Category: Yoga Classes
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My Yoga Prop Collection
“What type of mat would you recommend?” one of my students recently asked. She already has one, but it feels slippery. We all can relate. Sliding hands make Downward Dog agonizing. But I couldn’t give her a solid recommendation. I’m not up on yoga mats. I acquired my little stable…
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Why Silence Matters in Yoga Class
From January to March, I taught the “wall stand” in every class, every week. As my students stood, I navigated the room, giving group instructions and individualized corrections. I was constantly moving, constantly speaking. In contrast, when doing my daily wall stand, I was alone at home—often in pre-dawn darkness,…
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Constant Vigilance
For six years now, I’ve gone on daily walks with Stella, a Giant Schnauzer / Labrador Retriever. We’re out for an hour or two and it never fails: At some point, a phrase from Harry Potter springs to mind: Constant vigilance. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! I’m always glancing around, scanning our surroundings…
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Note-Taking During Yoga Class
One day, I noticed my student Nicole jotting handwritten notes during class. She hadn’t previously done so. I steered her back to the pose, without directly addressing her note-taking. Later, she revealed that she has trouble with attention. She thought that taking notes might enhance her learning and retention. Interestingly,…
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What Students Really Think about Demos
Part 3 of a three-part series I have my own take on demos. But what about others? I was especially curious about students’ preferences—namely, those who aren’t teachers. So, I surveyed 20 or 25 of my own students. They vary in age, gender, and experience. I included those who are…
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Teaching Style: Further Thoughts on Demos and Pace
Part 2 of a three-part series Some argue that the demo method turns off younger students because it’s slower paced. Occasionally I hear “directives” from Iyengar yoga associations that teaching should be more dynamic—more jumping around and tricky poses—to attract young people. On one hand, this idea makes sense. Twentysomethings…
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The Demo Method
Part 1 of a three-part series Ever taken an Iyengar yoga class? If yes, you’re probably watched a yoga “demo,” short for demonstration. Teacher performs pose, step-by-step, with verbal instructions. Students watch and then try the pose themselves. What’s your opinion of the demo method of teaching? Last year, I…
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The Social Side of Yoga Classes
This fall, one of my students, “Sophie,” noticed me silently marking my attendance sheet. “Would you take roll aloud?” she asked. “I want to learn people’s names.” After a momentary pause, I agreed. Later, I decided that standard roll call isn’t ideal for learning names: Unless students are sitting in…
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Back to Back Yoga Classes
Wendy attends three of my Zoom yoga classes weekly. Currently the classes are spaced apart, with a rest day in between. Next year, I’m rearranging my class schedule—and she’ll end up taking two classes on consecutive days: Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. “I might have to sleep in my yoga…
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When Will Yoga Classes Go Back to Normal?
In March, I assumed that “in person” classes would resume by early summer. In July, I was still leery about fall, but added one studio class at the Yoga Space to my Zoom schedule. Now I’m convinced that pre-Covid yoga classes won’t return for a long time. Sure, studios and…
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Ending yoga classes with “namaste”
When did I first hear someone say “namaste”? No surprise, it was uttered at the end of my first yoga class two decades ago. I had no interest in yoga until then. I had to be persuaded to try it. But I was immediately hooked. After class I asked the…
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Give me one reason
During a Vancouver workshop with John Schumacher last year, I was surprised to hear his instructions on exiting Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulderstand). “Lie down,” he said, “keep your shoulders on the blankets, head on the floor.” What? My typical shoulderstand exit was to slide my shoulders off my blanket stack.…
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Look closely, see deeply
In San Francisco last summer, Lois Steinberg analyzed Virabhadrasana II for a long time. Most students attending the five-day workshop were teachers or experienced students. But Warrior II was nevertheless a worthy challenge. Using an adept student as a demo model, she emphasized how the bent knee must rotate outward to…
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Yoga is not a photo-op
A few weeks ago, a friend forwarded me a photo of yoga students seated in Sukhasana, eyes closed. “Got this in an email. I see you!” he wrote. I immediately recognized the setting: September 2016. Firooza Razvi workshop. Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco (IYISF). I attended that workshop and,…
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A critical teacher
Why are your feet apart? You’re only halfway. Bend your knees more! Lift your chest! Lift! I received these corrections (and more) from Chris Saudek during her recent workshop in Victoria. I wasn’t surprised. I’d met this master Iyengar yoga teacher at three prior workshops, and I expected sharp feedback.…
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The Inner Game of Yoga
I don’t play golf, but I recently read W Timothy Gallwey‘s The Inner Game of Golf (1981). A few years ago, I read his classic The Inner Game of Tennis (1974), a favorite among top coaches including Steve Kerr and Pete Carroll. I don’t play tennis either, but I’m interested in Gallwey’s…
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No offense!
Once, I offended a yoga student by adjusting her leg with my foot. I was teaching Supta Padangusthasana 1: While adjusting her raised leg, I noticed her supine leg flopping outward. Since I was standing, I used my foot to inwardly rotate and ground her thigh, while I simultaneously reminded…
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Should a yoga teacher “make a statement”?
Say a yoga teacher walks into class wearing a Bernie Sanders T-shirt. She is making a statement. Is this appropriate for a yoga teacher? On one hand, making a political or any personal statement is not fundamentally wrong. Her quality as a teacher is not based on her political stance. On the other hand, the context is questionable. A yoga setting…
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Clothes, hair, and other material obsessions
In Vancouver, the yoga “uniform” is dictated by homegrown Lululemon Athletica. It’s the go-to source for yoga apparel, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, and yoga method. At The Yoga Space, an Iyengar studio where I study and teach, I recently found myself in a sea of Swiftly Tech tops and Wunder Unders (including mine). It’s…
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Back to yoga teaching and blogging
In my everyday life in Vancouver, yoga plays a major role in my identity. People know me as yoga classmate, colleague, teacher, and blogger. People whom I’ve never met know me as YogaSpy; my blog is our connection. In contrast, my closest family members rarely mention my blog! They’re positive about it, but it’s…
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Going “undercover” as a yoga student
Visiting San Francisco last summer, I took a few classes at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco, within walking distance from my friend’s house. “Have you done Iyengar yoga before?” a front-desk staffer asked me when I arrived. “Yes,” I nodded and smiled, but said nothing more. Away from home, I look for yoga classes not…
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On teaching teens
For four weeks last spring, I taught Iyengar yoga to 40 teenagers. All were academically gifted students enrolled in an early-admission university program. While a couple had done yoga in elementary school or with Wii Fit, most had never attended a single yoga class. Thank goodness they were split into two groups of 20. Teens, no matter how…
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Have you ever cried in yoga class?
“I couldn’t stop crying in Savasana,” my friend Elaine once told me. She was struggling through a bad time and finally, in yoga class, she felt at ease. It was such a relief that she broke down. Yoga can catalyze emotions in people. I’ve witnessed spontaneous crying, during or after asana,…
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Making money from yoga teaching
The other day, teaching at a community centre, I did an elevated Chatushpadasana (Bridge pose), feet on chair. Props are minimal, but include thick mats, foam blocks, and straps. I resorted to supporting my shoulders with a folded-up mat. During my demo, I immediately realized that one mat was inadequate,…
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