4 Lessons Learned in my first 4 months teaching yoga

Reflecting recently about my first 4 months as a “real” yoga teacher, I discovered that I have some valuable advice to pass on to other new teachers. 

These top 4 tips might seem pretty basic, but as we all know: simple is usually best.

1.     Keep up your sadhana –

Hopefully you established a regularly scheduled daily practice either before or during your teacher training program.  Don’t let this beneficial habit slip by the wayside.  It’s of utmost importance that we “walk the talk” so our students trust us, but allow your personal practice to organically fit in to your schedule if you’re busy.  Also, if your sadhana is too long or complicated for your current time allotment, maybe you need to simplify something.

Personal practice also gives us an opportunity to experiment with ideas for students before their classes & keeps us in a beginner’s frame of mind.

2.     Meditate –

Really a part of #1, but meditation truly deserves our attention because it helps in observable ways.  We all know how powerful this yoga tool can be.  Once again, make sure to carve out the time & observe without judgment.

3.     Listen more, talk less –

Honestly, I’m still working on this one.  I danced semi-professionally & I was a ham and a stage hog!  After one of my first classes teaching, a dear friend & student made the comment that I needed to leave more silence during my teaching.  I took this to heart & I think about it every class.  Once you’ve used the right words to cue the students into the āsana & guided them to their own breath awareness, let them go inside on their own mindful yoga journey.  Plus, being quiet helps you really listen to people.

4.     Trust yourself –

Let go of the notion of perfection & trust that you’ve prepared yourself to teach to the best of your ability.  Then remember, all teachers make mistakes.  The trick is being able to honestly laugh it off.  This is pretty easy for me (again because of my dance improvisation & performance background), but I know it can be tough for many. Yoga students are like dogs & horses; they can smell fear. When you laugh off your own mistakes & accept that you’re not perfect, you might even create an opportunity to address & bring more awareness of this universal fear to your students.

As I travel on my yoga teaching journey, I know these simple yet valuable ideas & tools will help me continue to experience smooth sailing in the classroom.

Aloha & Namaste, Pamela 

http://www.yogaawareness.com/#PamelaCrane

Inspiration & Awareness

I'm always amazed by Maui's inspirational sunsets

Family and friends who know me well will not be surprised by my admission of laziness.  “Conserving energy” has always been one of my highest priorities.  Nowadays, however, I don’t think of myself as lazy.  Instead, I try to cultivate awareness of when it's time to rest, and recognize and honor this need fully and with mindfulness. 

Part of my yoga teacher training was a daily practice of recording time spent on my work, leisure, activities and exercise.  Because I was also becoming hyper-aware of my body, breath and mind during this period, I found that I could actually work harder than anyone (myself included) predicted. But it was my blooming self-knowledge of when to rest that really made the effort possible.  I trained myself to calmly reach for my edge on every breath and if I heard my breathing change from long and smooth I learned to safely pull back or even stop what I was doing.  Balancing effort and ease is at the heart of what we studied in Patanjali's Yoga Sūtras during my first training.  

My next step has been simply applying this mindful awareness to every conscious moment of my life.  I say simply, because it's our simplest chores that often put our bodies at risk.  Gardening is a favorite activity and also one in which I find myself easily entering into a meditative state.  By really focusing on my breath awareness (instead of slipping into lala land) I notice when I'm not physically supporting my breath with correct body alignment.  So I catch myself before I even have a chance to harm my body.  I use this practice throughout the day: knitting, washing the dishes, sitting at my computer, playing with the dogs, driving...the list is as varied as my day.  And finally, I've learned that when I continually slip from my safe, focused state that it's time to take a break.  

After work, I relax and recharge.  I’m really a natural at this, but I’ve gotten even better by varying my styles of relaxation.  This is just one way the inspirational power of Maui and my yoga practice have changed me.  I am incredibly lucky to live in an island jungle oasis with kind and loving o’hana.  I’m also blessed to have the opportunity to share Patanjali’s yoga teachings.  If you’re on Maui, please join me for group class in Ha’iku and safely find your own edge of balancing effort and ease.  I promise you’ll also have an opportunity to explore your most relaxing śavāsana ever. ☺

http://www.yogaawareness.com/#PamelaCrane

My middle childhood ended this past year.  I wish I could name a specific day, but it just hasn't felt that way.  Sure I've felt shifts, big time.  But it's been the synergy of mindbody awareness & amazing bodywork that keep me on an even keel, and allow me to accept the changes that are going on.

Recently, a massage therapist worked harder on me, but because I kept breathing through the work, I walked out of there smiling.  My pain is all a mirage anyway.  I would really like to just let it go.  So, in treatments, every breath is focused on that.  My incredible masseur even had to retreat a couple times because of the crazy energy I have to release.  Bless him, and all the awesome caregivers that help me feel aware & present, allowing me to heal my body, mind & soul.

What interests me about this particular challenge of living, is how some people can get really good at letting go. For instance, when I moved onto the sailboat, I gave away almost everything.  Lots of stuff just wouldn't fit aboard.  So I methodically went through my belongings, culling like a rancher intent on only having the best stock.  What kitchen tools serve at least 2 purposes?  What clothes really work on a boat?  What toys truly bring me joy?  It was easy and fun.  My craziest life adventure to that date was about to start and I couldn't wait to rid myself of unnecessary baggage.  It was all just stuff that I was happy to shed.

Shedding painful memories is a very different story.  I know it doesn't serve me to remember past suffering.  I know it only leads to more suffering.  But my brain allows my ego to drive with cruise control stuck on me.  Silly triggers tip me into paranoia, and my old habits of assuming I'm the star of every melodrama my overactive imagination can conceive just make me act out unnecessarily.  So, every moment I will myself to think positively and live in the now.  Urging aside my overgrown ego with loving-kindness I focus on breathing calmly and try to “let go of the fluctuations of my mind” as one of my teachers says.   Sometimes I find a serene state and I am incredibly thankful.  

I feel this way when I practice yoga with awareness.  Closing my eyes and feeling my breath carry me and guide me in the postures, my small mind turns mute.  All I can hear is my smooth, deep breaths fine-tuning my awareness, and the silence of the pauses between the inhale and exhale where I sense peace.  My challenge is carrying this peaceful awareness off the mat, and into everyday life.  I can accomplish this one breath at a time.