Journal Posts
posted: 6/11/12
Explore the pros and cons of hands-on guidance and learn to use skillful assists to empower
your students.
By Sara Avant Stover
"Come on! Extend, Karl! Don't be so stingy!" exclaimed Sharon Gannon, cofounder of Jivamukti Yoga, to student Karl Straub, as she assisted him in Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose). Straub, a Jivamukti Yoga teacher himself, as well as a Thai Yoga Bodywork practitioner, recalls the potency of Gannon's assist-one that he revisits every time he practices that
asana. "The [combination] of challenge and support was extremely powerful," he...
posted: 6/11/12
Until the age of 45, Bill McKeever had always been in the best of health. A student of Buddhism since the age of 21, a Yale graduate, the former director of Karmê Chöling, the former vice president of Naropa University, a Shambhala meditation teacher, and the father of four sons, Bill was not the type of person you would expect to be diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disorder known as Parkinson Disease (PD).Yet when his right hand began to inexplicably tremble nine years ago, Bill knew that something was amiss.
So began Bill's journey of living with PD. Joined by the 1.5...
posted: 6/11/12
Encourage your students to develop a home practice-and
stick with it.By Sara Avant Stover
I moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand, from New York City when I
was 21. I had been practicing yoga for three years, attending
group classes four times a week. When I moved, though,
things changed. Chiang Mai's yoga scene didn't compare to
the abundant supply of classes I had grown so used to in
New York. If I wanted to keep practicing, I had to do it alone.
Forced by circumstance to foster a home practice, my
relationship with yoga quickly deepened and became more
intimate, more connected. Equipped...
posted: 6/11/12
It may seem complicated to manage the needs of parents and their children in a yoga setting, but parent and child classes offer your students moments of calm and connection amid the chaos of parenting.
By Sara Avant Stover
Being a parent doesn't have to mean zero personal time and a slimmed-down social life. Today yoga classes are not just for the super-fit, super-flexible, and super-serious. Anyone and everyone can find a class that suits his or her needs-including parents and children.
Consider opening your studio's doors to families. Let parent and child classes evolve out of...
posted: 6/11/12
Over time I am realizing that just because I am a yogini doesn't mean that I always have to look, act, or feel happy. Far from it. Rather, to be a yogini means being what is true. Not always easy in a culture where the answer to the question "How are you?" is most always followed by a perfunctory "Fine," even if you may just be having a bad day.
Being true for me, for now, means admitting that life feels pretty intense. As my teacher, ShantiMayi says, "The world is balancing on the head of a pin." The realization of this feels saddening, bewildering,...
posted: 6/11/12
To ensure both peace of mind and a strong immune system through the winter months, find ways to connect and harmonize with your surroundings now. One of the best ways to do this is by eating foods that are in season. Every single food that exists-from a coffee bean to an ear of corn-has a precise medicinal effect to assist the body's equilibrium as we pass from season to season.
In the era where we can buy a plump peach on a snowy, January day, we need to relearn and remember the benefits of eating seasonal and local foods as much as possible, just as our ancestors did. While the juicy...
posted: 6/11/12
Jyotisha: The Yoga of the Cosmos
Interview with Dr. Katyayani Poole, Ph.D
By Sara Avant Stover
She hadn't spoken to her brother in three years. Despite being a dedicated yoga teacher and practitioner and serving as Core Power's Colorado regional manager, Heather Peterson couldn't find the tools to mend this familial divide.
"All of the other work I've done to heal this relationship" she revealed, "are interesting and good, but to understand things from a larger, karmic perspective through Jyotisha (pronounced joe-teesh-ah) helped me to make bigger changes....
posted: 6/11/12
Use your yoga teachings to inspire social change.
By Sara Avant Stover
On November 5, 2008, Nelson Mandela wrote a letter to President-Elect Barack Obama-a letter that appeared in the New York Times the next day. Mandela's missive included the statement, "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."
Perhaps it was out of this very desire that you first became a yoga teacher. Now, after teaching hundreds and thousands of students, you're ready to extend your offerings to an...
posted: 6/11/12
Drinking ginger tea, omitting dairy foods from her diet and taking daily walks became as routine as brushing her teeth for Jennifer Cormier, a Pilates instructor at Inward Bound Wellness in Ashland, Oregon. To shed winter weight and brighten her complexion with spring's arrival, Jenn dabbled with Ayurveda (pronounced eye-yur-vay-dah), India's traditional healing science. After a month of adhering to these ancient daily rituals, Jenn began to feel more in rhythm with the budding of new life around her. She began to laugh more and sleep more soundly. Her digestion improved, her eyes...
posted: 6/11/12
Learn how to take the leap from teaching classes to leading workshops.
By Sara Avant Stover
Are you the kind of teacher who always finds yourself ending class 10 minutes late? Do you know your teaching routine so well that you could almost do it in your sleep? Or do you keep a list of topics that you would like to develop and share but can't seem to fit into your regular drop-in classes?
It sounds like it could be time to take the leap from teaching classes to holding workshops, or longer, more in-depth classes. Some teachers might cringe at the prospect because they have stage fright...
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