Tips for Teachers

About 25 years ago I attended a workshop with a well-known yoga teacher. We were working up to Urdva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow), stretching our quads and preparing our shoulders for at least 30 minutes before we started practicing the most rudimentary backbends. By the time we finished Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) I was feeling warmed up and ready. The teacher then showed us how to practice Urdva Dhanurasana with our feet on a chair and our hands on the floor. This is an especially helpful way for people with less bendy lumbars and tighter shoulders to feel the exhilaration...

I didn’t want to do it. I’ve always enjoyed Pigeon Pose, or at least the hip-opening variation that’s a preparation for Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-Legged King Pigeon). Many of my students like it too. For many years Pigeon Prep was a staple in my classes. When we’d practice vinyasa-style, it felt wonderful to swing forward from Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) into Pigeon—it was a smooth move that I miss. But the more I’ve begun to delve into hip health in the past few years, the more I realize that Pigeon Pose is likely problematic for many practitioners...

I started teaching in 1990. I didn’t know much about reading the energy of the room or listening to intuition. In my first position, I worked with some very challenging young people and cried most days. My principal told me that if I could teach there, I could teach anywhere, and he was right. As the years passed, the students didn’t get easier yet my ability to handle anything that came up got better and easier. Eventually I became a mentor teacher; I realized that it was imperative for teachers to connect with their intuition and trust what they know...

I remember the first time I was able to hold myself up in Chaturanga Dandasana. After spending a year struggling with lifting my body off the floor, it was truly thrilling. Later on, I can remember being amazed that I could make it through 108 jump-through sun salutations without crashing and burning. Now, 30-some years later, I still practice it, but I’m much more focused on quality than quantity. The thrill of Chaturanga does not come without possible pitfalls. Chronic wrist pain has emerged as a common yoga-related injury. Chaturanga requires that our wrists support a significant percentage our body...

Friends who knew me in grade school and high school would probably never have pegged me as a person who’d end up teaching yoga. I was painfully shy. If students had been graded on participation back in my high school days, my GPA surely would have suffered. Knowing I had to give a talk in speech class kept me awake at night. I trembled uncontrollably while performing solo on piano and oboe—not a pleasant situation, especially on a wind instrument. And yet, when I first became enamored with yoga and was made aware of a teacher training course back in...

In the past two weeks the pile of unopened mail in my kitchen has grown taller and more unruly. Every so often I try to neaten its edges but I have done nothing to reduce its size. It’s not that I don’t want to; it just hasn’t risen high enough on my list to do anything about it. I’ve pulled out all the bills, but the extracurricular literature—magazines I hope to read sooner or later—remains neglected. The current mountain is an accumulated backlog resulting from my taking a weekend off to attend a music festival in San Francisco. The lofty...

This morning a student asked me what should have been a simple question: What should I be feeling in this position? A minute or so later, I’d given her the best non-answer I could. Why a non-answer? First, I’m not inside her body. I can’t know what she’s feeling. Second, there are many, many variations on what she could be feeling depending upon where the resistance is in her body. Finally, we are all put together differently, and we’ve all cultivated different habits in our bodies over the decades. No one’s asana practice will ever be exactly like another’s. For...

How Teaching Yoga Uncovers Your True Self As a lifelong teacher, whether it be science, health or yoga, I love and appreciate the trust that people give me in my teaching. I take that very seriously. Patanjali tells us in the very first Yoga Sutra-1.1 अथ योगनुससनुं atha yoganusasanum that when we begin the study of yoga, both teacher and student commit to the practice, the teachings and to each other. More than an intention, it is a sacred vow that both are to honor. Through this commitment I get to experience the change my students have over time and...

What is a Yoga Mentor? A few weeks ago I got to revisit the retreat center that became my spiritual home in 1986. I don’t remember how many retreats I’ve attended there, but I do remember there were some 10-day, a 21-day and four 30-day silent retreats. In addition I’ve sat a five-day and at least three seven-day retreats. I’ve also spent up to a dozen weekends there in retreat. You’ve probably never heard of the place. It’s called The Last Resort, and is nestled in the mountains east of Cedar City, Utah. If you haven’t heard of it, it...

Prasarita Padottanasana with a Big Blue Block Practice Prasarita Padottanasana with a Yoga Block Prasarita Padottanasana is one of yoga’s most balancing standing poses. Its symmetrical shape keeps your pelvis, sacroiliac joint and spine neutral and quiet, while the active rooting of your feet and legs allows your upper body to be soft and receptive. I like to settle into Prasarita in between standing poses to allow my body to ground and integrate. Practicing Prasarita Padottanasana confers many benefits. It strengthens and stretches the inner legs, hamstrings and spine; tones the abdominal organs; and calms the brain. It’s said...