Satya: Yoga Class Plan for InBody Academy Yoga Teacher Training 200 hr GE

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?)

Sat= truth ya= to be, to activate

•       Dishonesty=lying, gossiping, expectations? stories, manipulation, cheating, making assumptions

•       “To be established in truthfulness, actions and their results become subservient…“the state of fearlessness comes. One need not be afraid of anybody and can always lead an open life.” Sri Swami Satchidananda’s

•       “Whenever we are not telling the truth, we deepen our separation from this inner self. In this gap, shadow grows. The larger we make the gap through living falsehoods, the more the shadow takes over our life, and this shadow shows up psychologically (negative, hostile or destructive thoughts, hypocrisy and pretension), emotionally (non-positive states such as fear, depression, anger, etc.), and physically (pain, illness, and even accidents).” Brad Waites,

•       Is telling the truth always the best?

•       remember to think about satya in context with the other yamas: Though each stands alone individually, there is indeed a hierarchy of sorts. If telling the truth has the possibility of causing harm to anyone, it’s no longer truth, as it is unable to uphold ahimsa – non-violence. there is a dynamic interplay between them… In a sense, they incorporate a system of checks and balances.

•       Can we be honest with our self? In a lot of ways, it’s simpler to live truthfully by others; but being honest with ourselves is often trickier, and less pleasant. Satya asks us to look at the shadow with our self even when it’s not easy. One of the goals of yoga is freedom from the “sufferings” in our lives – and to be free from them, we first be aware of them. Satya means being truthful and real about our shortcomings, our messes, and the places where we can grow and transform. Yoga is about transformation. Some people might think yoga is leading to some ecstatic blissful state, more likely, union is about waking up into your mess and connecting to the divinity within that! Looking honestly at parts of ourselves without self-judgment, it’s easier to address the internal issues (the “mess”) that we may have ignored in the past.

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

•       Personal story I tell myself:

•       I am always tired. I never get to rest.

•       I am not smart.

•       Gossiping

•       Making assumptions (3^rd agreement)

•       Lying -> calling myself out

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?)

•       Foundation of hands:

•       Creases of the wrist are parallel to the front of the yoga mat, with the fingers spread, second and third finger should line up with the center of the wrist, center of the elbow and up to the center of the shoulder. Root down through the four corners of the hand and create an arch under the heel of the hand.

•       Foundation of feet:

•       Feet hip distance apart, second and third toe line up with ankle, knee, hip. Root down through four corners of feat and top pads lift inner/ outer arch of foot.

•       Muscle Energy

•       Using the muscles to draw into our self creating stability

•       Shoulder Loop

•       Side bodies long

•       Inner body bright

•       Arm bones back

•       Tips of shoulder blades lift heard up

•       Kidney Loop

•       Draws the lower ribs in, lengthens the side bodies and expands into the back of the kidneys

•       Organic Energy

•       From a place of stability reaching out through the limbs

Heart Quality (What do you want the students to feel?)

•       Truthfulness

•       How  theme relates to heart quality truthfulness

•       Foundation of hands and feet

•       Are the hands and feet places in good alignment? Is that true?

•       Muscle Energy

•       Drawing in. How to I tell the truth to myself?

•       Shoulder Loop

•       Getting clarity in my heart, what is my truth? (anahata chakra)

•       Kidney Loop

•       Connect to my personal power (manipura chakra) as I speak and act from my truth honestly

•       Organic Energy

•       Extending out. How do I live and speak truthfully with others?

Apex (What pose are you building too?)

Pincha Mayurasana Modification Dolphin

•       Intelligent therapeutic sequencing building to apex

•       Open and integrated shoulders with shoulder loop

•       Opened back of the legs (hamstring and calves)

•       Connected core with kidney loop and bridges cross

•       Cooled down with opening the chest/ lengthening the core, rooting femurs, twist and asymmetrical pose

•       What's more important? Doing final expression of the pose or performing the actions in a modified version of the pose?

Sequence (How will you intelligently guide students through the postures?)

Mediation/ Chanting

•       Inhale- how am I honest with myself? Exhale- how am I honest with others

Warm up 

•       Sun A 3x

Basic

•       Table (shoulder loop and kidney loop)

•       Lunge (isometrically press hands forward then engage core)

•       Virabhadrasana 2

•       Forearm Plank – Dolphin (shoulder loop + kidney loop)

•       Supta twisting core (shoulder loop + kidney loop)

•       Prone Pec Stretch Prep

Harder 

•       Prone Pec Stretch- Sphinx with Quad Stretch- Setu Bandha Sarvangasana 3x

•       High Runners Lunge Twist (with hand down)

•       Modified Parsvakonasana

•       Chataranga 3x - Drunken Bhujangasana

•       Bridget’s Cross

•       Block behind shoulder blades reach arms up and over grab sticky mat

Apex: 

•       Pincha Mayurasana (Modification Dolphin) 

Cool down 

•       Meditation

•       Setu Bandha Sarvangasana 3x  (maybe Urdhva Dhanurasana)

•       Supta asymmetrical root femur - twist

•       Symmetrical root femur

Shavasana/ meditation

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

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

Youtube video of my home practice of this sequence with narration

https://youtu.be/8OYTXqpRTis

Handstand Class, tips for pushing your boundaries and using fear to empower you

Apex: handstand 

Principles of emphasis: open to grace (foundation, breath), muscle energy (stability), shoulder loop (shoulder integration), kidney loop (core integration), organic energy 

Heart quality: playful, courageous 

Theme: lila having fun while pushing the boundaries of our comfort. Using fear to empower us but not make us reckless. 

We have to know boundaries going to far and not going far enough. If you don't practice going to far you'll be afraid. We don't want fear to scare us but to empower us! It's not the absence of fear but courage in the face of fear. But It's not wrecklessness. 

Anecdote: learning a handstand. I had to learn what wasn't enough of a hop and what was to big it a hop. I had to be curious and courageous to find the just right spot with stability. I had to confront my fear instead of reimagining to scared to try but I also had to honor my fear so I didn't get hurt. 

Having fun (lila). Having to much fun getting into trouble. I definitely pushed this when I was little. Vs. Not having enough fun.... which is not fun. 

Disciplining my children. I am constantly in this process of what is to little discipline and get walked all over and having utter chaos in the house and what to much discipline is that also doesn't serve our family. I have to be in touch with my deep compassion and remain courage on this parenting journey of raising loving, kind, useful humans. I need to have the fear knowing there are some things I can never do like spank or something that will damage them but there is also fear that if I don't do any discipline they won't know how to cooperate with this world. Just like handstands I need to find that sweet balance of discipline with compassion. 

Handstand Tips:

Arms straight for power (muscle energy, organic energy)

Integrate shoulders press from core engage upper ab muscles (shoulder loop and kidney loop) 

Leg straight for power (muscle energy, organic energy)

Kick from hip not heal (thigh loop)

Bending in arms is loss of will power and often leads 

Dd lift armpits lift more weight at front of hands so you get lighter on heals of hands 

Sequence:

-Hand theraputic work (flex wrist back see budge (flexor retinaculum) compress around wrist and retinaculum while moving hand. Engaging the muscles with good foundation in hand weight baring poses will prevent wrist/elbow/shoulder injuries and keep the retinaculum hugging in

-Table foundation of hands (hands outer shoulder distand apart index fingers facing forward. Melt heat to integrate shoulders)

-Table shalabasana keeping straight joints. Flex front wrist like a handstand index finger facing up. Don't bend bottom arm repeat. Focus on arms legs straight 

-Sit ups with lordotic curve activating upper core (kidney loop)

-Cat/cow (alternating between shoulder integration/ shoulder loop and core integration/ kidney loop)

-Table shalabasana again same as first time but add the support of the core muscles

-Uttanasana- ardha uttanasana 3x

-Tadasana - urdhva hastasana interlace hands palms up, integrate shoulders, integrate core. Look up straighten elbows arms vertical. If your elbows bend in handstand you'll dump weight into heals of hands. 

-Optional jumping butt to wall 3x in pike

-Sun A 3x 3x with like jumps and string foundation in hands 

-Tree- w3 prep- lunge- sanding splits- uttanasana

-Eagle- w3 prep- lunge- standing splits - uttanasana 

-Standing pigeon- w3 prep- w3- lunge- half moon 

-cartwheel middle of room (deliberately  let the momentum carry you past midline and over. Go both ways. Swing through vertical midline. Not like downdog. This teaches us how to eat out of handstand. Shift weight pivot and turn out of it. Learn to fall out like that comfortably. We want to get comfortable falling out of handstand in the middle of the room. When we get it comfortable we can balance and remove the fear.)

-Hero blanket rolled up between calf and hamstring start and knee join and move back towards sit bones and heels)

-anjaneyasana quad- standing splits- handstand hops 

-Torture pose anjaneyasana knee in floor shin up wall (kidney loop)

-Supta handstand feet on wall, thighs down, ribs in, shoulders integrated, extend

-Kick up handstand at wall. Practice kicking up with both legs. 

(If still can't get up put 2 bolsters stacked on top of each other at wall get a running start and through yourself up wall straight arms and top leg. Takes intense amount if courage and energy once you get up you can start taking some if the power out.)

-Cow face wrist massage, bind with strap keep working shoulder and core integration

-Double pigeon 

-Shavasana on 2 blankets zilophone folded with blanket used to support cervical curve

Summer Solstice

Theme: during the brightest day of the year shine out your own light and thank the sun for its ongoing blessings. 

Ancedote: Summer solstice. The word solstice comess from the Latin solstitium: from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop).

The Summer Solstice, Midsummer, Litha, has long been celebrated across the globe as a potent reminder that even in the peak of the most light we begin the long return towards the dark. Summer Solstice is a celebration of the light while remembering that the dark days are coming. Today let's honor and celebrate the Sun as the source of all light and life force on the Earth. This week, make time to stop and acknowledge how far you’ve come and ritually set your intentions for the second half of the year until winter solstice, for as William Shakespeare wrote,"Whatever is dreamed on this night, will come to pass."

Apex: Backbends shine out the light of your head 

Upa: muscle energy and organic energy. Feeling the pulsation between pulling into the dark and shining out the light in alignment with nature. The past few months we have been focusing on the psoas muscles using the alignment principles thigh loop, kidney loop and shoulder loop that will be integrated through out the sequence. 

Sequence:

Warm up 

Childs pose

Sun A 5x 

Basic 

Lunge - tree- lunge

Wide leg forward fold - scandasana- scandasana 

W2 - trikonasana 

Half moon- trikonasana 

Half moon quad - trikonasana 

Harder

Wide leg forward fold head stand 

Clear neck

Half hanuman 

Ll quad- ss- handstand hop 

Pincha manyrasana L at wall 

Pincha manurasana splits 

Pincha manyurasana feet on wall reach heart through 

Apex

Dancer at wall hinging forward 

Dancer at wall upright 

Cool down 

Upright L- root femurs 

Down dog

Supta urdhva hastasana feet on wall conscious stretch psoas by keeping thighs grounded in hamstrings- ribs in and lengthening out through feet and finger tips 

Root femur foot on wall asymmetrically

Supta pada A B C strap foot on wall 

Legs up wall 

Meditation 

Psoas. Why I am always a student & a teacher

Last month we focused on the psoas muscles in my anuara yoga classes. We learned different ways a tights psoas can manifest in our body, negatively impacting our posture + our health. We learned how to lengthen our psoas to support our well being. Check out these two short videos I made: summarizing the psoas and how to best lengthen it and the pose of the month that we did at least once in every class.

This was a terrific experience. I saw so many students look deep within them selves to see how their psoas tightens shows up and influences them. THIS is why I love alignment so much. Its so much more then putting your body in different yoga postures and flowing with the breath (although that has many benefits too). However this process of looking within, looking at our shadow, those subconscious parts of our self that we over look but deeply influence our life. Then from that inner reflection we can take different actions to co-participate with our life and choose if we want to live habitually getting the results we are getting or we can choose more health! vitality! clarity! peace! joy!...

This is why I am a student of yoga. It helps me learn and grow. This is why I am a teacher so I can help others in their personal journey to growth.

The universal principles we were using in our postures were muscular energy engaging the muscles, thigh loop, moving the lower attachment site of the psoas back and internally rotating the thighs with inner spiral. Drawing the ribs in to move the top psoas attachment site back with kidney loop and then extending out with organic energy.

Thank you for being here

Send out your heart intentions out into the world in an emPOWERing SKILLfull way!

If you have any questions about my short hand ask. I haven't been posting many blogs and some students have been asking for my notes. These are my ruff notes from Tuesday's Anusara class at metric yoga. 

Theme: let's send our heart intentions out into the world in an emPOWERing SKILLfull way by uniting our love (Anahata chakra) with our personal power (manipura chakra). 

Mantra: Aham prema = I am divine love. 

Visualization: pink flame in the heart of unconditional love and fulfillment. Remembering true fulfillment comes from being present and loving and seeing the beauty reflected in all things and acting from a place of unconditional love. Meaning you don't put any conditions on your love. (Seems simple much harder in practice) 

Anecdote: there is a lot of divide and fear in the world today. We are witnessing lots of action driven from fear. How can we act in alignment with the heart so our actions are skillful? This is how we follow our dharma by aligning our actions skillfully with the heart! This is how we empower ourself and others! 

Heart quality: LOVE 

UPA: shoulder loop + kidney loop (KL) + organic energy. Practicing shoulder loop the throats and arm bones curl back as the tip of the shoulder blades lift the heart and sternum and meet again at the top of the throat. This brings us into our heart. Into our power of love. However often when we practice this principle and dive deeply into our heart we lose our power and capacity to act. This can be seen in the physical body by the ribs sticking out, the kidneys collapsed and no tone in the belly. To connect to your power, from the heart press our through the hands ( the palms of the hands have little heat energy centers on them) as a way of initiating kidney loop which draws the floating ribs in with the power of the core and expands into the back of the kidneys. This is our manipura chakra, the energy center associated with our personal power  when this center is in balance we feel like we have the capacity to act and have confidence in ourself. 

Apex: eka pada rajakaptasana 

Warm up 

Supta blanket cactus twisting knees 

Supta blanket roll under heart sleep walking zombie arm plugs and reach over head 

1/2 sun 3x 

Half mood stretch

Basic 

Cat/ cow 

Kneeling Plank KL 

Push ups bolster KL 

L 

L twist 

Anjaneyasana 

Handstand prep hands on wall

Harder 

Handstand L 

Kick up handstand 

Pincha prep forearms on wall 

Pincha L 

Sirsasana 

Pec stretch at wall hand on wall "high 5"

W2- Lunge - twist lunge arms in T- rev Lunge- high runners twist Lunge

Ardha Supta virasana 

Supta virasana 

L.l quad 

Pigeon quad

Cool down 

Cow face 

Fish twist 

Shavasana 

Core Power Asana Sequence

Most people hold fear, worry, anticipation, and stress in their bellies. Our belly is incredibly intelligent. The butterflies, the intuition, and all the other ways the belly communicates with us should how sensitive our “guts” can be. The belly also holds onto a lot! Being pregnant I can feel my fear of losing the baby, my anticipation over what life will be like with a baby, the stress of not being able to do as much as I want to do with morning sickness, just to name a few. Although I am not doing core work or twists right now like the sequence below suggests. In the past I have found these to be the most effective way to bring awareness to my belly to cultivate strength and awareness there so I can let go of what is no longer serving me. My practice these days is more meditative with awareness on my breath and on my belly I clear out the tension and welcome in a sense of calm, love and openness. Sometimes my mantra is as simple as: Inhaling space into my belly, exhaling letting the stress go.

Sucassana: Close your eyes and see a sweet softness manifesting throughout your body. See how all of the tendencies to contract and hold yourself back, hold other people accountable for your needs… see yourself releasing all of those tendencies now.
Supta knees into chest
Supta twisting core work inhale to one side pause and exhale bring back to center. Do it with bent knees first, and then do it with straight legs 90 degrees between thighs and hips.
Crunches core work. Target upper core and puff into the back of your kidneys.
Partner supta Kidney Work Exercise with [strap] which goes under their low back directly below their belly button. The yogi will puff low back into the matt and the partner will try to pull strap out. When good kidney loop is engaged strap shouldn’t move. Try this first with feet on the floor, then with knees bent and feet lifted off floor in line with knees.
Ardha Navasana- half boat pose knees bent, feel strength in your upper belly and your inner thighs. Every inhale brings fortitude and strength into your body.
Navasana boat pose with straight legs.
Janusirsasana- Lift belly and puff kidneys as you fold and lengthen chest toward toes.
Handstands keep kidneys full and heart melted.
L.L twist one hand down
HRL twist one hand down
HRL – parsvotonasana- HRL- Lunge
L.L quad- anjaneyasana
anjaneyasana – ardha hanumanasana – twisted ardha hanumanasna [2 blocks]
Parsvakonasana
Trikonasana
Parsvotonasa- walk both hands to outside to front foot twist prep- prasarita trikonasana. Inhale breaths lengthens torso exhale breaths twist. Let the twist remove any unintended tightness and twist out stress.
Plank hold 5 breaths inhale feel strong, exhale release any holding that’s not intended- chataranga- cobra- interlace hands behind back shalabasana lift up legs and chest
L twist. Back leg strong, straight and lifted, pull belly away from thigh
supta knees bent feet on floor hands on belly. Feel all the circulation in your belly, blood pumping, heart raising. Can you even feel you pulse in your belly?
roll over onto belly danurasana
Danurasana- rock on to one side kick – center- rock onto other side kick
roll onto back bridge
Bridge clasp hand series
Bridge hold feet come to top of head extend head into floor and stretch heart toward the back of the room
Urdhva Danurasana- come to the top of your head- draw shoulders back- roll more onto the top of your head/ forehead and press up. Press through your strong legs and send your heart over your hands and release anything you no longer need
Supta knock knees together- open arms like “T”. Feel the energy in belly, see if you can feel your pulse there without even touching your belly. Feel how soft your body has become. 5 breaths
Supta hands on knees and draw them in  circle a few times then take circle in different direction.
Thigh bone rooting
Twist
Twisting core work knees bent inhale to one side exhale back to center then to other side. Then do with your legs straight 3x
Paschimottanasana
Shavasana set up [2 blankets] to open heart and support cervical curve under neck.
Succasana one hand on chest one on belly, bring an opening to this space. Inhales feel yourself expand and get centered within yourself. When you exhale let go of stress, blame, shame, worry, anticipation…all the unwanted tendencies and tensions release. Make room for love and ease in your body.

Kidney Loop

Yesterday at The Yoga Center I taught kidney loop. This is a loop I don’t specifically teach to often but I have been seeing lots of collapse in the low back and kidney area. I felt on fire teaching because kidney loop has been a refinement I have been working on for so long. I got to share all these little "secrets" and tid bits of information I have found with this loop.

For example, I had the students move to the wall and stand in tadasana with their back against the wall. I explained the loops here and the students got to feel kidney loop and got a good way to measure if they were doing it correctly. IT was probably only 15 minutes into class when one of the students exclaimed "this is hard". Then we moved through some basic poses: lunges, utkatasna, vinyasa's, uttanasana... but in every pose I waited for the students to cultivate a puff and broadening of their low back.

To me when I don't do kidney loop and I stand normally (collapsing) I feel like I am losing my energy or like my power is leaking out of me. When I engage this loop I feel like I put on my wonder women harness and I feel strong and super powerful. I could see this in the students as well. When they had they super yogi harnesses on (kidney loop) they would extend out more, they had more control over their bodies, and they had more confidence and strength in their eyes. This is probably one of my favorite gifts of teaching yoga, getting to watch students realize they are strong, and powerful or calm and clear and can do things they didn't think they can do, or feel a way they didn't think they could feel.

I told briefly the story of Hanuman, of how he had so many powers but that he was mischievous with his powers when he was young so the Gods got together and decided to cast a spell on him that he wouldn't remember that he had these powers. After this Hanuman needed to be reminded. One of my favorite parts of this in The Ramayana is when Hanuman is getting ready to leap over a giant ocean to rescue Ram's wife. But Hanuman doesn't think he can leap over it, he forgot he was powerful that he could grow giant and leap far and his friend had to remind him of his power. This is one of the gifts of the community is we can remind each other that we are powerful, we can even remind our self we are powerful. Hanuman Story

At the end of class the women were saying to me and talking to each other about how hard the class was. I was talking to a student later and she said, "it was so hard pulling our stomach in and opening our kidneys in every pose, but I liked it".

picture of Christina Sell teaching Kidney Loop

roses!!! self love!!! shoulder loop and kidney loop

February is the month of love and I think with valentines and the hallmark industry a lot of the emphasis of love gets put on someone else. Like the love you have for your family or your significant other, which is an important relationship to celebrate! But I think it is important to also celebrate the love you have for yourself and the relationship you have with yourself. Today in class we focus on shoulder loop, kidney loop and lip loop (smile). We cultivated physical strength to hold are arm bones, collar bones and shoulders back (shoulder loop) as well as physical strength in the core as we expanded into the kidneys (kidney loop). As we worked these refinements of alignment we deepen our relationship and our understanding of our self as we shine more brightly, celebrating the love we have for our self. (This alignment also physically create less stress, tension and headaches, how awesome is that?!)

Shoulder loop. One of the seven loops (or eight if you count lip loop) in Anusara yoga where we energetically and physically draw the arm bones, collar bones and scapulas back and into the back of the heart. When I was learning shoulder loop I was so excited. I tend to be a very enthusiastic yogi. With this enthusiasm for shoulder loop I didn’t realize that I was also sticking my floating ribs out tremendously. This not only allowed my core to miss out in the heart opening experience but it also compressed my kidneys. Now as I practice opening my heart with confidence and strength I also make sure to practice another loop, kidney loop, where I pull the floating ribs in and expand into my kidneys. This action invites my core to join into this celebration of opening the heart while providing a more stable base.

As I was thinking about teaching a class where I wanted to do back bend asanas, I wanted to work on shoulder loop and kidney loop I was trying to think of some good metaphors. Since it is Valentine’s Day I have been inspired by the beautiful roses I have been seeing I wanted to talk about opening up like a rose, the uncurling of the peddles. Going from a place of contraction like the bud of the rose, or the shoulders rounded forward, to a place of expansion and an opening of genuine beauty. I love how when a rose or any flower is open I don’t think “that flower would be more beautiful if that pedal was a different color…” I just think “wow pure beauty!” I wish I could look at myself and not pick at things I wish were different and instead just see the pure natural beauty. So this opening is how I am going to link shoulder loop. But how will I get this metaphor to work for kidney loop?…..I thought when a flower is in a bud the stem is straight and when the flower opens it does NOT all of a sudden put a kink in the middle of the stem. If it did that it would snap the stem in half which would cause the flower to die. No the stem stays strong which supports the opening of the bud. SO as we work shoulder loop we to need to maintain the integrity of our core by practicing kidney loop.

Ta Da!! That is how I am linking shoulder loop and kidney loop into the theme of self love celebration + our relationship with our self + roses...

The class went great. I wrote this blog before and fine tuned it after. But one thing I realized while teaching the class that was wonderful and not fully planned. Was that the loops are really a refinement of the practice. Asking the students to really observe where they are in the pose and what their shoulders and ribs are doing and based off that non judgmental observation make these refinements to experience more of an opening… that focus, patience and awareness really helped deepen the relationship each student had with themselves. (it was wonderful to be a part of that)