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Advanced Yoga: It's Not What You Think

1/27/2019

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In my "Thoughts From A Yoga Heretic" blog post, I mentioned fancy yoga as opposed to advanced yoga. I started delineating the two some years ago after one of my regular students said she felt as though she was doing remedial yoga since she had to use the wall to support herself in a particular set of poses. My response was that she was actually doing very advanced work. She was attending to the specific, asymmetrical needs of her body after serious injury. She was hardly doing less than anyone else in class. In fact, using the wall allowed her to work much harder, rebuilding strength, realigning at the hip and knee joints, addressing a newly prevalent twist at the pelvis. Without the wall, she'd simply be making a shape. And that shape would be defined by the muscles that already worked, the current skeletal misalignments.

In fact, that student was/is a very advanced practitioner in my book. She was listening to her body and adapting the work to make changes in her body. I offer that kind of adaptation all the time since my students often skew older and/or injured. But it amazes me how many are stuck on the idea that what I'm offering as an alternative must somehow be remedial if it's not what the group is doing. It is fascinating how many people are determined to stick with the group, even if it hurts, rather than do something different, even if that "something different" will benefit them specifically.

So what do I mean by fancy yoga? 
Google "yoga images" and just look at all the bendy people doing incredible-looking poses in exotic locations. Yes, these are impressive poses. Yes, these may have taken them years to master. But in my experience, the people in those photos represent a tiny fraction of the populace in terms of how they move. Most of us are trying to get a little more flexible, get a little stronger, breathe a little better. And we have to start where we are.

When I stand up tall and curve my spine backward and it barely moves and I look like a longbow, that is equivalent to the bendy person who bends backwards from standing and puts her hands on the floor. I'm working at my limit. And I'm working to increase my limit each time I practice. The fact that I don't move as far doesn't make my work any less advanced if I'm working from internal knowledge of my body and seeking improvement. Putting the hands on the floor is fancier looking to be sure, but if each of us are working within our bodies' abilities, my work is no less valuable, no less advanced. 

So what makes a pose advanced? 
Emphasizing the shape of the pose de-emphasizes the understanding of the pose. In the above example, do you know if you are actually articulating all along the thoracic spine? Do you know if you are creating the shape from increased lumbar curve (not a safe way to go)? Do you feel energized AFTER the creating that shape (back domes are supposed to uplift energy)? Do you feel crunchy in your mid/lower back? Are you trying to keep up with your neighbor? Are you listening to your limits? That kind of inner questioning, that level of awareness is what makes a pose advanced in my view. Not how far you bend backwards.

Fancy poses are fun to look at, fun to figure out what work you'd need to do to achieve them. I'm all for using a fancy pose as a goal. But what makes a pose advanced isn't the pose itself. It's everything you learn along the way, regardless of whether you ever achieve the fanciest version.

As I have often said in classes, balancing on one hand with your feet behind your ears while on the edge of a cliff doesn't make you a better yogi. Not being able to do that doesn't make you a lesser yogi. It's all about the work and the self-awareness that you acquire along the way. The more self-awareness, the more specific your practice, the more advanced. Period.


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Who Watches Who; Why Leading a Practice Isn't the Same as Teaching a Class

1/1/2019

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I've been teaching yoga for over two decades now. Every time someone who has taken other yoga classes joins my class, one of the first questions they ask me is, "Where will you be standing?" When I tell them I will be moving around the room, this is clearly not a satisfactory answer. But after that first class, when the new student has received actual teaching pertinent to their specific way of moving in their body, the light bulb goes off. 

I have nothing against classes where the teacher is up front and demonstrates everything. Those can be fun and challenging practices. They also require a lot of self-knowledge on the part of the class participants. Instead, I find most people coming to yoga classes have very little self-awareness and are moving the best they can to keep up with the person leading the practice. When a student's limitations and movement patterns no longer allow them to keep up, they either get hurt or they quit in frustration.

When a yoga teacher (or any movement teacher) actually teaches instead of leading practice, that is when the student can actually make change. Movement patterns that may be causing injury or preventing progress can be addressed and adjusted.

So what does class look like with a teacher versus a leader? Well, in my classes, I don't set out a mat for myself and I really do walk around throughout class. I may walk up to one student and help them align a knee, or get weight on a part of their foot that they didn't realize was not on the floor, I might suggest a narrower or wider stance to someone else. I might point out that another student's ribs are thrust forward or their head is tipped to one side. Over time, as students study with me longer, I no longer even have to say much. I walk near a mat and the person on that mat quickly adjusts something I've mentioned in previous classes. I know what my students are working on, and so do my students.

Do I demonstrate poses? Of course, but not for very long. No one needs to model my exact shape since no one else has my movement history, my injuries, my specific work to do. You can always tell the newcomer who is used to following the leader; when I briefly show a pose then come out of it to walk around, the newbie will also come out of the pose. Then they quickly look around, realize their error, and return to the pose.
 
Teaching class means students learn to listen to descriptions and concepts. They can benefit from individually specific instructions. They can discover how they've been moving up until now, and decide whether those habits are still of benefit (sometimes yes, sometimes no).  They can learn from instruction, not just by following, They gain the self-knowledge that would allow them to better navigate a led-practice.

I do appreciate a well-led practice. I also have nearly 30 years of study under my belt and can make necessary changes if what's being taught is not appropriate for me that day. I also know that when I was a novice teacher, leading practice was what I was capable of. As I learned more, I taught differently. What my students appreciate is getting attention for their specific issues. They really enjoy not having to know what to do when a pose is out of reach. They know I will be available to them, I will see them if they struggle, and I'll have an option or suggestion for them. I couldn't do that if I was busy demonstrating.


And so I say it again loudly for the people in back: Leading class is not the same as teaching.

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