[lisaclick48]

Lisa Click = 2nd version.I attended Colleen’s class on Sat August 4th. Her cueing in excellent and I”m able to not even look at her with great instructions. Her reminding everyone to breath is helpful. The class was chair yoga and I really enjoyed it. Colleen has a nice way of presenting the poses.

[lisaclick48]

1.) 5K Run prep with my yogi sisters at Fiserv in Dublin, OH for 1 hour. Guided kids and adults thru stretch and yoga poses in preparation for the run and afterwards too.
2.) Karma Yoga in Galena, OH with Young Living Essentials Oils Group. I held a Chakra Karma yoga with focus on poses for each chakra including a chakra meditation including focus on breathing exercises too. The class was with 2 students first for 1 hour
3.) Karma Yoga in Galena, OH with Young Living Essentials Oils Group. Group of 6 for an hour and a half. We had oils at each yoga mat station in baggies marked with the color of the chakra. Music was calm and nurturing in the background. One hour and a half to get thru the whole class. 10 full minutes of shavasana was important and students loved it!
4.) Karma Yoga in Galena, OH with Young Living Essentials Oils Group. Oils group of 10 for an hour and a half with same set up as the group of 6.
5.) Karma Yoga in Galena, OH with Young Living Essentials Oils Group. Oils group for 5 for one hour only outside on 7/14
6.) 1 hour at Karma yoga at Balancing Owl with eight women in the small room on 7/24. It was a restorative yoga class focused on the ocean of waves with an ocean meditation. Five poses during the hour class with focus on breath. Also had 6 minutes of Shavasana. Angie my mentor attended and gave me pointers for my next class. Holding an outside yoga session briefly.
7.) Sunday am at Alum Creek Yoga with closest friends for an hour of yoga at the creek side. Focus was stretch but also Sun A salutations in a gentle flow with lots of breathing exercises in between in mountain pose. It was awesome experience and reminds me of my desire for guide people thru yoga outside near the water. It really helped me as I was very stressed about my car being stolen the day before.
8.) I teach a kids class on August 11th at 9amEST for young girls at Athleta. It’s 45 minutes of breathing and games with fun and inspiring messages with Shavasana. Not sure how many girls I have yet but I’m sure it will be fun inside the shop that morning!
9.) Will be teaching yoga at ST Joan of Arc in Powell OH in August and hopefully long term.

[lisaclick48]

You become what you think….I have ah-ha points often.
I noticed years ago that I would hold tension in my lower back which would lead to headaches. My back tension worked its way up my back over the years to my shoulders to my neck and then out of my body. I don’t usually ever hold tension in my body or at least not muscle related anymore. I think work stress created this for me usually. I learned how to kill it and it’s awesome as I remember how bad it felt and how it added to my stress.
Recently, my stress is different and deeper rooted and my recently health challenges have been a huge wake up call and a huge blessing. I know I have a lot of work to do to get the stress and illness out of my body for good. I’m trying to reduce commitments and spend more time meditating and practicing my breathing exercises. I need to eat the right things, exercise more, get massages, do more yoga, do more meditation, and get reiki monthly. Self-care is not easy, and I have been challenged with this concept this year. I’m so grateful as the habits I create soon will set me up for a healthy person year from now. I believe the lost of several loved ones has created this situation for me so I’m doing extra things such as going to a median, hypnosis, chakra readings to see what else I can do to manage how I deal with loss and how to handle it with grace and peace in the future. Journaling is helping me set my mind free and allow my self to get go of the loss and it’s helping get rid of the sadness too.
As a child, my thoughts and stress, I know my mind was making me sick. My inner critic, my mind would never shut down and it was a big problem for me trying to achieve unrealistic goals. As a young adult and mother, I started to have better self-awareness. I realized I was in a status of chronic stress from career obligations, being a single parent, and regular everyday stresses. As I started to understand my diet, my allergies, I did research and starting learning. I still wasn’t doing all the right things all those years and even in 2017 but I was learning, and I was aware. I attended week long workshops to improve my inner self and I worked hard every day to see the world differently. Yamas and Niyamas was life changing and arrived at the perfect time in my life. Living the Ayurveda lifestyle, understanding my dosha, removing toxins from my home, eating organic isn’t nearly enough for me. I need to learn more and do more. I’m on my own mission to learn more and more. I seek knowledge always. I’m almost addicted to learning at this point in my life. Constant improvement of self, kindness of self, self-acceptance, self-care…I’m focused and much more aware. I’m a work in process, my thoughts are much more loving towards myself and I feel positive most of the time…gratitude and feeling blessed. I love the book by the way. Thank you KK

[lisaclick48]

I’ve been living as a Kapha for over a year now and I know that my life has improved greatly for killing various bad habits with focus on creating good habits. I try to go to bed much earlier and wake up early to start my day. Recently, I stopped consuming dairy products and I’m avoiding eating meat. I listen to my body and how I feel. I’m much more in tuned with my habits. I learned so much last year in the workshop, it really changed how I looked at myself and who I was. I try to take salt baths often as I’m super oily. I try to do Pilates often as I know I need to stay in balance with my Kapha ways. I’m more focused on doing things during other seasons where I struggle. I’m more self-aware and more self-accepting too. I feel like I’m on a good path.
Even with my recent health concerns, it was only my body telling me that I have a lot more work to do. I will be more focused now. I’ve been told things and assumptions validated. I need to walk barefoot in the grass to ground me to the earth, get massages often, take many salt baths and do Reiki always. I went thru a hypnosis session today and it confirmed much of what I thought I should and shouldn’t be doing. I need to be focused and be consistent. I need to be more disciplined with the understanding, if I create the good habits now, I will be healthy and focused for my older years. It’s been a true blessing to have gone thru this year exactly the way it played out. Gratitude…
My personal practice changed with Colleen’s workshop on personal practice and what it entails. What understanding my dosha and where I was struggling, I changed my entire practice and location which opened my mind and calmed my body. Meditation has saved me in so many ways. I feel gratitude for Colleen for this gift. It really hit home for me. Meditation will always be a part of my daily routine.
I think as a teacher it will be interesting to see if I can determine what dosha my students are and how I can provide pointers on self- help or self-care. Knowing and living the Ayurveda lifestyle will benefit myself and my students as I hope to be the type of teacher who is very in tuned to my students and is practicing self-care. I would like to be a good role model and yoga guide and changes lives.

[lisaclick48]

I attended Colleen’s curvy class frequently months ago. She has a very direct way of cueing and it’s easy to follow her cues. She is clear in her directions and instructions. She reminds students that we are not trying to achieve Instagram photos. I love how she provides options for poses so students can pick what they feel they can do or should try. Not so much a modification so they don’t feel like they can’t do the basics. The flow is nice but not too fast or too slow. Lots of reminding to breath. Her meditations are amazing, and I love the way she shares her own personal experience would brings value to her students building trust and rapport. She makes everyone feel comfortable too. I will plan to attend her classes in the future as it’s always fun to get one of her treats at the end of class too!

[lisaclick48]

I’m a Kapha and have been trying to live an Ayurveda Lifestyle ever since I attended Kimberly’s DOSHA workshop on Sunday, April 23rd, 2017. I learned so much for the homework and the workshop. I started the process quickly. I started to change my diet, habits and my sleep patterns to see what would happen. I always knew that my body processed red meat slowly and I felt so sluggish after eating certain foods. I felt the best when eating rabbit food, eating fresh produce and salads. Eating frequently and eating light and now it made all sense. I should have been avoiding heavy foods. I should have been listening to my body all along. It helped me learn how to change my habits and try new things that fit my dosha. I love to stay up late, but I started to try and get to bed before 9pm and wake up by 5am. I was very skeptical on how I would feel but I got into a habit and I realized that my clock is different than others. I need sleep but maybe at different times than other people. I realize that I was in love with Pilates as my dosha really needs it. Learning about my dosha makes me so much more aware of how I’m feeling and what I need to stay in alignment with balancing my Dosha. Also, wintertime is harder for me, so I started to swim and sit in a hot tub. I started doing activities to keep myself more in balance. Overall, it started to change my perspective, build self-awareness and understand more about my mind, body and spirit. I’m so grateful I took that class when I did because it’s really helped me deal with life in 2018 especially. I really enjoy the emails that I get from “DoshaDiva: Lisa Coffey” and I learn something new every week. It’s so fun to learn things to help myself since I’m definitely a Kapha!! I can’t wait to learn more in our training session!

[lisaclick48]

1) PSTD and trauma patients – I have an interest of guiding these types of people to gain perspective to when I’m teaching a regular class. I really love the idea of teaching a restorative style of yoga for this audience. The love the TLC and the calm class structure that is needed. Thinking of those details to ensure students feel safe.
2) “Is there anything that you want me to know about your body?” Stealing this as it’s a perfect way to leave the door open to those who might not want to share or don’t have anything to share when maybe I thought they did based on their attitude or lack of movement upon arrival to the studio. That was an important ah-ha point for me.
3) Kids – Such a need to teach completely different. I’ve studied and learned a lot from reading the teaching kids book but several key points and reminders was helpful during class. Kids like everything I didn’t like as a kid, so I just need to remember this when teaching…
4) Senior citizens and their mobility issues or injuries or lack of mobility. How to teach and be effective in getting the transformation of self regardless of their past exercise or yoga exposure. Poses to have them feel young, chanting may be helpful if immobility is a big issue. Figuring out what works for each individual and include it in the class. I will be joining this category soon enough, but I know I will at my most healthy and probably teaching my peers which is very appealing.
5) I love the idea of teaching prenatal women and I can see how teaching yoga to those who are bringing life into this world is so important. I realize there is such a need to change how we bring babies into this world in our country. If my daughter becomes an expert, I could work side by side with her and that’s so exciting, I can’t even imagine how amazing that would be. So, rewarding, so full of purpose. I remember being Prego and how it felt.

I will always take the time to plan and incorporate the environment setting, the poses and logistics of the class for what type of class, unexpected students that show up on their mats. Having a few different sequencing classes with extra poses on the side will safeguard myself of being unprepared.

There are so many different types of yoga and I can see how I may shift with teaching different styles based on what chapter or adventure of life I’m in… that’s very exciting to consider. Yoga is a life long journey…

[lisaclick48]

I have found it so helpful to attend various yoga style classes at different studios with teachers unknown. A time to observe and reflect to understand reasons and lessons learned. It’s interesting to see how teachers teach base on the studio and perhaps the culture of standards and behaviors/teaching methods at a specific studio. I saw a lot of EGO and at times, a lot of chatter from teachers that I do what to avoid. I want to empower my students and provoke thought by the statements I make or the knowledge I share. Less is More so I feel like I’m learning what statements or questions to add to my karma yoga that will be powerful and impactful. I want my students to think and come up with their own conclusion. I don’t want to preach, and I don’t want to provide too much information. I will be patient and just be there if they need me. I feel like the word “guide” speaks to me as the yoga practice if their own. I feel like being a guide is truly the right frame of mind for myself. I’m feeling very different and starting to come into a feeling of calmness and purpose.
I do think I will refrain from using verbiage or poses that I’m not familiar with or I’m not yet aware of how it will fit into my sequencing. I want to be weary of rushing into anything that I’m not 100% on board with as that is my nature to wait and then decided when it feels right. I will trust my gut and included only poses or meditations that I’m able to do well. I think it’s critically important to keep the theme, sequencing and poses fresh so changing it up each class and adding meaningful messages to bring joy and transformation of self.
My Hatha Yoga student experience was the best…I will always strive to do my best and improve every time I’m on my mat…

[lisaclick48]

I planned with my friend who was having the oils/chakra and yoga session at her home. We walked thru ideas on how to make the experience flow for all students. We figured out the key points that we wanted to share and reviewed our notes together. I took time to find poses for each chakra and practiced the cueing and the timing of each pose. We really did a great job probably based on our discussions and planning. Overall, I practiced alone for 6 hours straight to ensure I knew what I wanted to share and special points I wanted to make along with perfecting poses and the benefits of each pose too. I felt so comfortable during the session since I was so prepared. I think planning is key for me being a new yogi and guiding others thru poses and sharing information. I really slowed down when practicing and I noticed my voice was soft and it felt good. I’m a planner by nature and I felt good because I was prepared. I will plan to always spend time prior to class time to ensure I’m ready and in the right mindset to teach yogi. I do use the worksheets that Laurie provided along with pose cards and index cards for each pose.
I think I will be changing my karma yoga at the studio to Hatha Yoga for beginners since almost every person who is coming will be new to yoga. I want these peers and friends to have a great experience where they feel what I felt coming to yogi for the first time at Balancing Owl. I think this type of class might be what I focus on which is very different from my original plan of Vinyasa. Still trying to figure it out and as I plan, I think I am getting to a good spot…
I’m going to use Laurie’s chakra meditation from today (which was incredible) for the centering of my next class on the 23rd.

[lisaclick48]

Doing yoga inside is a much more controlled setting then trying to conduct a yoga session outside. After much discussion with my main Oils contact, we choose to reduce the attendees list and stay inside. We discussed the following concerns – too much sun, air too hot, bugs or bees, neighbors being too loud or deciding to mow their lawn, storms or wind as we would be using essential oils during the poses, and our attendee list. After we reviewed our attendee list and that we would be conducting yoga mid-afternoon, we decided it was best to hold the session inside to ensure everyone felt comfortable and was safe from any harm. A controlled room with a/c and music in the background with no distractions and plenty of space for each attendee to stretch out. I had a complete run thru with my Oils contact so I knew how long it would take to get thru the poses and use of essential oils. Using a closed baggie with each the essential oil on a cottonball gave the students the ability to use the oil quickly for that pose or refrain from using it. It allowed me to focus on the pose and not take too much in between poses. With mediation in the beginning and poses throughout with focus on the chakras and oils, the session took almost a full hour. I will be conducting a much larger group on 6/9 and 6/23 so I assume it will take a bit more time for setup but I’m hoping to stick to the hour! More to share after I get my groove!

[lisaclick48]

Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique or focusing on an object or thought to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. With consistent practice, it’s a way to learn about yourself in a state of calm acceptance. Taking a break from busy schedules and life happenings to enjoy a state of peace of simplicity. The benefits are well documented to increase energy and mental health to a reduction of pain. It’s a way for the brain to reduce the number of external signals our body and brain ask to process. Meditation and mindfulness go together since mindfulness is a moment to moment nonjudgmental awareness. There is evidence that mindfulness practices are beneficial for the brain’s self- regulation by increasing activity in the anterior cingulate cortex. A shift using the right prefrontal cortex is claimed to be associated with a trend away from depression and anxiety, and towards happiness, relaxation and emotional balance. Meditation is not concentration, meditation is just one form of concentration. It’s not relaxation. Meditation can make you relax but it more than just relaxing. Meditation is not a religious practice or a state of mind. It is not a self-hypnosis or a thinking state. I’m seeing a huge benefit doing daily meditation in my personal practice. I feel more grounded and peaceful despite the chaos that surrounds me.

[lisaclick48]

I had a blast doing yoga with my yoga sisters at the 5K. It really was fun and made a big impact on me for future opportunities. What a great way to occupy kids or families to prepare for a 5k Run. Doing the same poses all together outside was really refreshing. I think we could have really created some great ideas for the future as we could perform in small groups surrounding the run in various places with coupons for those who joined us. It makes my mind start churning on ideas how to get folks engaged to do some yoga poses and how it would be a great way to market Balancing Owl throughout the surrounding cities of Columbus.
I will be teaching girl scouts outside in a shelter area, so I’m very interested in making the environment safe. Making sure the ground is free from debris as I’m bringing a broom to make sure we don’t have any issues and ensure we have plenty of room for students so moving tables around as needed. I will have insect repellent, water, paper towels and hand wipes since we are going to be outside in the elements. I don’t have any music planned as I think it will be nice to include the nature sounds of the park instead. The girls will be earning a badge for truth and non-harming, so I will be focused on the key poses they must complete to get the badge along with words of wisdom during our meditation timeframe. I think being outside, I will be aware of my surroundings and stay alert since it’s a public place.
I will be teaching a group of women outside in Galena. I’m focused on how to incorporate nature as a part of my theme. Safety and plenty of room will be key as well. I was thinking that sunscreen, water, and towels may be needed along with baseball caps depending on the weather. We will be incorporating essential oils with poses, so I will have hand outs that will need to be used in the outside elements so I’m going to use cardstock and larger print to ensure it’s easy to view and rocks to hold down if it’s windy.
I’m sure I will learn a lot from teaching outside, so I can apply it to future classes!

[lisaclick48]

Lisa Click –
I don’t have a yoga teacher voice yet. I just don’t know what I’m doing yet and I’m ok with that. I’m not overly eager to do something that doesn’t provoke passion in what I’m doing. I think I’m a very old soul with watching and evaluating and then I take action. I don’t see myself acting quickly and doing yoga just to do yoga. I’m going to do it with gumption and fun-ness. I’m going to be exploding the world with my being but I’m not going to do that until I’m in my zen. Life is interesting and it’s been a really crazy ride this year. Thinking easy and fun and it hasn’t been that at all but I know it’s ok. Life is crazy and I know there is so much I don’t know yet….can’t wait to get to feel that new knowledge ……but I will be a yoga teacher when the wind blows the right way for me and the sun and moon are in alignment.. it’s just how I work. Could take me years….but I can’t wait to get there….

[lisaclick48]

Lisa Click –

I learned after a several months as I realized I was never breathing and focusing on getting thru poses and the mental things that came up. I was seriously not breathing for months into my weekly practice. Finally, I started to focus my breathing and understand the importance of breathing. I realize the importance over time and attending yoga practice. It was a progression and it was like the light bulb went off in my head and my lungs at the same time. Learning how to breath and enjoy the process was a learning experience. Kimberly provided cues and reminders throughout the yoga session. I was always reminded what I was doing and what was my breathing doing!!
I will definitely be reminding my yoga students to focus on breathing and the importance of breathing as it’s the foundation of yoga.

[lisaclick48]

I think arm balances and inversions are amazing and should be included in various classes when it makes sense. I see the benefits of doing these types of poses and consider them an important piece of a yoga practice. Muscles and core strengthening even improving balance and concentration. I see the true benefits of including these types of poses. However, I don’t think I would introduce types of challenging poses for new students or students with recovering injuries. I would not teach a pose unless I’ve studied it for a period and understand the impacts of various body parts and really understand the modifications and how to get in and out of the pose in the safest way possible.
I know attending Colleen’s curvy class that some students may not ever have the balance or the ability to get into an inversion pose but I love the idea that she shared about the variations of poses that are not Instagram perfect but are indeed the pose in a different way. I have zero ego and perhaps I will be more cautious and careful about what I teach and introduce to my students but I’m ok with that and I will never teach something to anyone if I don’t feel 100% confident in my abilities and education of the pose. I never want any of my students to become injured attending one of my classes.
I look forward to including arm balances and trying to include some modified inversions into my daily practice too. My new blocks have just arrived and I’m excited to practice what Colleen represented as it’s fresh in my mind. As I become more comfortable in the teacher role, I know I will challenge myself to include these types of poses and more challenging arm balances and some inversions too. As a new teacher, I’m going to focus on teaching the basics until I’m stronger and healthier too. It’s going to take me a bit of time. Perhaps I’m a turtle in my approach but I’m embracing how I’m feeling about it.

[Author]

Posts