Wade Morissette

I enjoyed classes with Wade Morissette as he visited Inner Fire Yoga this weekend. He taught a beautiful vinyasa class on Friday night that kicked my butt and awakened my senses at the same time. Saturday afternoon he taught a great class on sequencing that offered me a lot of information as a teacher. He closed both classes with some Kirtan and then Saturday night the whole family went down to IFY for a Kirtan concert with Wade. It was great! He has an enormously open heart and a deep connection that you must experience to understand.

I was amazed at the energy Wade put into the weekend and especially the concert. His ability to sustain the chants and give them new meaning was lovely. His use of pace was great. In the class on sequencing his simple explanations of counter-posing and the build toward an apex was great.

Saturday night it was very warming to see my daughters chanting. During the opening Om Namah Shivaya I watched as Zoe sat in full lotus on a bolster, eyes closed, moving her lips on each repeat of the chant. She was truly in a meditative state. It is awesome to see a youngster learn (or remember) that kind of calmness and state of being.

Thanks Wade.

Is right action finding me?

On the last day of yoga teacher training the beautiful Kim Holland gave a moving oral report on the role of the yoga teacher. This was such a wonderfully emotional day that I tear up just recounting it. Throughout the summer each teacher had the opportunity to speak at length on assigned topics. I was so happy to get it done in the second month! Kim had to take it down to the final day! She spoke to us with her heart wide open on a topic that was so important to hear on this day.

Kim gave each of us a piece of paper and had us write on it a couple of things that I will describe from memory:
1. a short paragraph describing our role as a teacher, a scene with us teaching or an evocative paragraph that encapsulated us as a teacher
2. a statement of intention going forward from here as Vinyasa Yoga teachers
3. a list of actions we would take having finished training

Kim then had us put the paper in an envelope and address it to ourselves telling us that she would mail it in a couple of months. Mine arrived yesterday. I did not open it immediately but pondered the contents. Was I on task from December 7? Was I living the vision I had on that beautiful day? I felt very clear on that day. Clear about why I had chosen to teach yoga. I'll share with you a bit of my writings.

My declaration reads: "I will help others seek spirit through body and breath."

Am I on task? Yes. I am doing this every week! The second weekend of our teacher training I admitted some frustration with my job to my dear friend Natalie. She said "Well, now you can take your yoga to work." As simple as she stated this - I experienced a profound shift at that very moment. I began hatching a plan to take my yoga to work. And I have followed through. I am teaching two Vinyasa classes a week at work. I had 18 people in class today! I have taken my yoga to work and found a great group of people who wanted to receive what I had to offer! Thanks Nat! Am I helping them seek spirit? Sure! You define spirit for yourself. They are certainly a spirited group.

I read through the listing of actions items I wrote that day. I have started them all in some way or another and I remembered each item. I am on task.

It's nice to look back on a day when your thinking was clear. It's good to observe that clear days happen - and we should write on those days.

At the bottom of the paper that Kim handed us that day was the following quote she printed for us:

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
So watch your thoughts and its ways with care.
And let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings.
--Buddha

And then he BOLTED FROM THE ROOM

Dear Yoga teachers and students,

Did you ever feel the urge to BOLT FROM THE ROOM in the middle of an asana class? As students I feel certain that many of us have felt the urge and many of us HAVE BOLTED FROM CLASS. Lots of feelings surface!
In Tibetan Heart Yoga they say that a stuck body part is a result of a stuck thought. Think of the stuck thought as something clogging a pipe. Think of the pipe as a Prana channel in our body. A subtle channel along which our vital energy flows. And riding on that energy is our thoughts - like a person riding horse. These thoughts come in different sizes. And they can get BIG.
And occasionally the thought gets so big that it sticks in the energy channel and won't move. The rider is too big for the horse. Stuck. Well just like a clogged artery, the vital energy and the thoughts riding on that energy begin to clog up behind the stuck thought. We develop a thought aneurysm of sorts. The whole part of the body where this clog has occurred begins to swell. And because of the Law of attraction, the stuck thought begins attracting other, similar thoughts causing a massive traffic jam of similar stuck thoughts. The content of the thoughts does not matter - but now we see this clot of these thoughts.

And this clot or aneurysm of thoughts begins to affect the body functions in the stuck area. Perhaps our back begins to hump, our heart begins to harden, our neck begins stiffen. And we think, "I slept funny on my neck." Now we know about the physical problem and we usually see it this way.

When we do yoga we can work on the pipe clog problem from 2 angles. We can do asana. This is like tapping on the pipe from the outside trying to release the clog. We can also poke around INSIDE the pipe using Pranayama and meditation. This combination of practices can free the clog, working from the outside and the inside at the same time is a powerful tool.

When these thoughts begin to un-stick - guess what - we're going to FEEL THEM. And they are BIG THOUGHTS and there are a lot of them right? - a clog - a backlog of thought. And the feelings start flowing when the thoughts start flowing. We feel it physically, emotionally. And sometimes we want to BOLT FROM THE ROOM.

These practices, asana and pranayama,can help us fix our stuck thought/stuck body problems. But the thoughts may continue to stick. That is a problem that happens earlier in the process. These issues with the thoughts can be addressed through practices like the Yamas and Niyamas. Observing these guidelines will help us keep these sticky thoughts away. Let's face it - the sticky thoughts are usually not the good thoughts. They are usually thoughts that relate to attachments. They often relate to the injury of our egos.

When we practice the 8 limbs of Raja Yoga we can reduce these kinds of thoughts over time. This requires us to employ two major concepts: Practice and non-reaction.

So - DON'T BOLT. When we feel these feelings - we are starting to get clear. When we feel those feelings - we are feeling those feelings LEAVING OUR BODY. It feels this way for a reason. And we need to feel, and feelings are not facts.

David

*the concepts presented here were largely learned by reading "How Yoga Works" by Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally

In need of an archetype?

We all need a little help from time to time. We run up against something. There is something in our path. But we know this is our path. We lean in to the resistance, but it does not give. The breath is not moving it away.

We have our mats to come to - a calm oasis in the storm of life. We can work things out through movement. But what about when you need a little something extra? We have the wisdom teachings. We can turn to them. The practice of Svadhyaya allows us to look in a mirror and learn of ourselves - through ourselves, a wisdom teaching, or sacred text. Or how about a blog? Do they count? They do when they are filled with wisdom.
Kathryn Budig has written a great piece of wisdom about finding help in an archetype and learning about yourself.

I think it is beautiful. And it was just what my wife needed this morning! Even as she huffed and puffed about her upcoming day I was reading this blog. I handed her the netbook. It was the best advice I had.

David

When the student is ready the teachings appear

I guess the name of my blog was appropriate on Saturday as I met with my fellow teachers for a class reunion at the Yog Sadhan Ashram in West Chicago. This was a very special occasion.

Student
Our colleague Marina gave instruction on traditional yogic methods of cleansing our bodies. WOW. That's all I can say

Teacher
I led an asana practice and really enjoyed seeing how everyone has progressed in their practices. My own critique of my teaching for Saturday was one of pace. I felt I needed to vary the pace a bit at times. Pace is an area I am working on.

Student
Highlight of the day was a class on chapter one of the Bhagavad Gita given by the director of the ashram, Hersh. Hersh is a gifted teacher who explained so many beautiful things to us about the Gita and other important areas of yogic education.

The ashram is free of any religion - they practice pure yoga - which can work with any creed you may have. Hersh gave us important background on the Gita including the events that occurred just before the Gita story begins. It was very helpful for her to set the scene. The teachings were amazing. Thanks so much to Hersh!!

What really struck me about beginning a study of the Gita was being ready to study it as a student. I bought the Gita last year at this time. I opened it and began reading. I thought, "what the heck is this about?" A year later, after studying the Yoga Sutras, I opened the book and began reading and really taking it in. It all seemed totally accessible to me now. When the student was ready . . .

It is really nice that we can learn all of our lives and also find a way to teach.

Music - Music - Music

Dear fellow Yoga teachers,

I have found music to be a challenge for me. I want the right music for the class and the right music for the right flow. I want the right music for the chapter we are in.
I have been challenged to get the music right and challenged to be satisfied with the music.

For my classes at work I have been staying away from music that is too yogic, too devotional. Then I have been disappointed with my music collection. Then I want the right song for the right moment in the class. I am over analyzing it.

Does this get easier? Yoga teachers - what is your plan for music? Yoga students - what are your expectations or what do you like?

Yoga and angry thoughts

Picked up this story over at yogadork. Indian prisoners reduce sentences by doing yoga

Wow. I love the quote:
An inmate at Gwalior central jail, Narayan Sharma - who has now moved on to become an instructor - says it helps to banish the "angry thoughts" in his mind.
"It was these thoughts that made me commit crimes," he said.

I feel the same way.