May 21, 2010 by pam.

I have the great fortune to work with Dale Jensen this weekend. We are leading a Yoga & Feldenkrais workshop Saturday afternoon. This is a workshop designed to introduce participants to the Feldenkrais Method® and explore the relationship between Feldenkrais and Yoga. You can come to see how it might be possible to use Feldenkrais movement sequences to deepen your understanding and experience of yoga poses. We’ll be doing bhujangasana (cobra) and will see how the Feldenkrais lessons allow more freedom of movement in the upper back.

Please join us on Saturday, May 22, 1 to 3 PM at Harmony Yoga, 1955 Pauline Blvd, Suite 100B in Ann Arbor. The two hour workshop fee is $25. Hope to see you there.

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March 5, 2010 by pam.

So far so good on my new year’s resolutions. We are two months into the new year and, for the most part, I am managing to:
*Walk three times a week
*Write a letter a week
*Blog once a week
*Making progress towards passing assessment

Passing assessment is a long term goal requiring quite a bit of work. Two things I’ve done in the last eight or nine weeks to prepare are find a practice partner and make plans to tape me teaching and doing the poses, a requirement to apply. Taping is planned for 3/13 and 3/14.

How is your 2010 so far?

Posted in Random Thoughts, Blogroll, Yoga | 1 Comment »

October 30, 2008 by pam.

A while back I read a newspaper article about some schools banning yoga. Some of the parents saw yoga as a religion and therefore not appropriate in the schools (church and state!). The teachers were using yogic relaxation techniques to help quell the nervousness in students before exams. Some of my lunchmates had also read the story and asked me what I thought.

The yogic texts define yoga. In Patanjali’s writing he defines yoga as the ‘art which brings an incoherent and scattered mind to a relective and coherent state.’ He also says in the sutras that yoga ‘quiets the fluctuations of the mind.’ These definitions or explanations seem to be spot on with the teachers’ intent … to help quiet the minds of the students and lower the test anxiety in the moment so the they can have clear minds for taking tests. Not to practice a religion.

That’s not to say that some yoga goes hand and hand with religion. There certainly are parts of the sutras that point to God. Some of the sutras sound much like the ten commandments (non-violence, non-stealing, speaking the truth) and the overall objective (as I understand it) is for the yogi to work in the poses and through self study of the texts to come to know herself better. Once there is an understanding, a union, or deeper knowledge of her individual soul then her individual soul can unite with the Divine.

Personally, I struggle with this part. I know that ‘communion with divine’ isn’t something I expect to every get to and, since I consider myself a non-believer, I suspect even if I got there, I wouldn’t recognize it, believe it or understand it. Maybe *if* I ever closer I’ll change my mind.

So, should yoga be in the classroom? I can see how parents would object. The texts talk about the divine, God, even ’surrendering to God’. I certainly wouldn’t want the teachers asking the kids to pray to God for a good grade right before the test. After spending a weekend (and a good number of days before the weekend) at assessment with a high level of anxiety, I’m all for a little ‘calm the mind practice’. So, maybe they can do it but call it something else … meditation, focused breathing, positive self talk. Much of it is the same … but different.

It’s all in how you practice it and what your objective is. What do you think?

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October 8, 2008 by pam.

I had several mantras over the last month or two while preparing for assessment. Throughout the weekend I directed my attention to them, to those words of wisdom I had received, to help quiet my mind … to especially quiet the doubts floating up. Here are a few of the quotes that helped me through.

“Just do your best.” Sara Lindberg

“Just be yourself. Don’t worry about the time.” Melissa Benzie

“Be in the moment!! Don’t think about where you’ve been, how you got there and what the results will be, just think about the students in front of you. Teach like you teach The Posse and what follows is what follows.” Bev Gengler

“Just teach well.” John Lofy

“I believe in you.” Daniel Alberda

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October 8, 2008 by pam.

Here’s another quote from my assessment journal.

“If you’re able to be yourself, then you have no competition. All you have to do is get closer and closer to that essence”. Barbara Cook.

I don’t know who Barbara Cook is, but she could be a yogi. That’s what this yogic journey is about … it’s about self realization, about finding and *being* the true essence of yourself.

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October 6, 2008 by pam.

I passed the first step to becoming a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher over the weekend in Pittsburgh. Along with eight other candidates, I went through a three-part two-day test. Phew! We were a bundle of nerves! The anxiety was palpable at the candidates meeting … and before in the morning open studio time. We all got through it. In fact, all nine of us passed the assessment. This week I’ll get something in writing from the assessors and some time in the future, after all the assessments are done for the season, will get back the written test.

I’m happy and relieved it’s done. I’m pleased I passed. And I feel pretty confident about continuing on to the next step.

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October 1, 2008 by pam.

Tomorrow I take off for Pittsburgh where I will take the first step to becoming a certified yoga teacher. After I pass this level I have another assessment (either this time next year or the year after) to be officially certified. I feel prepared, strong, and supported for the three part/two-day test.

I especially feel supported. Sunday night I realized I feel like that Verizon guy on the commercials with ‘his network’ behind him. I feel like I’ve got my network of support behind me: my family, the love of my life, my students, coworkers, friends, and especially the Advanced Yoga Posse. The posse has been coming to my dining room for two years, doing yoga with me, giving me feedback and becoming an even more ‘advanced’ yoga posse. They let me try out poses, sequences, and instructions that sometimes get a physical response and other times get burst of laughter. I’m looking forward to more of those yoga laughs.

More when I get back from Pittsburgh.

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April 21, 2008 by pam.

The Advanced Yoga Posse and I were out on the deck this past Thursday. The temperature was perfect, the sun was bright, and it was wonderful to be outside again. Thanks to Bev for suggesting, urging, and convincing me to get the broom out, sweep the deck, and get us all out there.

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April 16, 2008 by pam.

At the end of February and the first couple of weeks in March I was really sick. It knocked me out in a way I can’t ever remember as an adult. I’ve been back to work at Malloy and back teaching yoga for just over a month. The ‘after taste’ of my illness has been a lack of enthusiasm (for just about everything), lack of appetite, a few physical bug-a-boos, and fatigue on occasion. This week while teaching yoga at the YMCA, the joy in leading a group in the asanas started to come back. I felt just a smidgen of fun. Nice to see a little light at the end of the tunnel of recovery.

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April 16, 2008 by pam.

Last week in yoga posse I noticed another milestone. The group is living up to its name (advanced ). When I said, “Shoulderstand” they all got their blankets set up and, without a demonstration from me, did shoulderstand. We also did headstand, if just for a moment, without any crashing down.

The weather is turning warmer … or at least sunnier … and before you know it we’ll be having posse out of the deck again. Another measure of progress in itself.

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