Enlightenment

Here is another one I thought you might like-it is hanging in my treatment room.

Enlightenment

Forget about enlightenment.

Sit down wherever you are
and listen to the wind singing
in your veins.

Feel the love, the longing and
the fear in your bones.

Open your heart to who you
are right now, not who you'd
like to be. Not the saint you're
striving to become, but the
being right there before you,
inside you, around you.

All of you is holy.

You're already more and less
than whatever you can know.

Breathe out, look in, let go.

-John Welwood

In Between

You are no longer naive, yet you are still innocent about the situation at hand. You have stepped into this situation and have become more independent, yet you are not ready to move more fully into it at this time. You are truly in between. You have permission to pause, collect all thoughts and experiences, and slow the pace of your maturing at this time. The situation will wait for your part to be played. Divine timing will unfold. No decision must be made right now; no action must be taken. You need not step further forward nor turn back. Breathe-integrate-pause-reflect-and rest before continuing on your path.    -Melisa Pearce

Module 1 Objectives, Module 2 Objectives

Module 1:  Course Objectives   Level 1  HATHA YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

Knowledge & Teaching Skills to be developed

·         Have (or develop) a solid understanding of how to do postures with correct alignment and knowledge of biomechanics

o   Personal practice should reflect this understanding

o   Understands how to modify postures effectively to address limitations

·         Develop the ability to cue the poses correctly

o   Cueing reflects understanding of spinal alignment and biomechanics

o   Ability to incorporate modifications to address their own as well as common limitations/patterns of compensation

o   Ability to layer information effectively (develop  in Mod. 2)

o   Basic connection of breath to movement (develop in Mod. 2)

o   Use of metaphors and images (develop in Mod 2)

·         Develop  basic body reading and observation skills which become the basis for Responsive cueing in Mod. 2.

·         Sanskrit: basic understanding and ability to use Sanskrit  names for poses. (Should have learned in on-line materials)

·         Pranayama

·         Be exposed to and learn how to teach basic pranayama practices. (Puraka, Rechaka, Ujjiya,  Full Yogic Breath, 2-Part Diphragmatic Breath, Nadi Sodhana.

·         Become sensitive to the pranic breath and experience its subtlety.  

MODULE 2 COURSE OBJECTIVES  LEVEL 1 HATHA YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

Knowledge & Teaching Skills to be developed

·             Expand on cueing skills

·            Refine ability to layer cues

·            Learn to  working deeper in the postures and to release areas of tension

·            Learn to work more intimately with the breath, to bring inner balance and to direct breath to areas of tension and release

·            To learn how to cue responsively

·             Understand and demonstrate the ability to work with the concepts of pose/counterpose and vinyasa.

·             To continue developing teaching skills

·            Refine body reading skills

·            Develop the ability to interact (responsive cues, simple touch or full blown adjustments) with class while guiding into postures.

·            Build teaching confidence and ability to integrate all required teaching skills.

·            Improvisational skill building.

·            Development of personal style

·             To learn how to effectively modify postures, using props as necessary.

·             To learn how to prepare for a drop-in class and develop a longer 4-6 wk. course.

·             To  learn the importance of visualization and how to incorporate it in yoga.

·             Brief introduction to Ayurveda and special topics such as pregnancy, elderly, kids, restorative etc.

·        Pranayama:

·            To be able to teach basic pranayama exercises (Ujjayi, Full Yogic, 2 part Diaphragmatic Breathing, Nadi Sodhana)

·            To understand the relationship of the pranic breath to physical postures and the mind and to be able to effectively use the breath to release tension and restore balance.

Prana

Yoga has the power to touch and transform our lives. But what is that power and where does it come from? Can it even be named or described?

In this interview, Iyengar Yoga teacher John Schumacher discusses the yogic concept ofPrana, the life force or creative energy, and the role it plays in the practice of yoga. While Prana may be intangible and elusive, a consistent yoga practice helps us develop the ability to tap into it by aligning our physical and energetic bodies through asana, breath work, and meditation, explains Schumacher. In doing so, it becomes possible to live freely, effectively, and joyously.

John Schumacher has taught in the Washington, D.C. area since 1973 and is the founder and director of Unity Woods Yoga Center, Washington, D.C.'s premier yoga studio. He has written for or appeared in numerous national newspapers and magazines including US News and World Report, The Washington Post, and The Washington Times.

This interview is an excerpt from a longer talk with John Schumacher featured as part ofSadhana Sundays -- a free online series with leading yoga teachers, which explores the transformative aspects of yoga practice.

Q: Anyone who practices yoga over a period of time usually feels their lives touched and transformed in profound ways. Where does this come from? From where does yoga derive its power to change our lives in so many unique and unexpected ways?

John Schumacher: Well, it's really from within us. To a large extent, with regular yoga practice, you learn to tap into the source of energy within yourself. But that's just a manifestation of the vast pool of energy that's moving the entire universe, known in Indian philosophy as Prana. An asana practice does that, but a Pranayama practice even more puts you in touch with that energetic level of existence.

I opened BKS Iyengar's book on pranayama this morning and the very first section on his description of Prana says, "It's as difficult to explain Prana as it is to explain God. Prana is the energy permeating the universe at all levels. It is physical, mental, intellectual, sexual, spiritual, and cosmic energy. It is energy which creates, protects, and destroys. Vigor, power, vitality, life and spirit are all forms of Prana." So if you think of the very well known equation, E=mc2, E is Prana: energy.

Q: That's beautiful. Do you feel that the ability to tap into Prana is the key to the effects and the benefits we experience from our yoga practice?

John Schumacher: Yes, I do. I think that energy, the Pranic energy carries us. It's like we are living our lives and moving through our lives in an ocean of energy, with its own currents. In classical yoga literature, Prana is broken down into various Vayus or winds. So these currents, these winds, these different movements of aspects of energy within us, are a great big vast ocean of energy. We are these little boats that are floating along in that current of energy.

A part of the skill of the practice of yoga is to tune in to that flow of energy and to learn how to adjust oneself so that one is moving with that flow in a harmonious and balanced way. That's really what the practice becomes. In Iyengar Yoga, particularly (but it's pretty commonplace in other forms of yoga now), we talk about alignment. Oftentimes, people think that means that you align the upper leg up with the lower leg so the knee is not twisted and points the same way the toes are pointing and all that sort of stuff.

That physical alignment is very important for the health and well-being of the joints, the organs, and the body in general. But it's also a way to align the body so that there is a free, unfettered flow of energy. As we tap in to that flow of energy within ourselves, we become sensitive and attuned to the fact that we are in an ocean of energy. We can then align our entire being with that flow of energy so that we can move freely, effectively, and joyfully through our lives.

Q: That's a very beautiful point. You mentioned the concept of alignment as one way that yoga helps free up this flow of energy in the body. How else can we tap into the flow of Prana in our practice?

John Schumacher: Well, it is true that we create blockages in that flow of energy on a physical level with knotted muscles and misaligned joints. When we release the muscles, align the joints, and relax the organs, then Prana flows more freely and readily through the body. When we begin to observe the breath in the postures and see how our breathing either helps or hinders our movement into and out of the poses, then we're tapping into the flow of Prana on a slightly more subtle level.

If we start the practice of pranayama, then we start to work very directly through the breath towards tapping into that energy. We learn how to restrain and focus that energy. So pranayama itself is the beginning of working consciously and directly with that energy which then, as we sit in meditation or whatever our meditative practice is, we begin to see how the mind allows for a free flow of energy. Being conscious of Prana and the flow of energy within us touches all the levels or our being. We get sensitive and begin to work in ways that keep us from blocking that up.

Q: So how do you teach people to become more sensitive to the movements of Prana in our bodies?

John Schumacher: I don't often address it directly that way. But whatever practice I'm teaching -- be it asana, pranayama, or sitting meditation -- I simply get people to observe what is happening in their bodies, and breath, what is happening with them emotionally and mentally. Just by having them observe and become aware of themselves on their own, through their own perceptions, they start to tune in. It starts to reveal itself as there's a quieting and deepening of focus.

I mean, as Mr. Iyengar was saying in the book, it's impossible to describe, really. He does as good a job as anybody with that. But it's like trying to explain what chocolate tastes like to somebody who's never tasted chocolate. You just can't do it.

To learn more about John Schumacher and how to join the free Sadhana Sundays series on YogaUOnline.com exploring the transformative powers of yoga, go here: John Schumacher on Sadhana Sundays.

 

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7 Tips for Nervous New Yoga Teachers (wish I would've read this before Tuesday.....)

7 Tips for Nervous New Yoga Teachers

Happiness Quote

Happiness is an inside job. - unknown author

These quotes just seem to be popping up at the right time.

Hi gang,

The books by Swami Rudrananda are:

Spiritual Cannibalism

Rudi in his Own Words

Entering Infinity


One of several videos about Rudi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJAjDhcHrAQ

We'll talk more about him soon.