also listened to other teachers’ music for inspiration. I tend to feel that instrumental or light smooth jazz (a fav) is great for warm up, cool down and savasna. Soft rock is accessible during flow sequences and often helps newer students relate to the environment.

The beautiful thing about online music technologies and an iPod is the ability to create a playlist and practice the sequencing with the music well in advance of actually teaching it.

I’m looking forward to working with music as part of my teaching. It is probably once of the aspects that inspires me and makes me feel more comfortable within the role of teacher.

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by KHuttsell.

[KHuttsell]

I expected to be approaching yoga mostly as a scientist. But I found during my inventory exercise that I was almost as equally divided into the athlete category as well. I think that I had a pre-conceived notion of what each of these viewpoints was until I looked at the descriptions under each. And what discovered was that the typical elements of my personality that tend to be logical and scientific were not the total picture of me. In fact, if I reflect on my initial reasons that I found yoga – they were all athletic in nature. At the time I discovered yoga, I was into focusing on exercise and the benefits of the practice as a mechanism to stretch and provide a low impact workout. What I learned as I moved forward was how much I enjoyed the wellness lifestyle that surrounded yoga. And the calming and healing effects yoga has on the body.

I know that the idea of making people feel better both mentally and physically is actually my true driver for wanting to teach. I have personally seen the effects of how yoga practice, meditation and centering can decrease my reaction to stress and allow me to be a better me. I have found myself discussing the yoga training journey more from the improves in my mental and physical well being than discussing the “mechanics” of why we practice yoga.

So, I believe that I am beginning to see more of a balance in how I would like to teach. I like the idea of sequencing and cuing because it is very tangible and process oriented to me. However, I am more excited to see how students grow in their practice and how it may change over time. I look forward to helping customize classes to the needs of the students present in class. And I would like to become a “life long learner” as it relates to yoga. I believe a good teacher never stops learning, and holds the responsibility of bringing new ideas to her students.

-Karen

[KHuttsell]

Due to our work schedules – my mentor and I have utilized texting and phone calls to discuss yoga teaching. I have also been able to attend one of her classes to see her style of teaching.

I am happy that my mentor was assigned to me as she can relate to balancing work life and opportunities to practice yoga and self care. She has also helped me understand the responsibility we have as teachers to student’s practicing safely. My favorite part of working with my mentor, though, was attending her class a week ago. She structured her class to work toward a specific pose near the end of the class by preparing the body. That evening the “apex pose” was camel. She used the opportunity to reinforce the importance of opening the hips throughout class in preparation for camel. Each asana was selected to aid in obtaining camel pose near the end of class. I also loved that she offered several modifications to get into camel pose even after we had done all the “preparatory” poses. I have seen teachers in the past build up to an intense pose with a group of preliminary poses and not offer any modifications – implying that because you “prepared” you should be able to do the apex pose. She also spent significant time on counter poses to protect the body after camel was complete.

I think a great mentor is someone who is accessible and truly seems to want to help a mentee to succeed. A student can’t learn if they can’t ask questions openly. So it is key for a mentor to listen and then provide answers or opportunities for further exploration to the mentee.

-Karen

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by KHuttsell.

[KHuttsell]

Sutra 2.8 – “Unreasonable dislikes are usually the result of painful experiences in the past connected with particular objects and situations.”

This sutra spoke to me because this is something I have found that I have been struggling with. I have formed negative opinions on people and things with really no basis or grounds to justify my opinion. I had never linked the two things together – (unreasonable) dislikes could be based on previous bad experiences.

I began to look at the people/things that were challenging me the most. And what I found that was more often than not I could link them to some memory or event that had previously not been pleasant for me. I realized that my creation of these “unreasonable dislikes” was a perceived way to shield myself from the pain of another potentially unpleasant experience. In essence, I was assuming I would have the same interaction and uncomfortable outcome.

So I knew I needed to take a step back. I examined who/what were my strongest dislikes. I realized that many of these formed opinions were not because this is what truly was happening – but often because I manifested a situation in my head where it would go wrong like it had previously. To begin to combat my thinking – I have taken situations where I would typically be hasty to form an opinion – and I have settled myself into observing what is TRULY happening. After this observation – I have more clearly addressed what I think about someone/something based on the experience I am having then – not what my memory has manufactured.

I have found that this attempt to keep a clear head has made me feel more open and receptive. And frankly, I feel calmer – as the negative energy created by dislikes can distract me from being receptive and grounded.

-Karen

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by KHuttsell.

[KHuttsell]

To me, spirituality is believing in something greater than one’s self. Whether that is a deity, nature, or a calmness felt within – it is all spiritual. I believe that we as humans are called to act in a certain innate way which we know is “right.” In my opinion, this must be guided by some type of spiritual feeling. This feeling allows us to respect one another one and make the choices that we know cause the least harm.

Therefore, I see a direct link between my spirituality and yoga. I do believe that as I practice yoga I am able to open my mind to allow whatever energy, purpose or intention flow freely. During yoga – I have been able to introspectively see myself or more clearly see the world around me. At my toughest moments – I have found yoga to be a comfort, a way to move my pain through, and a form of healing. And at my times of self-doubt – it can be a form of expressing appreciation for myself. And on a positive day – it just makes me feel great and it reminds me I am in the right place.

From a class perspective – spirituality is a very personal thing to me. I would not want my students to feel right or wrong for either having or lacking spirituality. Therefore, I would like to focus on how students feel. We all have feelings – happy, sad, calm, angry – we can all relate to them. I would like to remind students to truly feel whatever it is they feel in a pose, in a class or that day. I would remind them that yoga is a personal experience which has no judgment and to allow oneself to experience whatever they feel.

-Karen

[KHuttsell]

“You are not doing this right.” Ideas to use instead: “Let’s all take a look at where our bodies are” and re-cue. or “Sometimes I find that I tend to do [this] when I actually should be doing [this]” and demonstrate the change.

“Don’t forget to breathe.” – Ideas to use instead: “Let’s all take an inhale on the next movement, and then exhale together.” or “Sometimes when we are in more constrictive poses we may find it more challenging to breathe. Check in with your breath – are you continuing to breath into the movement?”

“Don’t let your knee extend past your toe” – Ideas to use instead: “Be sure that you can look down and see your big toe over your knee.” or “Look to see if your knee is stacked over your ankle.”

Don’t worry about anyone else.” Ideas to use instead: “When we do yoga, we call it our practice. It is called practice because no one perfects it. We are each on our own unique journey to explore our bodies and the yoga practice. Focus on what you have accomplished and what you enjoy about your personal yoga practice.”

Creating a welcome environment:
• Personally greet each student – especially those who are new to the class or you don’t know
• Acclimate new students to the studio – where props are located, restrooms, beverage station – it can be overwhelming to be new to studio and not know where things are located
• SMILE!!!
• At the beginning of class – let students know what classes/workshops the studio is offering so they are encouraged to return
• Offer students the opportunity to set an intention for their practice if they wish
• Show praise to the class during the practice – i.e. “beautiful everyone”
• Break the class down – “Today we are going to focus on opening the hips” – so students can understand what to expect, where the class is headed and where to check in with their bodies
• Discuss props and modifications and the benefits to incorporating these into your practice
• Calming music, if appropriate for the type of class
• Adjust the heating and lighting to levels appropriate for the comfort of the students
• Let students know when transitions in the class will occur – “We will finish our flow sequence and then move down to the mat.”
• Close the class with something more than just a quick Namaste – either a “thank you for practicing with me today” or “the light in me honors the light in you” – a rushed close seems like the teacher is in a hurry to leave
• Show willingness to speak with students after class

-Karen

[KHuttsell]

This quote defines the yoga mindset that we strive for in our lives and our practice.

Pain will always be part of our human experience. We often believe that to be happy we should not have or feel any pain. When we begin to feel pain, and cannot find a way to embrace it, we may find more destructive behaviors to deal with our feelings.

If we could begin to embrace that pain is a feeling that is meant to be felt just as much as joy and happiness, then would we still classify it as “pain?” Or would pain be just be seen as part of our natural human feelings that we have the ability to move through.

I have found that the Yamas & Niyamas have given me a roadmap to working through the things in life that may cause the feelings of pain I have; the daily competition between people, the loss of people we care about, the negative news that bombards our media. As I see these things occur, I work toward settling myself with the understanding that I cannot control these things. I can only control my reactions – and ultimately, allow the feelings to move through me and acknowledge them.

My own goal is to maintain mindfulness as I work through my struggles. I find that my practice alleviates the racing thoughts and the constant thinking about anything and everything. Any yogi can recall those teachers who aided her practice by allowing her to truly let go of her mind’s distractions. Many teachers have shared this gift of mindfulness with me during their classes. I hope to bring this same gift to my students

~Karen

[KHuttsell]

The Yamas & Niyamas spoke to me in a way that made me re-examine how I view the world and the human interactions I have each day. It was almost like this book was placed in front of me at a time that I really needed to find some grounding and direction.

In particular, there were 2 themes that impacted me. These were the ideas of non-violence and non-stealing.

The part of non violence that discussed “not giving advice to someone and letting them work through their own journey to discover the solution to their problem.” I tend to often feel that it is my job to “fix” things – mostly likely the engineer in me wanting to be a problem solver. But what I have found that being supportive and a good listener is often what someone needs. I recently put this into practice when a friend came to me struggling to make a decision about a commitment she made to participate in a fundraiser. Instead of advising her that she had taken on too much – I listened to her concerns about her time constraints and ability to meet the deadlines. Then I asked her how she felt and what she thought she was comfortable with. This allowed her to determine how far she wanted to pursue her commitment – and was not a reflection in the end of what I thought she needed. Only she truly knew what would serve her best.

The second aspect that really spoke to me was non-stealing. I learned how not letting others express how they feel about a situation without me interjecting can be a form of “stealing.” I always felt as though I was relating to someone by telling them how I had experienced a similar situation. However, I realize I am taking away their opportunity to express themselves and be heard. So, I have tried to let others speak and I then listen with an open heart. I caught myself just this week trying to relate to someone by telling my own story – but by holding back I noticed that they were able to truly share their experience with me without an distractions.

– Karen

[KHuttsell]

Regina – thank you for making such a beautiful tie to the spiritual aspects of this post.

-Karen

[KHuttsell]

“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”

A person’s yoga journey is not simply practicing a sequence of poses for an hour in a studio – but a lifelong journey to explore the world by first understanding one’s self.

As I approached the beginning of my yoga teaching journey, I knew there would be some soul searching and personal introspect. But I believe I underestimated how much I would need to learn about myself as part of this journey. My own thoughts and feelings shape how I see the world and those around me. Understanding who I truly am and accepting the truth of who I am is a fundamental part of the journey. For it is through these realizations that we become more enlightened yogis.

-Karen

[KHuttsell]

My first true yoga class was a Bikram Yoga class. I was new to the area and my co-worker invited me to join her – so I initially attended for socialization and hopefully a “workout.” I found that I enjoyed the discipline of the class, and frankly the heat allowed me to push myself in different ways that I could not typically achieve. However, I often felt constrained by the set order of the poses and the inability to decide what was the right amount of time to hold a pose, as dictated by the teacher. Modifications were not often provided during these classes – so I would struggle, unable to achieve what I thought was the “right way” to hold a pose.

I eventually moved toward other forms of stretching such as pilates that seemed more in line with my ballet training and allowed some flexibility and modification in the exercises. I dabbled in all types of yoga at different studios – ashtanga, flow, kundalini, yin, yoga-pilates fusion (a fav) – and I even did aerial yoga with a friend as part of “Well, this should be fun!”

Then I stumbled on Balancing Owl Yoga – which at the time was Nurture Yoga. I thought I was attending the studio because it was convenient to our home and allowed for some “me time.” What I found was that the classes filled a void that I didn’t realize I had. I would feel what I didn’t realize was “space” in my body and a mind that actually settled for an hour. I would embrace the world in a new way when I left the studio. In particular, it was Rachel’s Sunday night Rest & Relaxation class that made me realize yoga had found me – and it would continue to be part of life.

So today – I feel like I am in a “yoga exploration phase” – wanting to try as many new teachers, types of yoga, and studios as I can. I am stoked to try SUP yoga – and would like to do a program this summer that incorporates hiking and the outdoors into the yoga practice. In addition, I will be traveling in the next few months and will attend classes elsewhere, including hopefully, Iceland.

[KHuttsell]

When I think of what makes a great yoga instructor, the first thought that comes to mind is one who creates a comfortable environment for his/her students. It can often be intimidating to walk into a studio you have never before practiced in – I know I have done this often! It is the teacher that immediately sets the tone as to how quickly one can ease into his/her practice. Did the teacher welcome the new students? Ask about special conditions affecting or limiting a student’s practice? Does she seem willing to aid a student with props? The unique needs of the student should draw the student closer to the teacher – not be a hindrance to the interaction. Another important attribute is the teacher’s enthusiasm for the moment they are in. A teacher who seems pleased to be on this journey with his/her students for the class or workshop duration allows students to more fully experience their practice, and feel part of something greater.

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