Age does catch up to me as I went to a hot class about 2 weeks ago and pulled my Psoas. The Psoas is a muscle that runs from your lower spine over your pelvis and attaches to the front of your femur. It is used for stability and in our society it is a weak muscle because of the amount of sitting we do. It was able to treat my injury with my Tens device (the Aleve Tens device is great) to practice Yoga (though not flow) within a few days. I have to say that the teacher was too fast on her cues for moving between poses and that may have caused it. I was not able to move from pose to pose within my breath and I felt rushed and I felt that my transitions between poses were not smooth. I believe that each pose needs to be completed within a four count breath and I always practice that way. I plan to teach a smooth and easy flow from pose to pose. Ease into the pose is my mantra. You get the benefit of the pose.. Yoga is not aerobics and the fashion is much better.
I am now more than half way through my training. It is amazing to realize how little I knew about the human body, movement, and Yoga and how much I have learned and how that much more I still will have to learn. The ability to link movement to anatomy has especially been a challenge because of the complex nature of our muscles and my ability to visualize those movements with muscles. We have been given assignment to work through and it has been difficult but enlightening. I think it is critical for a teacher to have a good grasp of the anatomy of poses so they can teach them properly so I will always work on learning more about anatomy and movement.
The focus in our classes during the past three weekends was somewhat varied but mainly focused on anatomy, sequencing and different types of Yoga. We have been working on class sequencing, understanding how to best support a student in a pose so that they are comfortable with it, and how to build a class to either an apex pose or a theme.
Two classes were about upper body therapy (which was really good) and a style of Yoga called Kundalini. I really enjoyed both of these sessions as the subject matter was new to me. I think I will be incorporating some of the Kundalini concepts into my classes (especially some poses and breath work) as I liked the strenuous but non-threatening nature of the poses. The upper body therapy class was good because we took difficult poses and made them accessible using blocks, straps and other props. Not everyone can do a difficult pose, but with modifications, they can get the benefit from what the pose offers.
I am still not too happy about the lack of us teaching each other. I was under the impression that this was going to happen but it has not. I think many of us need the feedback about how we teach and right now that need is not fulfilled. I suggested to our class that we ask for a day where we spend teaching each other but there is not full agreement yet on this. I am lucky that I have been able to teach students, many of us have not and I think completing the program and then teaching for the first time in a studio is not optimal.
Namaste.
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