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Things Yoga Teachers Should STOP Saying

Photo by Chris Chavez

As a yoga teacher, I’m always trying to make my language more clear. Sometimes that means giving more instruction, but most of the time it means learning when to shut my trap and allowing my students to feel and experience the poses on their own.

Here are a few of the things I know I need to strike from my yoga teaching vocabulary…

“Did you feel that?” Students nearly always just nod. Uh huh.. sure.. I feel that. (Now will you leave me alone?) If you’re making an adjustment, just make it. Watch your student’s body with your EYES for confirmation that they understood what you asked them to do. If you don’t see a difference, they probably didn’t feel it. Try saying it in a different way. If you did see them make a change, make sure they know it by giving them some feedback. Yes! There! That’s it! 

“Does anybody have any requests for today’s class? Anything you want to work on?” I’ve been doing this in my classes every class for months. I’ve noticed in classes that I attend, other teachers ask the same questions, too. The response is almost always a lot of blank stares, shrugging shoulders, and “anything’s fine with me.” I’ve come to this realization: My students expect ME to plan the sequence. That’s why they’re there. Sure, I want to leave the door open for any questions or requests, but when something comes up for one of them I trust them to come to me and ask.

“Now we’re going to ….” and other words that don’t mean anything. “OK. Now, we’re going to place our hands down on the mat.” “Then, you’re going to step your right foot back.” “Great, now you’re going to bring your hands up toward the sky.” My goal is to teach yoga class in the same way I’d write. That means cutting out all the unnecessary words. I’ve noticed myself saying “Now you’re going to..” about 500 times in class, when it would be so much more effective to abolish the phrase entirely and just give the flippin’ instruction. “Place your hands on the mat. Step your foot back. Reach your hands up toward the sky.” My goal is for each and every word I say to have meaning when I’m teaching. No fillers. It’s a work in progress, and practicing speaking in clear and concise language is as much a part of my practice these days as Triangle Pose.

Also… anything on this list should be abolished immediately.

I’m Gazing at My Inner Selfie: “Like” It or Not

The only thing I love more than a good yoga debate, is a good yoga debate about the use of social media. Of course I’m referencing this article in the NY Times, which amounts to a raised eyebrow at the incredibly popular trend of self-absorbed yogis snapping selfies of themselves in their craziest yoga poses and posting them on the Internets for all to see via a little photo sharing app called Instagram (maybe you’ve heard of it?).

My favorite line: Some more-traditional practitioners might disparage what they consider to be purely ego- or vanity-driven selfies. After all, isn’t yoga supposed to be about turning your gaze inward?

Well, duh. There are “more-traditional practitioners” out there that will disparage anything other than their own precious way of practicing yoga–especially anything new-fangled like social media. 

I know the article was really supposed to make me tsk-tsk these women (and men!) who are so self absorbed that they spend time each and every day snapping photos at themselves for their own enjoyment. But instead I spent some time perusing the app (I admittedly have not seen the point of Instagram really, and have shared my personal photos to Facebook), but I realized there’s a huge, thriving community of yoga practitioners and teachers who are really just using Instagram as a medium to demonstrate (and even teach!) yoga poses. I was inspired–not just by their yoga poses, but by their passion for what they love, and how they courageously put themselves out there  knowing that there would be plenty of critics. Not to mention, the challenges are FUN. I want to be a part of this movement. So here you go. Gazing at my inner self right HERE, baby.

What’s been interesting in the few days I’ve been taking a photo a day, is how critical I am of myself. I almost didn’t post the picture below because my leg wasn’t perfectly straight, you could tell I hadn’t swept my patio, and OMG is that a boob shadow?! Then I thought.. Who the heck am I trying to impress?! I realized that this could actually be a really good tool for self reflection after all. (If I inspire someone else along the way-fantastic!) My practice isn’t perfect (nobody’s is!). My body has plenty of flaws. I care a lot (way too much, in fact) about what other people think about me. Realizing this and accepting–dare I say celebrating–myself anyway is a big part of my practice. Maybe sharing a yoga selfie every now and then is a good way to express that. 




On a side note, I’ve seen a lot of discussion since the NYT article was published about how the trend could impact the public perception of yoga. You know the one I’m talking about: It’s all for thin, white, upper middle class women with a lot of time on their hands abnormally bendy spines. I happen to be a young-ish, bendy, white woman. Could my presence on Instagram make some people who know very little about yoga think that the practice is for thin white women? I guess so. But is that my responsibility? Do I really have to censor myself because of what someone else might think? Isn’t THAT in conflict with the nature of yoga?

10 Most Annoying Home Practice Distractions


1. My dog licks my face every time I go into Downward Dog. Or Handstand. Or Headstand. Or Plank. Or Up Dog. I should really put the dog outside before I practice.

2. My 14-month-old daughter climbs onto my back every time I rest in Child’s Pose. (Seriously. I used to think this pose was called Child’s Pose because it’s easy so a child could do it. That makes no sense at all because kids are way better at yoga than adults. So it must be called Child’s Pose because of how fun it is for children to mount their parents like horses when they’re trying to take a breath.. Yep. I think that must be it.)

3. My daughter always wakes up from her nap at exactly the time I”m finishing with a long sequence of standing poses with my right foot back. She screams. I go get her. I have to stop practicing. I walk a little to the left the rest of the day.

4. My husband insists on watching TV, listening to music, or loudly singing and it drowns out my Krishna Das. It also pisses me off when this happens. And being pissed off is an instant home yoga practice killer.

5. When I practice at home my gadgets are a little too accessible. I get Tweets and text messages from friends. My email beckons. Is it my turn on Words with Friends? Must. Resist. Urge. To. Check. Email.

6. The UPS man or the postlady have a knack for ringing my doorbell just as I’ve started to practice. It sends the dog into a frenzy, wakes up the baby, and ruins my day. (Unless the package is something fun for me.. then it only ruins my practice for the day, but the rest of my day is probably pretty awesome because I love new things!)

7. My yoga mat is where a lot of magic happens, and sometimes the flood gates open and creativity comes pouring into my head. As a writer, I know that when inspiration comes I have to stop what I’m doing immediately and write before it goes away. Sadly, this sometimes means I roll my mat back up and plan to come back to it later.

8. Grrrrr… My stomach growls. Hunger is an annoying home practice deterrent.

9. My phone rings. Or, in my case, vibrates (I never have the ringer on).

10. My needy cat tries to force me to pet her. When I ignore her and shoo her away from my mat, she stands on the end tables and starts knocking everything on them to the floor. Crash! Boom! Bang! (See Learning to Purrrr-severe.) What are your most annoying home practice distractions?

What keeps you from your home practice?

Why Do You Have to Pad My Top?

Today, I have two simple questions to pose…

1. Can someone please explain to me why every yoga top I buy has these little removable pads? My boobs are fine the way they are, thank you very much yoga clothing companies.(And I have yoga to thank for my positive body image so… I think you might be barking up the wrong tree..)

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=9f7209c827&view=att&th=13df4e60791eac0d&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8KzVMyVWDeJpcUvFNVNFOV&sadet=1365613377267&sads=O-3v-Z6AobnLQmhc_KMW55h5nAg

2. What the heck am I supposed to do with this mountain that’s been sitting in my underwear drawer for years? Letting my 11-month-old play with them doesn’t seem quite right… though she does seem to think they make pretty cool toys…

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=9f7209c827&view=att&th=13df4db13fa2f6f6&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8KzVMyVWDeJpcUvFNVNFOV&sadet=1365612706199&sads=a_u0iKvIZhMeFJ1im27kukuMwTk

Am I the only one with a boob padding mountain in my drawer? What do you do with yours?

Yoga Ph.D.: A Q&A with Carol Horton

Carol Horton’s writing often makes me furrow my brow–in a good way! She always seems to be able to make me think about things in a new way. It’s no wonder–Carol was a political science professor so she once made people furrow their brows on a regular basis for a living. But she’s way more relatable than I remember my poly sci professors being when I was in college (or maybe I’m way older so I can relate more now than I could then? But that’s beside the point.)  

Her experience in the academic realm colors the way she views the yoga phenomenon in a really interesting and thought-provoking way. I’m so glad she decided to share that experience in her new book, Yoga Ph.D.

I wanted to learn more, so I asked her to tell me more. Learn more about Carol and buy her book, here! 

 

What makes Yoga Ph.D. different from all the other yoga books that have been released lately?
Yoga Ph.D. offers a comprehensive rethinking of what contemporary American yoga is and why it matters based on social science research and personal experience. It presents a new interpretation of the history of modern yoga and explains why that matters to me as a practitioner in very concrete, personal terms. Similarly, it discusses the psychological, spiritual, and cultural dimensions of American yoga today in ways that are both sociologically and personally meaningful.
Normally, scholarly work is very abstract and impersonal. Conversely, yoga memoirs and other forms of personal writing about practice are usually not very scholarly. Yoga Ph.D. is unusual in that it brings both social science and personal experience to bear on some really big questions about yoga today, including where it came from, why it’s become so popular, and what it offers us as individuals and a society.
How as your experience as a political science professor influenced how you view modern “yoga culture”?
There’s no question that my experience as a political science professor is central to how I understand modern yoga in general, as well as contemporary American yoga culture in particular.
As I explain in my book, I was already working as a college professor when I started my first weekly yoga class. This meant that when I became curious about questions such as the origins of modern yoga or the nature of American yoga culture, I naturally approached them informed by the years I’d spent studying social and political theory, as well as American history, politics, and culture.
What could the yoga community learn from the academic world? What could academics learn from the yoga community?
Great question! I think that academics could learn a huge amount from the yoga community – in fact, taking yoga seriously could revolutionize many fields of study, including psychology, biology, and religious studies. Most academic disciplines tend to approach studying the mind and body in ways that are isolated and mechanistic, rather than integrated and synergistic. Once you start taking yoga’s ability to integrate mind and body seriously, however, all sorts of fascinating research questions pop up that wouldn’t be on your radar screen otherwise.
I’ve also found that the stereotype that academics tend to live so much in their heads that they’re personally unbalanced is generally true. Certainly, this was the case with me J. Yoga has been an incredible tool of self-discovery and self-integration, giving me access to parts of myself I wasn’t previously aware of and experiences I wouldn’t have formerly imagined possible. 
Conversely, I think that the yoga community would be much better off it embraced the value of critical thinking, which is, of course, highly respected in academia. The recent wave of scandals that’s rocked the yoga community is only the most obvious indication of the need to become more thoughtful, reflective, and informed about the type of culture we’re creating. More ambitiously, I think that we need to become much more thoughtful about the extent to which we’re actualizing the positive potential of yoga in our lives and the world at large. This requires becoming more aware of and concerned about what’s happening in our society beyond the yoga community, and seriously reflecting on what we can do to help a world in crisis.
What was the most surprising thing you learned as you researched this book?
I was very surprised by what I learned about the history of modern yoga. While I had always been skeptical of claims that yoga is an unchanging 5,000-year old discipline, I had previously assumed that what we’re doing today is a wholly Westernized version of what had previously been a purely Eastern practice. What I discovered about the historical development of modern yoga, however, was much more interesting – as well as exciting and inspiring – than that.
Basically, I became convinced that master Indian teachers from Swami Vivekananda to Sri T. Krishnamacharya developed a distinctively modern approach to yoga that deliberately synthesized ideas and practices drawn from both modern Western and traditional Indian cultures. In my view, modern yoga has embodied a creative synthesis of East and West, ancient and modern, and the traditional and the revolutionary from its inception. This means that rather than feeling discouraged by the fact that modern yoga is “only” a little over 100 years old, we can feel inspired by the fact that we’ve inherited a practice that was designed to work in the historically unprecedented conditions of modernity, which is the world that we’re living in today. 

   

What’s next for you? Are there more books in your future?
I’m developing a set of book talks and yoga workshops that build off ideas presented in Yoga Ph.D. and 21st Century Yoga (a recently released collection of essays that I co-edited with Roseanne Harvey). Specifically, I’ll be presenting a workshop on “Socially Engaged Yoga: Indian Roots, American Developments, and Personal Practices” at the Serendipity Festival in April, and several talks on “Making Sense of Modern Yoga” in Chicago in May. Hopefully, more opportunities to present this material in innovative, interactive ways will develop from there.
I’m also working with my neighborhood yoga studio, Chaturanga Holistic Fitness, to develop a community outreach program serving the South Side of Chicago, where I live and the studio is located. Our neighborhood is very racially diverse (about half African American) and relatively affluent. (It’s where the University of Chicago is located and where President Obama used to live.) But, we are very close to some of the tragically troubled neighborhoods that have recently made headlines about Chicago being the “murder capital of America.” We hope to find ways to bring yoga to nearby communities that would otherwise not have access to it, and to cultivate students who could become teachers themselves by developing a yoga teacher training scholarship program.
I’m also working with a local nonprofit, Yoga for Recovery (YFR), that teaches yoga to women in Chicago’s Cook County Jail. We recently expanded from teaching non-violent offenders in a minimum security setting to serving women convicted of more serious crimes in the main part of the jail. I’m be attending James Fox’s Prison Yoga Training at Chicago’s Moksha Yoga Studio in April, and writing about that for Yoga Chicago, as well as helping YFR develop a protocol for teaching trauma-sensitive yoga to incarcerated women based on that and other trainings and research we’ve done.

I’m also working with Chaturanga to develop a module for their yoga teacher training focused on the specifically modern dimensions of yoga history, philosophy, and ethics. Ideally, I’d like to be able to offer this to other YTTs in the future. As far as another book goes, I’m hopeful that this will happen at some point in the future. For the time being, however, I’m focused on promoting Yoga Ph.D. and 21st Century Yoga, and bringing some of the ideas they embody out into the world.

Hometown Yoga Heroes: Kelly Jean Moore

Kelly Jean Moore
What’s one thing you wish you had known about yoga when you first started practicing?

That teachers, no matter how great, are also fallible people. I wish I had not glorified teachers and studio owners, believing that the yoga community was full of people who had mastered what they taught. That false idea of perfection really set me up for a huge let down and a lot of self-criticism, too… Of course, I can’t blame those teachers and other yogis for being human and in a process, a continuum of refinement. I can only site my own childish fantasies for my disappointment. I now feel at ease with my community because I know we are all on our own journeys and we all are complex beings. The expectation of enlightened behavior is something I have had to let go of, especially in myself.
 
What’s your favorite pose at the moment? What are you learning from it?

I’m almost six months pregnant right now so every pose is different. My base line is different. To paraphrase the poet Theodore Roethke, I move in circles, and those circles move. I love exploring the animalistic drive to creep through deep squats that lead to starfish-inspired Downward Facing Dogs. At first I resisted my bodies request to move differently. I resisted breaking my own “rules.” At some point I just gave in. What higher guidance could I possibly be subscribing to other than my own inner voice and the voice of millions of generations of mothers and babies echoing through my expanding bones down through the ages?

What’s the best advice someone ever gave you?
When I was a teenager I would come home from school in a tizzy over a boy or some friend drama. I often felt like an outsider and struggled with how the world worked. My mother always smiled and said calmly, “Kelly, this too shall pass.” It is the only truth I know for sure. All things, whether we like it or not, are impermanent. What a relief. Life is not such a big deal after all.
Why did you want to open a new studio in Charleston?
I want to get rich and famous of course.  Actually, I managed a studio in town off and on for many years and also designed and led their teacher training program, and I always wanted to have more creative control. In the back of my head I was always designing my dream curriculum and putting together an all-star team of teachers who truly represented what I envisioned to be the heart of the yogic teachings. I didn’t know if I would ever get the chance. It was just a pipe dream. I expected to start traveling to teach and also to focus more on my Rolfing career when my partners, Wes Carter and Shelly Wolfe, approached me about opening a space. It is all quite miraculous to me. They are just as responsible for the existence of Mission Yoga as I am.
What’s special or unique about Mission Yoga that other studios in the area don’t offer?
We are receiving a lot of accolades for the space itself, which is a remodeled gas station full of exposed brick, old concrete, beautiful bamboo floors, and a ton of natural light. This space is definitely a joy to practice in but to me, Mission Yoga is what it is because of the teachers. Each one of them has a level of experience and clarity of voice that sets them apart. They are all unique in what they have to offer but complement each other very well. We teach from the perspective of embodiment first. We honor our creative processes and those of our students. Although we enjoy the challenge of complex movement and teach “advanced” postures when appropriate we do not require or expect anyone’s practice or body to look a certain way.  Mission Yoga is a place for personal inquiry and empowerment not dogma or body/fitness obsessions. We try to weave meditation into our classes since we all personally feel that it is a primary part of the work of yoga and we all love what we do.  I think all the studios in Charleston have the right intention and having so much variety gives students multiple options and styles, helping them to all find a yoga home. I celebrate our diversity as a community.
What inspires you? Tell us so we can be inspired, too!

I love Walt Whitman, reading his work just breaks my heart open.  I love all of the arts really. Theatre, Dance, and the visual arts all inspire me and remind me of the depth and drama of the human struggle and of human nobility. Simple things inspire me, like watching animals move and children play. Movement is fascinating. My beloved LGBT friends, who work everyday for their equality in this country, inspire me. There is so much light and life in this world. How could I not be constantly enthralled?

Learn more about Kelly and Mission Yoga here.

Are You Ready for Yoga Teacher Training?

Image by Flickr user RelaxingMusic

1. Your biggest motivation for unrolling your mat is ________.
     A. To achieve the perfect yoga butt.
     B. To get to know yourself better inside and out.
     C. To relieve stress.
     D.  Because your friend invited you to class and you want him/her to see how awesome you are.
     E.  All of the above.

2. Your friend is on the fence about attending a yoga class. How do you try to convince her?
     A. Do nothing. She’s obviously not as spiritual as you are so it’s a lost cause.
     B. Say you know she’ll love it whenever she’s ready to go, you’d love to unroll your mat beside hers
     C. Not applicable. You don’t associate with people who don’t have a regular yoga practice.
     D. Tell her she HAS to go and list all the celebrities who do it
     E.  Do nothing. It’s not your job to make others try yoga. She’ll have to figure it out on her own.

3. Life is crazy. You realize you’re going to miss your favorite weekly yoga class. What do you do?
     A. Panic. The last time you missed that class you went nuts and there was a series of unfortunate events.
     B. Take a few deep breaths wherever you are. Asana is only a small part of your practice.
     C. Unroll your mat at home for at least 5 minutes. It’s better than nothing.
     D. Vow to take an extra class next week to make up for it. 
     E. Don’t sweat it. Life happens.

4.  Your teacher is out and the sub instructs a pose that you feel most of the class is not ready to attempt. What do you do?
     A. Call her out immediately. You can’t let your classmates injure themselves on your watch!
     B. Realize that there are different approaches to the practice, and try this new style with an open mind.
     C. After class you call the teacher over and quietly ask her about her style. It’s different than what you’ve learned, but maybe she knows something you haven’t considered.
     D. You make sure you practice the pose perfectly so that your classmates can see how it’s done!
     E. You don’t concern yourself with it. She’s the teacher. She probably knows what she’s doing.

5. How do you describe your yoga skill level?
     A. Expert, master, or enlightened.
     B. Intermediate, but you still have lots to learn.
     C. Intermediate. You can do more than most.
     D. Advanced.
     E. Beginner, in body and mind.

Should you enroll in teacher training?

Answer key:

Mostly As
Maybe not. It’s helpful to approach a teacher training with the mindset that you’re a student first and have a lot to learn. If you already feel you know everything you need to know, you might not get much out of the training. Not to mention, once you’re done with training you’ll be more relatable to students if they see you’re humble and are on the same path of learning that they are. Keep practicing!

Mostly Bs and Cs
Dooooo it! You’ve practiced enough to know that you’ve just skimmed the surface of a limitlessly deep subject. You’re open to learning, and you know that the best way to lead others is through your example.

Mostly Ds
Proceed with caution. Think about why you want to be a teacher: Are you trying to impress someone? Are you doing it to fit into a certain image of what you think a yoga teacher is? Yoga is about exploring your body, mind, and spirit. If you’re not focused mainly on that, it might be hard to help others on that path. Keep practicing!

Mostly Es
It could go either way. You have the right attitude about learning more, but maybe you’re more concerned with deepening your own practice than you are sharing it with others. Of course, that’s a perfectly legitimate reason to enroll in a teacher training, but you might benefit even more from an immersion that doesn’t focus as much on teaching skills.

Note: I did a teacher training when I was 22 years old.. and if I am really honest about it, I probably wasn’t ready. And, truthfully, I know I didn’t get as much out of the training as I could have. But I still wouldn’t change a thing about it! It still helped me to deepen my practice, learn more about who I was and who I wanted to be, and I think I’m a pretty decent teacher now–even if I wasn’t when I first got my certification. 🙂 So, really, you’re the only one who can determine when you’re ready and what you want to get out of the training. I hope this little quiz gave you some food for thought, but please don’t be discouraged no matter what the result! If you want to be a good teacher, you’ll be an awesome one whether you take your training now or in 10 years.

I want to hear from the yoga teachers.. How did you know you were ready to enroll in teacher training?

Hometown Yoga Heroes: Elli Boland

I had lunch with Elli Boland a few weeks ago. The conversation drifted, as it often does when you get two yoga teachers together, to the business of yoga, success, and how the two fit together (or rather how they do NOT fit together as is more often the case). I furrowed my brow, sighed, and in an exasperated tone said: “I just try SO HARD.” 

Elli looked me straight in the eye, and called me out. “STOP IT!,” she said in her uber-cool German accent. She doesn’t mess around. 

It really is that simple–in life and in yoga. One of the most life-changing lessons we can learn is to slow down, let go, and just watch as everything falls into place. Elli finds ease in her life, her yoga classes and counseling sessions, and even on her inspirational Facebook pages My Holistic Coach and Agents of Change. She might make it look easy, but it’s the result of years of study and practice.

Here’s what she had to say about it:

What’s one thing you wish you had known about yoga when you first started practicing?
Ha. Nothing really. I only wish I had known how awesome it is way earlier!

What’s your favorite pose at the moment? What are you learning from it?

My favorite poses at the moment are backbends. They always remind me to forgive and trust. They help let go of my inner perfectionist and control freak, and open me right up to love’s presence.

What’s the best advice someone ever gave you?

To slow the f*** down.

You’re a life coach and counselor, too. Tell me how your yoga practice informs your work as a counselor.

Loaded Question alarm! 🙂Yoga is really the basis for all that I live and teach. Not just the asanas, but really the tools and mindset that it teaches us. Yoga philosophy and healing techniques are a core value for me.  I work as a holistic life coach, guiding people in all areas of life: relationships, communication, career, addictions, exercise, nutrition….and for most issues I ‘prescribe’ yogic ways of dealing with things. I am fascinated and empowered by Yoga philosophy. I do love the asana practice, but I don’t ‘need’ it. What I cannot live without is meditation, breath work, and overall yogic way of looking at things. And I offer that perspective to my clients so they can create the life of their dreams through love and compassion, instead of fear and force.

What do you love about the yoga community in Charleston?

Charleston offers a yummy buffet of different styles and approaches, something for everyone. People are so open and willing, it rocks.

What inspires you? Tell us so we can be inspired, too!

Inspiration flows all day, especially when I slow down and rest. When I meditate and take time for doing what I love, take time to be, to rest, and to laugh, every single thing, every person, every story inspires me. I find it really helpful to understand what Inspiration is…vs. motivation. Wayne Dyer put it something like this: Motivation is when you take a hold of an idea. Inspiration is when an idea takes a hold of you. I had been a highly motivated person. But often I found myself unhappy chasing after something. Now that I learned to let go and let things flow, ideas come to me left and right, and it comes from my heart, not my head. So I get inspired when I listen to my heart’s desires, my intuition, my true self. To hear it louder,…well, I meditate. 

Elli teaches yoga at Mission Yoga in Downtown Charleston. Learn more about her work on her Facebook pages My Holistic Coach and Agents of Change.

About Spoiled Yogi

Erica Rodefer Winters is a yoga teacher who loves helping pregnant and new moms find more balance in life through yoga, meditation, self-care, and humor.

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