April 10, 2012
April 10, 2012

Teaching Yoga

 Teach: to instruct by example or experience It’s no coincidence to me that each of Webster’s definitions of teach leads with a verb that can also be found in the list of definitions for give: guide, cause, impart, provide, offer, administer, bestow The recent Yoga Teacher Training for Students with Parkinson’s reminded me once again of what a gift it is to work with yoga teachers. In the session last week, dedication, passion and a thirst for understanding filled the room, permeating the air. I recall that same sensation in one of the first workshops I attended as a new teacher. For an entire week, the program imparted so much that each inhale was as pleasant as breathing in the kitchen aromas of homemade soup and freshly baked bread.  The close of the seven days struck hard. Like stepping into a vast hallway, the shock hit not in the array […]
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July 15, 2012
July 15, 2012

Right, Left, Right

The game Twister often comes to mind when I guide a class through numerous ‘right’ ‘left’ cues. It can get befuddle the most able bodied. And while the goal of the game is to fluster and tumble, yoga is more about focus and balance. Recently, a wonderful yoga teacher asked about how to work around the right/left issue when it begins to distract rather than guide. She kindly told me that she found my response helpful. I share it here with best wishes that you, too, find some benefit in your practice or teaching. Thank you for your question. It’s a good one.  There can be proprioception concerns as well as disjointed messages from the brain to the limb (also common with stroke).   Cueing from ‘right’ and ‘left’ to something more descriptive can help. In addition to cueing, I’ll often sequence through a series of movements on one side then […]
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