Our third class developed into a very interesting discussion about yoga and religion.  We had read the introduction to BKS Iyengar's Light On Yoga and many of the class members were surprised and made uncomfortable by his constant references to "The LORD" and why someone who is a yogi would in fact be a yogi.  None of us in the class, while some may well be believers, are doing this to teach yoga as a form of religious practice.

I am a staunch secular humanist but I still practice yoga and want to teach yoga.  Not only does yoga make you healthier physically (muscles and lungs) but the natural connection between body and brain can also help you mentally and emotionally.  Yoga also has some very powerful moral ideals (the yamas and niyamas) that require no mystical authority to be a profound part of life.  They are the basic human ideals that so many cultures have formed throughout the world (and usually co-opted by the local religious authorities over time),which also shows that these moral ideals are HUMAN ideals and not from some form of mythological intelligence.

Iyengar himself writes how in the past much things in life were colored by religion (I am paraphrasing) but he himself is a product of his own times.  We, as intelligent beings, do not need to devote ourselves as yogis or yoga teachers for the glory of myths but to help our fellow humans reach their balance of physical health, mental accuity and emotional joy.  When we reach that point of happiness in ourselves, we can find ourselves achieving a kind of intense empathy for other humans and their own need for balance.

I'm probably not saying this very clearly and I may upset some folks, but I think that when we take religion out of life, life becomes much more worthwhile for the living of it.

Namaste

The most recent teaching class was a bit subdued this time around.  Everyone was saddened by the death of one of the school's teachers from a long battle with cancer: we'd all been expecting the announcement for the past couple of weeks, but it's always a downer even when you're expecting it.  On a less sad note, we also had a test on anatomy to take at the beginning of class!

Tests have never fazed me, so I think I did all right.  I know I mixed up the thoracic and cervical spine locations, but the rest I did find on.  For the rest of class, we discussed a little bit the Universal Principals of Alignment of Anusura style yoga, and then went into the class itself.  I didn't get a chance to lead any of the poses, which was all right as we didn't do many new poses at all.  The only new one was Janu Sirsasana (the head beyond the knee pose) and making an adjustment to help people who tend to drop one side of the back down while doing this forward bend.  The adjustment was personally very interesting, as I hadn't realized I was doing just that.  This awareness has already helped my personal practice of the pose.

The really interesting thing that came out of this is that it's going to be almost impossible for me to do this kind of adjustment on a female student.  Where you have to place your hands, well, let's just say it could prove extremely uncomfortable for some women.  This raised a question in my mind, as I know that some guys are extremely uncomfortable about being touched in ANY way by another man.  I also wonder about how comfortable it is for a woman being touched in certain areas by another women: male or female, the potential for harrassing behavior is really the same.

My first yoga teacher was a man and it personally never bother me when he made adjustments.  Admittedly, I was well into my 30's when I took my first formal class, so I had matured somewhat.  Had I been in my 20's, I would have been very uncomfortable.  As a male student, I've had to be very aware of where I look while working with female teachers.  In the summer time, we all dress fairly skimpily while practicing, so I'm hyper aware of how easy it would be to make the teacher uncomfortable.

The main point is, of course, that as a teacher, I'm going to have to be very aware of how I touch and whom I touch.  It's going to require some careful placement of hands and will undoubtedly take some time to build up the trust with the students.

All the nerves departed the first time I actively assisted in a class and worked with "real" students at the yoga school instead of my class mates.  What an amazing experience!  To actually help someone find that point of balance and ease in the asana and to feel them settle in - it's so gratifying!  I wish I'd started doing this a long time ago!

I was worried how the various students would respond to me working with them as opposed to the amazingly experienced owner of the school (who is also leading the teacher training) - I know I personally have been wary when previous trainees have been at classes I've attended in the past.  However, the response has been tremendously positive!  Some of the more experienced students have told me that I have a nice positive presence and touch, while some of the newer to yoga students have appreciated my encouragement with their work in class and with the suggestions about their home practices.

On the whole, I find myself feeling so very good about becoming a yoga teacher.  I'm really, really, really looking forward to starting actively teaching classes on my own.

Namaste (joyfully!)

I  have been accepted to take the teacher training at my local school.  The classes will be beginning in just a couple of weeks.  I am very excited to take this next step in my yoga journey.  However, I am also somewhat nervous as well.  Less about the yogic knowledge but more about working with potential students in the future AND (naturally) about making this work as a career.  My wife pointed out to me the other day that this is a form of self employment with little overhead: I won't need a lot of office equipment or suits! 

Wish me luck!