Teacher Training Course: How to plan a yoga class so it is theraputic and carries the teachings of yoga off the mat.

Here is some notes from a teacher training weekend I taught for InBody Yoga Academy. I taught a public class the immersion students took and then we meet and discussed the way I plan my classes. The 6 elements in every class and how I intelligently sequence for a therapeutic experience. When I was coming up with the format of my time with the teacher trainees these round I thought of what I wish I got in some of my teacher trainings and I would have loved to get into my teachers brains and found out how and why they prepare their class.  

Yoga Class Plan

By Kimberly Achelis Hoggan

Anusara® Yoga teacher, E-RYT 500, LMT

Basic class elements

Heart Quality: What do you want the students to feel?

Alignment Focus: What alignment element will you tie in through all of the poses? That plays a key role in the peak pose? That connects to the theme/ and heart quality?

Theme:  What insight or teaching do you want to weave through the class that is life affirming and can be taken off of the mat? That connects with the heart quality/ apex?

Anecdote: How will you personalize the teaching with connection to your own experience and make it relevant to your students?

Apex: What pose are you building too?

Sequence: How will you intelligently guide students through the postures?

Basic Class Outline

Intro: Introduce the class theme and alignment principles that will be used
to augment it and weave them throughout the class

Meditation/ Chanting

Warm Up: Easy, dynamic, not held long, and opens the body.  Use few instructions and bigger movements.  Connected to heart quality in initial warm-up poses.

Basic: More dynamic warming up muscles. Easier to practice the alignment emphasis.

Harder: More challenging requires, more strength and flexibility. Harder to practice the alignment emphasis.

Apex: Build the sequence into one peek focus pose

Cool Down: a warn-down sequence with gentle twists and forward bends

Shavasana/ Mediation

Conclusion: Wrap it up with a brief summery of the theme, its relevance and how it can be applied off the mat

Theme

Linking a teaching or insight throughout the whole class

Ahimsa- Cultivating kindness in our thought, words and actions toward our self and others on and off the mat.

"Who will be the happiest person? The one who brings happiness to others." -Swami Satchidananda

"If you seek enlightenment, or even if you seek happiness, go to the cause. Nothing exists without a cause. The root cause of happiness is compassion." -H.H. Dalai Lama

"Vocal injury is more serious than physical, and mental injury is most serious. By physical injury one can destroy only physical forms. By vocal injury one can destroy both physical and mental forms. By mental injury one can destroy even the form of spirit." -Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, The Textbook of Yoga Psychology

“We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds. We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious. If we smile at someone, he or she will smile back. And a smile costs nothing. We should plague everyone with joy. If we are to die in a minute, why not die happily, laughing? (136-137)”
― Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras

ahimsa pratisthayam tat sannidhau vaira tyagah II:35
For the one who is firmly established in non-violence all hostility ceases in the presence of that one.

Ahimsa is a Sanskrit term meaning non-violence. The opposite of ahimsa is himsa, which means harm or violence. There are three classes of himsa, or ways to cause harm:

1. Physical, by hurting someone's physical body.
2. Vocal, by speaking against others, hurting their feelings.
3. Mental, by thinking negatively about others

Physical harming is only one way to harm, and it may not do the most serious harm.

Anecdote

Personalize the teaching with some connection to your own experience or insight making it relevant to your students

Choosing depth of pose over alignment, I view as a form of self violence.  

How can I practice non violence to my children? Not snapping,.

How can I practice non violence to my husband? No negative self talk.

How can I practice non violence to myself? No negative self talk, positive affirmations, nourishing food, alignment based yoga.

How can I practice non violence to others? No negative talk, criticizing, gossiping,  

Alignment focus

alignment element tied IN THROUGH all of the poses

Foundation of Hands 

Foundation of Feet

Muscle Energy (shin loop)

Outer Spiral (knee over ankle) 

How it relates to theme/ heart quality

Violence= Poor alignment in the hands and the feet when they are weight bearing can lead to injuries. Non-Violence/ Kindness= Intentional alignment of foundation.

Violence= practicing without integration and hyperextending knee. Non-Violence/ Kindness= supporting yourself with your muscles and using your muscles to keep your knee in a safe ROM.

Violence= when the knee twists it is very damaging to the joint. Non- Violence/ Kindness= using your muscles especially the glutes to widen the knee over the second toe.

Heart quality (list of possible heart qualities)

Steadfastness
Right effort
Integrity
Boldness
Vitality
Stillness
Patience
Steadiness
Truthfulness
Purity
Confidence
Fortitude
Silence
Forbearance
Resolution
Faith
Courage
Aspiration
Vigor Quiet
Simplicity
Willpower
Trust
Fearlessness
Intention
Equipoise
Tolerance
Self-harmony
Joy
Celebration
Acceptance
Non-harming
Non-stealing
Devotion
Discrimination
Creativity
Generosity
Happiness
Surrender
Love
Compassion
Contentment
Reverence
Gentleness
 Playfulness
Prudence
Enthusiasm
Renunciation
Kindness
Sensitivity
Mindfulness
Gratitude
Humility
Softness
Opening
Yielding
Friendliness
Non-clinging
Wisdom
Freedom
Modesty
Willingness to serve

Heart quality: Kindness

How it showed up in class

Physical body= using alignment as a form of self care and practicing kindness to self.

Mental = bringing awareness to violent self talk and cultivating kind positive self talk

Vocal= noticing negative talk about self and about others and practicing talking kindly about others and self. Positive affirmations.

Apex:

Intelligent therapeutic sequencing building to apex

Trikonasana

Opened Hips

Lengthened Spine

Opened& Strengthened hamstrings, calves and quads to avoid hyper extension and twisting of knee.

Strengthen quads

Strengthen foundation of feet

 

How it showed up in class:

Avoiding hyper extension & knee twisting is a form of self kindness.

Being awareness of mental chatter is it negative or positive.

Practicing Ahimsa.

Using muscles to give a self hug.

 

sequence

Mediation/ Chanting

Self Love Meditation inhale compassion for self, exhale kindness for others

Warm up 

Tadasana foundation of feet (muscle energy to activate shin loop) 

Table foundation of hands 

Table- Shalabhasana- Airplane- Gomukhasana teach about muscle energy to protect wrists/ knees 

*AMS- 3 leg AMS - Airplane 

Basic

Lunge- Standing Balance 3x- Garudasana

 Virabhadrasana 2 knee over ankle

Modified Parsvakonasana - Ardha Chandrasana -Standing Pigeon with Mod. Parsvakonasana Arms can you practice kind alignment actions in a more challenging posture?

Parsvakonasana 

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana active

Harder 

Anjaneyasana with Quad Stretch  

Ardha Chandrasana - Reverse Virabhadrasana 2 

Ardha Chandra Chapasana

Parivrtta Lunge twist- Parivrtta  High Lunge – Parivrtta Anjaneyasana with Quad Stretch 

Ardha Hanumanasana 3 ways

Utkata Konasan with Side Stretch - Spine Circles

Prasarita padottanasana - Trikonasana 

Apex: 

Trikonasana 

Cool down 

Glute Massage 

Agnistambhasana - Baby Cradle - extend leg twist 

Upavistha Konasana root femur 

Shavasana/ meditation

namaste

For more examples of class outline visit:

Authenticselfyoga.Blogspot.com

Youtube video of me explaining how I plan a yoga class a summary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVTd9zv6-8U

kachelis@Hotmail.com

Don't Let Life Get You Down

For the next month I will be subbing for my teacher Adam While he teaches some Anusara series in China! So cool. I am so honored I get to sub for such an amazing teacher. This is my class notes from this mornings practice. I felt very confident while teaching and I had several students come up after class to thank me and ask me questions. I am looking forward to subbing for him this month.

Class: Anusara at Centered City Yoga on Monday
Theme: Don't let life get you down instead rise up.
Antidote: on Sunday I had some plans: hike, garden, outdoor wedding reception to name a few. So when I woke up to a down pour of rain I thought what will me, my husband and my toddler do. Then I remembered that saying "Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you respond " we ended up going on a long drive and then doing some finger painting Halloween themed crafts. It was a great day. We can't control that life and gravity pull our physical body into a slouch. But we can control how we respond to that. Today in class we will respond by utilizing gravity pressing into our foundation so we can rise up!
Heart quality: co participate
Poe: first principle. Root to rise
Apex: Ustrasana
Props: 2 blocks, strap, blanket

-warm up-
Mod surya B with L one leg at a time 4x
-basic-
Lunge fingers clasp in front of heart- standing hip stretch
W2 fingers clasp in front of heart
Lunge clasp hands behind back- standing hip stretch
W2 - falling Warrior
Anjaneyasana- lunge
-harder-
2 blocks chat arm work
Hrl twist- w2
Mod. parsvak- Half moon chapasana
Lunge- tad quad- tadasana dancer
-Apex-
Pigeon quad
Danurasana
Blanket roll : Danurasana on belly
Blanket roll: danurasana on thighs
AMS
Ustrasana upright
Eka pada Ustrasana upright
Ustrasana full 2 blocks
-cool down-
Hero
Dandasana
Supta twist
Supta passive femur bone root

First Principle

This morning Tyler and I were talking about doing chataranga out of alignment and how much it can hurt your body over time. I mentioned that just doing chataranga with good shoulder alignment can actually heal shoulder injuries because you are training the body and inner body how tho hold itself on and off the matt.

Tyler then mentioned that one of his favorite qualities he has gained through yoga is the ability to lengthen his spine and maintain that length through out the day. Tyler practices yoga once and a while and he rarely comments on the benefits he experiences so this made me smile. I said "oh, oh that's on aspect of first principle". He kind of shrugged. One aspect I love from the practice is how now through out the day I expand my torso brightly, this is also an aspect of first principle. I asked if he noticed an expansion with the length, "yes, its like a balloon coming up in my chest" oh my, this made me even more giddy. He looked slightly confused. "How does all this length and balloon in your chest make your feet feel?" Tyler said his feet feel so feet feel good and his knees are not hurting as much.

I stopped the conversation at this because it was early in the morning and as much as I would love to continue to talk about first principle spontaneously showing up in our life it was early in the morning and I don't think Tyler shared my excitement. I wish we could have taken the conversation a little deeper. Yes, Tyler confirmed that he experiences  physical aspects of first principle: good foundation, side bodies long, inner body bright.  But I wander if he also notices an outer body softer. And what really gets my wheels turning is wandering if he has been noticing that he is putting the highest first? and to talk to him about the other non-physical aspects of first principle that we learn through practicing yoga asana.

Off to work, this was just so good that I had to blog before I left.