Yoga and the Broadcaster

Today...I had an epiphany! I have four days left at my 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training at Frog Lotus Yoga...and the light bulb is now full-on! The lead instructor called me out on my sanskrit...and my use of extraneous words, and suggested I should teach a little less with my hands. She continued by saying, she knows I'm a broadcast journalist and I have a command of communicating. She's right! I am a broadcaster and do have a strong command of communicating. I started to think...maybe if I had a grading rubric, I would be able to step up my Shanti! Immediately, the rubric I use for grading new military broadcasters came to mind. There are nine graded areas and they sure do seem to lend themselves perfectly to teaching yoga.

1) Voice Quality: Depending on the class you're teaching you need to make sure your quality and tone support. Additionally, your voice quality must change throughout the class. In the beginning a calm and steady voice invites the students to be present. If teaching a vinyasa class, your cadence and directness must increase as the flow-tempo increases. At the end, in savasana, once again a calming, soft voice is required.

2) Vocal Energy: Your vocal energy must match the class you're teaching. Broadcasters rely on finding the "mood" of the story to determine their energy. In yoga...it is the type of class. For a slow-flow Hatha class, NO ONE IS WANTING A CHEERLEADER! However, after 45-minutes of a Vinyasa 3-4, a little pep just might be what the doctor ordered. (sorry won't unbold!)

3) Word Grouping: Are you leaving your students wondering what is happening next, or do you formulate (and actually speak) specific directions? Ever taken the class where you were left in a precarious position due to the instructor being lost in thought? That's word grouping.

4) Stress & Intonation: Let's face it...sanskrit can be a bitch! Body parts tend to blend. Was that drishti, or samasthiti?

5) Communication of Ideas: Was the class completely esoteric, or were there some easily to digest pieces of information that you can gain traction with? How many times did the instructor say, "UM?" Were there any "crutch" words and phrases? How many times can I "really enjoy the stretch?" What if I'm not enjoying the stretch? You know when you have a great instructor when he tells you what he wants you to do exactly. "Lengthen your side body as you inhale and reach through the fingertips."

6) Articulation: This is always fun...Try being a voice and diction coach, then attend a yoga school with folks from all over the country. I'm pretty certain many of these students don't know what an "r" sound is! One of my favorite instructors is a guy from Vermont. His articulation would put a cringe in my neck at my other job...but is very charming in this yoga setting.

7) Word Recognition/Comprehension: Broadcasters have proper nouns, yogis have sanskrit and anatomy. Mispronounce someones name...lose credibility forever. Invite a class to explore Adhra Mukha Savasana...and you'll get the "what-what" look. (Adho Mukha Svanasana- Down Dog)

8) Overall Performance: This is pretty easy to tell how well you did in yoga. If students hug you, or keep coming back with more friends...then you're money. If you're all alone, you might want to review the first seven graded areas.

9) Following Instructions: Did you in fact just teach an all-levels class? If you did, you provided modifications for the novice and the advanced yogi in the class. Check your ego, maybe even ask for some candid feedback from time to time.

I kind of wish I would have thought about this on Day 1, instead of Day 24!

Find The Energy of the Pose

So for the past two weeks here at Frog Lotus Yoga, the instructor, Jennier Yarro has been telling me to "find the energy of the pose." Well today...I FOUND IT! I've been doing a lot of work with my core strength and going even deeper, with my bandhas. Specifically, my uddiyana bandha! This has been very beneficial to two of the poses I'm working on here: forearm balance, and handstand. Two poses I've NEVER DONE BEFORE. Today in class I wanted to see if I could engage my core and uddiyana bandha to flow from down dog into crane/crow. To achieve this you...well for lack of better words...need to "Find the Energy of the Pose."

I was warm, I was engaged...not I was UBER engaged. My fingers like octopus tentacles sucking into my mat. I turned my gaze between my hands, energized my bandha and lifted my feet and hips up to the sky, gently landing my knees high up on my triceps. Still engaged...and totally in the "energy" of the pose, my feet begin to once again lift. This was followed by my knees and hip. In a moment of sure child-like bliss I heard Jennifer say, "very nice Chris!" I was in handstand. For the record. I did not tell myself to do this. It just happened.

I'm pretty sure...that is "Finding the Energy of the Pose." I didn't have a camera on me...and I can't find a video of this, but here are two different videos. One from downdog to crane...the other crane to handstand. After watching these two videos you will realize what happened today on my mat. (FYI...after I came down with grace. I had to leave my mat and giggle.)

DOWNDOG TO CRANE VIDEO...CLICK (He goes to headstand...then kicks back to chaturanga dandasana)

CRANE TO HEADSTAND VIDEO...CLICK

Yoga Camp Day 1

Well...it was very stressful getting here...but I made it. At 50-miles in, my check engine light came on. Every time I went through a toll booth, or stopped, the car would stall. UGH! Then, I lost GPS signal in the middle of what felt like Nowheresville, Massachusetts. But I made it!

Frog Lotus Yoga is an amazing place. It is an old wood mill turned yoga/art studio. The place is MASSIVE! The furnishings are a perfect balance of eclectic and Ikea. The students are equally mixed. The age range is 20-60. They have traveled far and wide too. There is a student who was teaching in Kuwait, left there and spent the past month working on a sustainable yoga farm in Costa Rica. There is a student from the Netherlands, one from Milan Italy...and one who drove from Seattle. Right now I'm enjoying a cup a coffee with a student who has been practicing yoga as long as I've been alive.

I think this is going to be a good experience....now to work on calming the mind.