I don't normally read e-books. I like the feeling of curling up in bed with an actual book but this one I love. As the name implies, the Yoga Resource Practice Manual, is a go to reference book for yoga teachers and students alike. It features 360 stunning yoga poses with detailed instructions, alignment, safety and anatomy cues for each pose. It also has a video library as well.
Who is this book good for?
Yoga Teachers
- library of peak pose ides for your classes
-succinct language that can be used for cueing students in and out of poses as well as cues for alignment and anatomy
-Provides a library of pose names in Sanskrit and English
-Safety Instructions
-Preparatory poses for difficult asanas
Yoga Practitioners
-A great reference book to help you get deeper into yoga poses
-Provides tips that may help you get over a plateau in difficult yoga poses
-Gives you some great poses to help jazz up your practice
-You will learn more about the poses you already do
-Keeps you safe
This e-book is available for I-pad and computers and is well worth the $24.99. You can also purchase individual sections for $2.99. To get a taste of the book, download the free chapter on twists. Click on the link below to get started.
As a yoga teacher, I have seen the looks of disappointment, contempt and even outrage that cross many people's faces when they realize their favorite teacher is not there. For many people, these emotions run so deep that they miss out on the awesome benefits that having a sub can provide for them.
Benefits of a Sub
Forces you to be present-when you get used to a teacher, you start to practice on auto pilot. It is the same thing that happens when you pull up in your drive way and you don't even remember driving home. You have done it so many times that you check out. It is the same for your yoga class. All yoga teachers, even those who teach classes where the pose order changes, have a signature style and sequencing blueprint that they stick to.
If you really think about it, you could easily list the basic elements and order of your favorite yoga classes. This familiarity that we like also puts us into auto pilot and can sometimes take us out of presence. When you don't pay attention to your body, breath, emotions, and thoughts while practicing, your opportunity for injury goes up and your opportunity for growth goes down. You miss danger signals from your body and learning opportunities from the universe.
You would think that I wouldn't say this because I practice Ashtanga. However, I see the same thing happen to Ashtanga students who are practicing a sequence that has gotten a bit too easy for them. They no longer pay attention and than it is time to add another pose or make their current poses a little more challenging. Check out this post from a fellow yoga teacher, Peanut Butter Runner, that talks about not being present during practice.
Forces your body to move differently- Our bodies plateau when we do the same old movements the same why each time. A sub, especially if they were trained differently then your current teacher, will approach poses in a way that your body is not used to and will awaken muscles you didn't know you had.
Exposes You to Different Poses
Unique insights-There have been many poses that I struggled with that became assessable to me because a teacher explained it, assisted me, or demonstrated it in a different way.
Gives You options-Discovering another awesome teacher to learn from gives you more options for classes to attend
Opportunity to Put Yoga in Action- this is an opportunity for you to practice all that lofty stuff your teacher talks about like compassion, love, contentment, acceptance, letting go, & being with your emotions .
If you think of any more benefits, leave a comment
Fortunately, most dehydrated Hot Yoga students only experience the first column.
Prevention
Focus on hydration before you come to class. Drink at least 24-32 oz of water before you even get there
Electrolytes really make a difference. You can buy them at any health food store, organic market or at many yoga studios. My favorite is Ultima. Carry them with you and put them in the water you drink prior to, during and after practice.
Sip water during practice.
Many yogi's drink coffee prior to practice but do know that caffeine can dehydrate the cells. If you drink coffee, you need even more water.
If you start to get overheated, don't keep pushing. Take rest, modify the practice, move your mat, ask for fans...whatever you have to do to get cooler
Eat foods with higher water content like fruits and vegetables. The water keeps you hydrated and you feel lighter when you practice.
If you feel moderately dehydrated when you leave
Drink 24-36 oz of electrolytes and water
Rest
Get into a cool area
Dehydration headaches are often accompanied by nausea. If you feel a headache coming on, take your over the counter pain med of choice before it gets bad
Add more water to your diet. You obviously didn't get in enough before coming.
I am not a doctor. This is just what works for me. Take this advice at your own risk.
If you love hot yoga, what are your favorite dehydration tools? (if you don't love hot yoga, please don't respond with your treatise against the practice)
I took a wonderful class yesterday with Grace at Charlotte Yoga. She always speaks on the other 7 limbs of yoga, not just asana, and I really appreciate her for that. She spoke about how our injuries show us what aspects of yoga we are actually fighting against. I believe she got the info from Seane Corn. I am paraphrasing here through my own filter so if Grace or Seane reads this, correct me in the comments below!
When I thought about the injuries that I have had, the descriptions below really hit the nail on the head. All of them occurred when I was going through things in my life that match up with the energetics of that area. If you are suffering from these injuries, take a moment to look at your own life and see if you recognize yourself below.
Injuries to the Neck and Shoulders-
Yoga shows us a path to live a happy and meaningful life. When we fight this and refuse to see the path and take the steps towards changing our lives, we find ourselves with injuries in the neck and shoulders.
Injuries to Lower Back-
To learn yoga, we seek out a teacher, studio, spiritual text or community of people who can point us in the right direction, help us to understand the teachings and help us to be safe in the process. We start to slowly surround ourselves with like minded people and build a community that supports us on our path. When we feel that we are not being supported, we get injuries in our lower back.
Injuries to the Knees-
Yoga teaches us to be present and aware. It gives us the tools to overcome the ego and step out of the world of illusion. We stop pushing against what is and learn to move with the flow. As we continue to practice, we begin the process of seeing the world as it really is instead of as a reflection of our dirty cluttered mind. If we fight this, we end up with injuries to the knees.
After every yoga practice, comes a bitch fest. The internal litinay of all the stuff we wanted to do but couldn't.
"I couldn't get my leg in lotus". "My back bends sucked". I couldn't bind in Marichiyasana." "I wish I didn't have to take child's so much."
As I started to go into my personal one yesterday,
" My back is weak, I didn't bind in Pasasana, my right knee is still jacked, I didn't lift up from Laghuvajrasana, I didn't finish the sequence......"
I stopped & thought, "Out of all the poses included in a sequence, I can't do 5 or 6 poses but I can do at least 60 or so others. That is absolutely fricking amazing!" Those types of odds in any other situation would be considered a slam dunk, however, most yoga practitioners forget the rest and fixate on what they couldn't do. Below are some ways to change that.
Keep a Yoga Gratitude Journal.
When you find yourself making a list of what you can't do, stop yourself and switch it. Start making a list of what you did do and of the improvements you experienced in your practice. This list will ALWAYS be longer then the "can't/didn't do" list. If this is hard for you, start small. "I made it to my mat. I practiced child's pose. I was able to bring my toes together in Child's Pose. I could breathe in Child' Pose. I planted my feat in Tadasana. My Tadasana was strong...etc".
See Your Practice as a Miracle In Motion
Albert Einstein said, There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Your practice is a miracle in motion. There is someone who woke up this morning and couldn't walk, who wishes they could stand on two feet in Tadasana. Bobbie Jo Allen, an Ashtanga practioner who suffered from a degenerative condition & walked with a cane, recently wrote an amazing article on how even one Sun Salute was a life changer for her and one of her students who is recuperating from a car crash. Check it out here
Practice Non-Attachment
I saved this for last because it is a lofty goal but it is a staple of yoga philosophy. Through non attachment, we learn how to experience each pose for what it is today without comparison to past poses or without thinking or dwelling on future poses we are building up too.
Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. -Oprah
Practicing non-attachment and being present does not mean we do not have any goals or that we ignore the past. It means that we acknowledge that we are doing our best for this moment & we allow that to be enough.
I had a very synchonistic weekend. My teachers and students were talking about the same things, overcoming adversities in yoga. More specifically, the Big Bad Poses of Ashtanga yoga and Handstand.
When it comes to trying poses, most people fall into these categories:
1. Don't Even Try-When the teacher calls poses like Crow, Handstand, Kurmasana, they sit on the floor and watch everyone else. They don't try to modify. They don't try to prep for it. They just sit down and look.
2. Try The Pose But Mentally Gave Up Before Their Body Starts Moving
3. Work on the Pose But Are Bound by Old Fears & Erroneous Assumptions- this is probably about the majority of the people who chose to work on the pose. Instead of listening to the teachers instruction, they launch into what they think they are supposed to do to reach the pose. For instance, instead of controlling handstand & using the steps given by the instructor, they flail themselves into it.
4. Actually Listen To the Teacher & Follow Their Instruction-This group is the smallest
When it comes to trying over and over and failing....over and over, most people fall into these categories:
1. Convince Themselves That This Pose Is Not For Their Body Type-this is the #1 cop out for Ashtanga Yoga bar none and is inaccurate 99% of the time.
2. Quit Yoga-This is the majority of the population
3. Avoidance- They avoid those poses all together or switch to a yoga that does not use those poses.
4. Develop Animosity, Fear, Hatred Towards Those Poses But Keep Practicing.
5. Embrace the Challenge & Keep Trying
How To Break Through Your "Bad Poses"
Become a Good Cheater: One of my favorite yoga teachers, Tanner Bazemore at Y2 Yoga where I also work on the weekends, gave some awesome advice this weekend. Tanner said that the difference between the people in school who were in the accelerated learning classes and those in the regular classes was that they were better cheaters. Instead of taking a straight path to knowledge they used resources around them that gave them the answers. They talked to people who understood the subject. They looked up the answers on Google, You Tube and other resources. They used unconventional methods to find what they were looking for.
Video Below: Tanner doing Handstand in a Sun Salute
He also talked about studying with people who have mastered and understand the poses. Tanner wanted to learn handstand and had been given mediocre information from yoga teachers. He worked on it for years without making much progress. Then he did a workshop with Ido Portal, who is not a yoga teacher but an expert on body weight training and body mechanics, and learned how to do the pose after a few sessions.
Video Below of Ido Portal
Be Inquisitive: Seek to learn everything you can about that pose.
Approach It From A Different Perspective- My favorite Ashtanga teacher, Kino MacGregor is a master at this. She often gives people little exercises to do to get them closer to the poses. The exercises are more accessible and this helps people to feel like they are making progress. The exercises help people to learn the skills necessary for the full pose. The only thing left to do is to integrate it into their practice.
For instance, I cannot get into a full lotus from an inversion without using my hands. The first pose in Ashtanga where this comes up is Forearm Balance. My Forearm balance is shaky all by itself, even much adding a lotus to it. Kino took a pose that I already felt comfortable in , headstand, and instructed me to work on it from there. Then I combine that knowledge with my less steady pose Forearm Balance.
Because I am not concentrating on holding myself up in headstand, I can take my awareness to the mechanics of the legs instead. This trains my body and creates new neural pathways in my mind so that when I go upside down, my body immediately knows what to do with the legs.
If you have a basic understanding of anatomy & yoga alignment principles, the easiest way to do this is to break the pose down to its smallest parts. Think about the muscles and skills that need to be developed in order to do the pose. Then come up with exercises that develop them.
Another way is to attend workshops. Pay attention to the breakdown sessions & add those exercises to your daily yoga practice.
Video Below: Kino Showing Creative Ways To Access Tittibhasana
Don't Avoid- In order to do handstand you have to work on handstand. There is no magic fairy dust. If you never practice a complex pose, you will never be able to do it. Period.
Be Playful & Enjoy the Journey-It is just yoga. When you are able to do the pose, angels won't sing and a million dollar check won't arrive in your mailbox. You might get the next Ashtanga pose but that one will be hard too. In order to keep yourself off the emotional roller coaster, you have to learn how to enjoy the journey. Have fun with it. Practice non attachment. Work on the pose a few times then let it go.
Know That Poses Point To Bigger Lessons-Unlike gymnastics, the purpose of yoga is not to do pretty things with your body & win medals for it. The purpose is liberation over the ego. The poses help cultivate the ability to be unmessable with. A yogi can be calm in any situation, has control over their emotions, recognizes that they are not their thoughts or body & that they are one with everything in the Universe.
Instead of looking at the pose as a physical hurdle, become aware of the mental and spiritual lessons. Difficult poses teach you perseverance, how to be happy in tough situations, how to process your emotions, and how to adapt.
Yoga teacher trainings do a lot of good. Mine was amazing. However there are people out there just looking to make a buck or to keep their yoga studio from going under. Your well being & success was the last thing on their mind when they put it together. They cut corners and will provide you with a sub par education and leave you $2500 in debt.
An ugly truth about teacher trainings is that, the The Yoga Alliance is unorganized and does not check the documentation being submited. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can have a yoga teacher training. The only way you can be insured a good program is to ask the right questions. The fact that they are registered with the Yoga Alliance means NOTHING expect they are good at sending in documents & following directions.
Here are some things to consider when choosing your program.
1. They can only teach you to be as good as them. Take a look at their practice, their business, their classes, their studio,class attendance, their life and see if that is what you want for yourself. A student can definitely grow beyond their teacher's knowledge but these are the people who are going to give you your starting place and you need a good one.
You want a teacher trainer who has went through the fire and came out on top. If they are still going through the fire themselves, they cannot train you on how to get through it because they themselves do not know how. You are not looking for perfection, however, they cannot teach you anything about success if they are not successful themselves. It is like me trying to teach you how to succeffully raise a teenager, when my daughter is only eleven. It is all theory at this point. You need the facts on success not the theory.
Questions to ask:
How many days a week do you practice? They cannot teach you anything about dedication if they themselves are not dedicated.
How long have you practiced yoga? This is also a dedication question.
How long have you been a teacher? Teaching yoga is different from practicing yoga. There are people with beautiful practices that cannot teach. There are people who cannot touch their toes but they are awesome teachers. You want to know how long have they had to hone their craft.
What style do you practice? The teacher training is going to be heavily influenced by this style. If someone gives you two styles, say Ashtanga and Power, & it is a Power Vinyasa training, that training is going to be Vinyasa with a heavy does of Ashtanga.
Who are your teachers/who are you influenced by? Again, this means that the training is going to be heavily influenced by these teacher's styles.
Things to see with your own eyes:
Their practice. You are not looking for perfection but it gives you an idea of what they can teach you and what you can teach your students. If they are an older teacher, they will have a legacy of a strong practice which would be easy to discover by talking to the teacher's students.
Them teach a class or several-They are going to train you to teach like them. If you don't like their teaching style, choose someone else. If you like their style but it is not one you are interested in teaching, then choose another training.
How they run their business-They are teaching you about success. If their staff is disgruntled, they have a high turnover, the studio is close to closing their doors every 6 months, policies are inconsistent, or the studio just feels icky when you walk in, don't study with them. If they don't have a studio of their own, ask them why. If their answer hints at the fact that they are running from something, was unsuccessful at having a career in studios, their yoga is very obscure and unmarketable than seriously think about how they can help you be successful. They probably can't. Many people chose not to work in studios because they want to be their own boss, they love traveling, or they don't want studio overhead. Those are good answers.
Class attendance- I understand there are a lot of obscure yoga teachers out there with a hand full of students who will change your life. If you practice with that person, you should train with them because you obviously click with them. If you are choosing a teacher training & you are not currently working with a teacher who gives them, you have to look for obvious outward signs of success. A full class does not mean that the person is an awesome teacher, this only tells you that the person understands how to draw students in and keep them interested. That is a valuable skill to learn.
2. Make sure the style of yoga they teach is what you want to teach. You will be behind the 8 ball if you study Bikram and then work at a Vinyasa studio.
3. Talk to people who have trained in the program. Don't get a recommendation from them They are going to give you their friends name or the teacher's pet. If you don't know of anyone, go to the Yoga Alliance website, do a search for your city or the city the teacher training is in and then contact the teachers and ask them about their teacher training. When you talk to them, you want to ask:
Did you feel prepared to teach a yoga class the day you were done? You will be amazed at how many teacher trainings don't actually train you how to teach. One of the newest rackets is making people take an additional workshop to teach them about sequencing or having a second stage of the training to actually get permission to use the name of the yoga style. If you don't ask the right questions, you won't know this until the end because they purposely wait until then to tell you. You should be able to teach a full all levels yoga class the next day.
Did they teach you about the business side of yoga enough to get started the day you were done? People who don't do this, are avoiding something. Either they had bad experiences in the yoga industry or they have no clue how to run a successful yoga business. Either way, you shouldn't take trainings with them because they cannot teach you how to be successful.
Were the leaders trustworthy?
Did it do what it said it would? If the training promises to train you on the Gita, Sutras and the Vedas, then it should do that.
Were they organized? If they teacher training program was thrown together at the last minute, it will often be totally unorganized. The trainer will change gears often. Steer clear of this training.
If the training included adjusting, did you feel prepared to adjust the day you were done? If adjusting is important to you, you should have the tools to do it.
Was it worth what they charged?
4. Make sure the teacher training actually has the authority to certify you in that style. Many forms of yoga like Bikram, Baptiste, Iyengar, Ashtanga,& Para to name a few, have a very systematized way of training and they only give a few schools/people permission to certify teachers. Some schools, like Asthanga, do not give anyone permission to certify at all. You have to go straight to the source.
This is important because, for example, if you do a Baptiste training that has not been recognized by the Baptiste organization as a training school, you can not teach in a real Baptiste Power Yoga Studio & you also cannot use the Baptiste name. If Baptiste is where your heart is and you know this is what you want to do, you wasted $2500 because you will have to train again with the Baptiste organization and pay another $2500. The best way to check this is to go to the official website or give the organization a call.
5. Is it Marketable- You don't want to spend $2500 for yoga that you cannot use. For example, the most popular style of yoga in my town of Charlotte is Vinyasa. If I take a training in Integral Yoga, for example, I will not be very marketable here. If I wanted to blaze a path for Integral yoga and was willing to start small with very few students and potentially open up my own yoga studio, that training would be fine. If I wanted to walk into a Charlotte studio and have a job by next week, that would not be the training to take.
6. You cannot learn how to teach yoga on the internet-If you have questions about this, send me an e-mail. Just trust me. You can't. Run from anyone who says that you can. Run really really fast.
