I slacked. Maintaining a blog turned out to be a lot more work that I originally thought. Also, yoga teacher training turned out to be a lot more life-consuming than I originally thought. So this is one of the last blogs that I drafted during the first training. Another day, another blog, another training.... :)
Stream of Consciousness :: What makes a great teacher?
good listener. strong desire to share information in a way that makes sense to the individual student. will try different methods to convey the message until the light bulb goes off. tries to find parallels between subject matter and everyday life. patience. observant. gracious. realizes that each person's potential varies. realizes the students' merits.
love/compassion. confidence. acceptance. inspiring. enthusiastic. humor. flexibility. positive. modifications. clear language. creativity. modesty. always a student. remember where you come from. "remember the days of humble beginnings."
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Yoga Teacher Training Class #2
Cherry Creek is the epicenter of traffic! One Farmer's Market could mean you get to your destination 15 minutes later by car, and that destination could possibly be two blocks away. Kiara and her prefect timing called me at 1:10pm when I was in a line of traffic trying to make a left on Alameda to backtrack to Cherry Creek South Drive, road otherwise known as the one I live on. She was just leaving Apple in Cherry Creek Mall because she got off her shift early enough to make it to the second day of training. I told her I was stuck in traffic and my car was almost out of gas. Me made a quick plan to mean on the other side of Cherry Creek. Like Superman, using my condo as the phone booth, I switched into yoga clothing, flew across the Creek and Kiara swept me up in her Subie.
It's funny. Being from New York originally, I always forget that Colorado's time clock runs on a different scale. No matter how many years I live in this state, I still have that perma-state of rush as my life metronome. Although Kiara and I were late, the class hadn't really organized yet.
It's funny. Being from New York originally, I always forget that Colorado's time clock runs on a different scale. No matter how many years I live in this state, I still have that perma-state of rush as my life metronome. Although Kiara and I were late, the class hadn't really organized yet.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
CorePower Power Teacher Training
The universe spoke and I responded.
One weekend while I was snowboarding, I missed her. It had been over a year since we spoke, and as I waited for the slower people in my group to reconvene at the ski lift, I missed her. We used to snowboard together. We used to mountain bike together. We were even beer fairies together! Where did Kiara go?
At the end of the day, I checked my phone and I had a message. Believe it or not, the message was from HER. Kiara had called to catch up and ask if I wanted to go snowboarding before the season was over. Things started to fall into place. We reconnected. She mentioned that she had applied for yoga teacher training at Corepower and encouraged me to consider it. (This wouldn't be the first time that she inspired me to try something different!)
The thought of yoga teacher training had crossed my mind before. At one time, I had plans to move to California and start an interdisciplinary studio/practice that included yoga with my best friend from college. Friends and family had suggested it. But I didn't really consider the possibility until Kiara brought it up.
There are about 40 students in this CPY training class. It was like the first day of school.
Stream of consciousness about "what is yoga?":
harnessing energy. maintaining focus. being present. listening to yourself. listening to the others. listening to the instructor. listening to your body. listening to your heart! being purposeful. being thankful. showing gratitude in a physical format. flowing with breath.
Everyone in class had a different stream of consciousness. Some streams sounded like dictionary or encyclopedia definitions, some were reminiscent of a math proofs, and one woman wrote a poem (that was publish-worthy!) in a five-minute span of time.
We went over the origins of the word yoga. Wikipedia's page for yoga is similar to what we discussed. The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means "to yoke", "to control" and "to unite". The word yoga has different meanings for everyone.
Finally, as students we were advised to "always speak highly" and to practice saucha (cleanliness).
One weekend while I was snowboarding, I missed her. It had been over a year since we spoke, and as I waited for the slower people in my group to reconvene at the ski lift, I missed her. We used to snowboard together. We used to mountain bike together. We were even beer fairies together! Where did Kiara go?
At the end of the day, I checked my phone and I had a message. Believe it or not, the message was from HER. Kiara had called to catch up and ask if I wanted to go snowboarding before the season was over. Things started to fall into place. We reconnected. She mentioned that she had applied for yoga teacher training at Corepower and encouraged me to consider it. (This wouldn't be the first time that she inspired me to try something different!)
The thought of yoga teacher training had crossed my mind before. At one time, I had plans to move to California and start an interdisciplinary studio/practice that included yoga with my best friend from college. Friends and family had suggested it. But I didn't really consider the possibility until Kiara brought it up.
There are about 40 students in this CPY training class. It was like the first day of school.
Stream of consciousness about "what is yoga?":
harnessing energy. maintaining focus. being present. listening to yourself. listening to the others. listening to the instructor. listening to your body. listening to your heart! being purposeful. being thankful. showing gratitude in a physical format. flowing with breath.
Everyone in class had a different stream of consciousness. Some streams sounded like dictionary or encyclopedia definitions, some were reminiscent of a math proofs, and one woman wrote a poem (that was publish-worthy!) in a five-minute span of time.
We went over the origins of the word yoga. Wikipedia's page for yoga is similar to what we discussed. The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means "to yoke", "to control" and "to unite". The word yoga has different meanings for everyone.
Finally, as students we were advised to "always speak highly" and to practice saucha (cleanliness).
All in all, Day 1 was exciting. It felt good to embark on something new, something that felt like school but wasn't a formal academic school, which I have seen enough of for this decade of my life, at least. It was good to meet the instructors in person, rather than just on the phone, via email or on their websites. Lisa lead the class. Marley (named after Bob Marley) lead the C1 flow that opened the training. The other instructors were present: Heather, Marisa, Laura and Patty. I had no idea the first night went from 6:30 to 10pm. I honestly lost track of time while I was in there. By the time Kiara and I left CPY, we were starving for dinner, but realized that most food establishments were probably closed, so we decided to plan better next time we met up.
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