Call

Leadership Week 7

Week 7 Call Notes

Prep
How can you, with care and clarity, be a space holder for reclaiming rights; and hold ourselves to a (high) standard?
Address some issues you might have with the practice and how you might offer a solution.
(read pg. 167-172 in preparation)

Call Flow
11:30 - 11:45 am (15min) Openings: Sri Yantra Meditation
11:45 - 12:15 pm (30min) Talk Topics: Practice Space, Chakra Rights, Teacher/Leader
12:15 - 12:45 pm (30min) Forum: Put Your Critical Thinking Caps on
How can you, with care and clarity, be a space holder for reclaiming rights; and hold ourselves to a higher standard? Address some issues you might have with the practice and how you might offer a solution.
Give + Receive feedback
12:45 - 1pm Questions and Closings: a Summary of Level II

Openings: Sri Yantra Meditation
As you breathe in, feel or imagine the breath moving down through your body like a downward pointing triangle or arrow. Lengthen the spine and notice the rib cage get bigger and the collarbones broaden. Our bodies have the potential to become vessels for the breath to fill. How does Spirit/Consciousness become manifest or embodied in your life?

Breathing out, imagine breath moving up through the body like an upward-pointing triangle. Lift and engage the pelvic floor, feel the belly move in and up, like an arrow pointing you back to your heart. Feel the strength and stability - realize that the exhale is all about letting go, surrendering deeply, moving you toward transcendence.

▽ feminine, embodiment, receptivity, Shakti
△ masculine, transcendence, strength, Shiva
Overlap - Lila, relationships, play or merging/union

Practice Space
You know you can do this. I know you can do this.
The world needs you. The world needs you to bring your message with (a lot of) care and clarity.
The world needs your gifts, your life lessons, your vision. You, your essence. Who you really are.

Please create, if you don’t have it already, a dedicated space in your home that is just for you and your practice, teaching, intentions. I would like for you to create a stronger boundary around your practice - this dedicated time for yourself and your learning. Everything we are delving into in this course will be developed over time. You will learn to master the skills and concepts as you mature.

Chakra Rights
Anodea Judith says that each of the 7 chakras represents a right - a birthright. As Erica lays it out in Angelus, the right to Be, to Feel, to Dare, to Speak, to See, to Know, to Transcend. And at some point, somewhere we have all had these rights taken; especially for women of color, indigenous people of color, LGBTQIA+, and disabled folks. Through our teaching, through our practice, we can be the space holder for inviting others to reclaim these rights.

The system that we all fight against, is in us. It is also, to be clear, all around us. It is around us systemically. It can be easy to avoid or be so confused by this that we don’t dive in.

Teacher/Leader
As a teacher of yoga, you get to go deeper and then draw out the gold treasure and map it out for others. In order to do that, you have to go first - that’s what teaching yoga is about, leading yourself and encouraging others to do that as well.

As a leader - when you start to inspire and generate energy there is a certain frequency you hold, and that you are committed to. When we lead, we hold ourselves to high standards. We don’t hold others to our own ideas of what those high standards are. We do this by cultivating the ability to let go and teach in a way that is through example, that is spacious, non-dogmatic.

Forum
How can you, with care and clarity, do this? How can you, with care and clarity, be a space holder for reclaiming rights; and hold yourself to a high standard?

Put your Critical Thinking Caps on
Examine the shifting relationships you have with your practice.
On pg. 167-172 KL outlines some issues she has with yoga trends. Maybe we could address some issues you might have with the practice and how you might offer a solution.

-confusing asana practice with yoga
-emphasizing flexibility rather than strength
-overemphasizing anatomical movements that mimic inherent imbalances
-emphasizing progress over individual uniqueness
-cool/fancy sequencing/transitions
-doing too many poses on 1 side, overloading the body
-paying little attention to alignment
-looking for distractions

In class one time, I asked, "Does anyone want to go against their ingrained habitual patterns even though it might be uncomfortable?" And everyone was like yes - emphatically.

We start to go against our ingrained patterns and habits and this can be messy for a while. Then things start to smooth out, either immediately or gradually over some time. Writing, journaling, and sketching, helps you to flesh out, quiet the noise, examine motivations and articulate what you want to say and the actions you want your students to follow through on.

Asanaglyphs - Share Screen
Must share - How to draw Anaglyphs from Angelus Teacher’s Enhancement

What questions do you have?

Summary of Level 2
In Level 2 we started with a discussion of the qualities of a yoga teacher as well as the concept of tapas. Then we moved onto ethics to determine your ethical obligations and what qualities are important to you as a yoga teacher, and what it means to assume the seat of the teacher. You then prepared for the journey ahead by making a strong commitment and clarifying your relationships of support by making a Sacred Contract.

You learned a little about different styles of yoga and attuned to what style of yoga you feel called to. You started the process of refining a yoga class design. You also looked through another lens, Katonah Yoga theory and practice. I love Katonah because it has blown my mind and opened my understanding of yoga and freedom within poses - I am currently studying with teachers who are bringing that to life for me.

You looked at many ways of teaching through demonstration.

You stepped into the teaching fire - or rather built the fire but you haven’t really lit it, just yet.

You began to develop a broad perspective of the body and support while teaching yoga.

We talked about what teaching yoga is, and the act of taking care of yourself and others.

We also had a conversation about consent and boundaries.

You prepared to teach by beginning to develop a Teaching Methodology by utilizing a Template to design classes; by becoming familiar with sequencing principles and designing a class.

Then we dove into MetaAnatomy.

We learned about bone and joints - recognized that there is a wide variety in the human body and presence within the pose is most important. We got to know the spine and the possibilities for movement and space.

We understand that anatomical uniqueness is the norm.

We learned about the nervous system to understand homeostasis and the spectrum of the Sympathetic (flight-flight) Nervous System to the Parasympathetic (rest-digest) Nervous System or perhaps more accurately the spectrum from create to restore.

We had Cass teach us about the anatomy of the breath and nervous system - that shape change creates state change.

We learned about the subtle sense of self-awareness interwoven into all experience via the energy body - the koshas, nadis, and we went back to the chakras.

We learned that an understanding of the subtle body can create a more welcoming vessel for (kundalini) the energy of awakening, to spread out and inhabit our experience fully.

We were reminded that there is an intelligence to the breath and we became aware of the vibrational language of the heart and boundaries, discernment and assimilation, and the interconnected collaboration of the gut, heart, and brain.

We clarified the understanding that yoga is not a one-size-fits-all practice - Yoga is a practice of embodiment.

Now we are taking an intentional pause with the Winter Solstice to assimilate and steep in all the knowledge learned thus far in preparation for teaching yoga.

Coursework

Coursework

intention

practice

meditation

coursework

READING

journal

on geneva

Practical

Practical

Call

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