Old Moon Yoga

“Top of a push up” the instructor commanded. I was new to Yoga then but knew this just did not sound right. “Plank pose” is what most teachers had called it up until now. To the uninitiated it might seem like a nothing pose. It does not appear to have a Sanskrit name. A pose to pass through on the way to somewhere better? Plank is a great pose in its own right and worth pausing for. Worthy of a little attention. Top of a push up is most certainly is not.

I am holding what I believe to be a pretty good plank, why then in the instructor pushing my stomach up and at the same time trying to adjust my shoulder. The problem is that it is so easy to see when someone is out of shape in plank pose. It is one straight line with the body. Any imperfection is easy to spot. Other poses don’t suffer this scrutiny. There can be multiple up or down dog poses in the class. The perfect dog pose is hard to define.

Plank is simple but very deceptive. As I look around a beginner class I see various attempts that range from “dangling cobra” to a sort of semi down dog pose. So how does an instructor correct all of these variations. I picture myself in the beginner class like a guy spinning plates. Raise the tummy on this Yogi, rush to the next, push down the butt on the second. On to the third. Not bad, but straighten the legs more. On to number 4 no wait number 1 has started to sag again. Rush back to one raise tummy, back to 4. Ah no number 6 just crashed on to their mat.

There has to be a better way. I found this technique as a way to teach plank. Variations of this work for all levels and seems to get great results in all class levels.

The prep.

Starting on all fours, shoulders over the wrists. Fingers spread wide. Middle fingers face forwards. Eventually the thumbs point towards each other. Step the right foot back them the left. Have the feet a little wider than hip width.

This gets the body into the right position to begin the focus…..

Feeling the core.

The next step is to show that the core muscles are highly active in this pose. Take you right hand and touch the heart and your left side. Putting that hand down. Now take you left hand and touch your right side and your navel. Having marked out a diamond it is much easier for the Yogis to focus on the next stage. Tightening every muscle in that diamond.

Now the core is actively involved we are ready for the icing….

Every muscle is engaged.

Tuck the butt, pull up on the kneecaps, push the heels back. Now push down with every finger and thumb, starting with the pinkie working towards the thumbs.

There you have it a perfect plank pose every time. Plank is intense. It core work its shoulder work, leg work and arms. Its not a pose to pass through but one to perfect.

Top of a push up it is not. The results are perfect plank poses every time and no broken crockery.

“Can you speed up the class and push us harder?” the fitness fanatic asked after a very nice class “No” replied the teacher. At the time I could not really appreciate why. I was a member of the sports club that provided Yoga classes as part of the over all fitness program. We liked our Yoga hot and fast.

As members of the sports club we defined our workouts in terms of sweat and breathlessness. “You had a good workout then” was the comment many of us would appreciate from fellow members as we made our way back to the locker room. The basic metric being how wet the tee shirt was. Soaked half way down was ok, but what you really needed, to get a hi five, was a tee shirt soaked right through and two additional dripping tees in the left hand. Imagine, then, the disgrace of completing a Yoga class and having to sneak back to the locker room with dry shirt. “um yes just got here actually, no not worked out yet”.

Even with this peer pressure I still attended each and every Yoga class at the club. Luckily there was a water fountain just outside of the Yoga studio, so soaking a couple of tee shirts after class was always a good face saving option. But I was really about soaking up as much Yoga as possible. The variety was great and being able to remember sequences easily allowed me to practice at home too. Obsessed would not be too strong a word for my approach to Yoga.

Occasionally I would “sub” for a teacher who did not show up. As I could remember the sequences it was easy. Of course, I discovered, I really loved to teach too. At the end of one such class someone said “ it was a nice class. You should try Yoga in a real Yoga studio, you would really like it. “yeh right” I think. I could not see how Yoga could be any different elsewhere. I had done every style from Yin to Yan, Iyengar to Vinyasa from a wide variety of teacher. Was I missing something?

Having now entered the world of Yoga in the studio it is hard for me to think about going back to a sports setting to practice. Where is the mood, the setting, the atmosphere? At the gym we switch those for ego driven ab attacks, and using force to muscle our way into poses we are not ready for. Once you cross the bridge there is no return.

So how much keep fit should we introduce into a Yoga class? Are people coming for the workout or the Yoga feeling? Are they coming for both? These days I don’t like Yoga classes to seem like a fitness workout. Yoga should be more subtle than that. Sneak a little ab work into the regular poses maybe, but not an obvious 5 minute set of screaming core work.

Then the call comes from Devi. “Can you sub a Yogalates class?”. “oh of course I don’t mind subbing the class” I reply. Like Laurey, from the musical Oklahoma, I can’t say no, to subbing. Even though I have no idea at all what Yogalates is. I have never taken a Pilates class much less taught one. In 4 hours time I will be teaching, this should be interesting. A little research reveals that Yogalates is mostly Yoga with additional core work.

Yogalates, I realize, is the gym/yoga studio cross over activity. Come for the fitness stay for the Yoga. Stomach crunches and sit ups work for the sports fanatic. Yoga is about how you feel when you leave. “Get down and give me 20 press ups” seems a little out of place in a pure Yoga class but back in my early Yoga days I attended a yoga class where we did do 20 press ups as part of the warm up. I decide to teach the class like a yoga class but with emphasis on the poses that work the core.

Only now do I understand that teacher who would not change her class for the keep fit fanatics at the club. Oh dear I have become a Yoga snob? Maybe, but maybe not, these thoughts and Dick Van Dyke’s infamous cockney accent in Mary Poppins inspired the theme for today’s class.

“Core blimey”

Had this been a classroom full of 10 year old kids the reaction would have been fits of giggles. An audible burst of flatulence in an adult Yogi class is a little different. Like Rod Stewart I deliver my well rehearsed ad lib line “good idea everyone find something to release”.  Yikes the elephant in the room just got even bigger. “I am sure in some cultures that would have been funny” I tell myself oh that fragile ego.

These things can happen. It is going to happen to all of us at some point I am sure.  You can only hold Mula Bandha for so long. So from a teacher perspective it’s a good thing to “hear”.  At least one Yogi is now a little more relaxed for the practice. Well, once they are past the social embarrassment of course.  So what is a good way to handle this “feedback” from the class?  Ignoring the elephant is awkward. Ideas welcome as clearly a well delivered “ad lib” is not the answerJ

“It is good to yawn” I remember a teacher telling me once. “It means the body needs more oxygen and the yawn is the body’s way of getting it”.  I look across at 4 yogis opposite me. As usual one yawn starts a chain reaction that has set in and all four are yawning now. Is one looking at the clock too?  I am not so sure about this “yawn is a good thing idea” I think to myself.  These bodily functions are really taking their toll on this fragile instructor.

The class is in forward fold as I look around the room I see a Yogi picking away at her toe nail polish. Having never worn toe nail polish I am not intimately familiar with the psychological relaxation benefits of peeling small pieces of paint off.  “Could you just sit up and yawn or something” I think to myself. “Find something to release” I suggest to the group, hoping she does not see this as the green light to start on the other foot. Is my class really that boring, fragile, fragile

For final savasana, if the class is not too large, I have recently been using a sand bag across the hips. It helps to deepen the relaxation, or so I think.  A yogi came up to me after class recently with this advice “Sand bag on a full bladder, not good”. He looked so calm and relaxed too.

Teachers are human too.  Hard to believe, possibly, but it’s true. For us the pressure (no pun intended) of maintaining Mula Bandha for an entire class because of an ill chosen curry the night before is no joke. Imagine the size of the elephant in this situation. Mmm maybe not, lead by example, well there is only one way to learn more about the acceptable social etiquette.

I teach an early class twice a week and start the morning with at least two mugs of strong tea. By the time I get to class I have more caffeine in me that downtown Seattle on a Monday morning. The class starts smoothly enough then I begin to realize that the last mug was maybe one to many.  The door to the bathroom seems a mile away and getting smaller. It’s ok for students. They can get up and walk out any time they like. “Everyone take down dog” while I nip to the bathroom is not really going to fly.  I hang on modifying the sequence of poses so that I don’t have to demonstrate quite as many twists.

If you have read my previous blogs you will know that there is no way I am “nipping out” during savasana either.  Class ends with no one any the wiser, clearly, as two Yogi come over to talk about poses. Normally I welcome this but today I am unwittingly inventing a new stretch. This expanding balloon pose does not have a name yet. “Party poppers” “Caffeinasana” perhaps?  Or may be just omg omg omg omg.  The mantra used both during the pose and when it is finally released. These bodily functions are really taking their toll on this fragile instructor.

Bodily functions are natural; we cannot switch them off for the duration of a yoga class. So relax and find something to release, unless you are in “Caffeinasana” of course.

“Happy feet” the instructor demanded. We were in Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose) at the time.  I had not been doing Yoga that long, but I resisted the urge to swing upright and shuffle from foot to foot like a cartoon penguin nearing extinction. Instead I spread my toes and pulled the foot towards me. The pose transformed.  My now tense back leg is strong and stable as we hold the pose.

I am still not sure why the command “Happy feet” converted into this action, but I guess there is not that much you can do to make your feet “happy” when standing on one leg and struggling for balance. She could have said “screaming feet”,  “feet in hot water”  or “feet with cramp”. They all would have worked.

Recently I have been noticing in my classes this “other foot” is often looking a little sad. In Iyengar classes there is always careful consideration to all limbs in all poses.  In Vinyasa flow, though, we tend to be less precise making it more about the feel, the breath and the movement.

The class is taking Marichyasana I.  You know the pose where you try to get your knee behind your shoulder whilst maintaining a flat back and bending forward head heading towards the knee, arms wrapped around the back and knee and keeping both butt cheeks on the floor. “The world is your oyster once you can get your leg behind your head” I spout encouragingly.  As I look around there are lots of “sad” feet. So, just what the Yogis need at this point, yet another thing to think about in the pose, “Happy feet” I announce. It is like magic. With the foot and therefore the leg now engaged, the poses look more solid, more grounded. The yogis don’t look any happier though, better save the “smile at the instructor” command for next week

There are so many poses where “happy feet” make a difference. Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Big Toe Pose) for example is another great one. The forward facing leg all limp and sad, then the command “happy feet” brings it back as an integral part of the pose. All of the body now engaged as it should be. Once again the pose transforms.

Pigeon is another great pose to practice happy feet.  Curling back the toes on the bent leg this time helps protect the knee from the strain the hip puts in it.

Ever noticed how Yoga instructors use Sanskrit names for nearly all poses but always use English when it is time for “Pigeon”? I think this because the Sanskrit is Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, enough Sanskrit to trip the most nimble of western tongues. It is rivaled, perhaps, by this classic “Triang Mukha Eka Pada Paschimottanasana” which, unfortunately for us poor instructors, has no ornithological comparison to use as a short cut.  Apparently one leg folded under with the other leg behind whilst leaning forward looks like a pigeon.  One leg folded under with the other leg in front while leaning forward on the other hand does not look like a bird. Ah but lift that leg in the air and suddenly you have Krounchasana (Heron Pose).

The Sanskrit seems so much more expressive in comparison to their western translations.  e.g  Camatkarasana has this poetic translation according to Yoga Journal “the ecstatic unfolding of the enraptured heart.”  In English we call it “wild thing”.  Imagine the strange looks as I try this in class though “everyone flip your dog into ‘the ecstatic unfolding of the enraptured heart.’ The class stares blankly at me, wondering if I have been at the pain killers again  ….. “Err um …. I mean ‘wild thing’

Well I wanted a Sanskrit translation for “happy feet” and called on my Indian friends. They tell me that one translation is  Svasthyapada   Literal translation – healthy and contented (svasthya) feet (pada)”.  I love it

Happy feet can make a big difference to so many poses. I have been trying it out recently in classes. It always seems to work. “Happy feet” I suggest. The reaction is immediate and just what I am looking for. So if you are in my class this year expect to hear the command “Svasthyapada” or more likely the original….

“Happy feet.”

“That was a wonderful class, I loved the sequencing”. The sort of feedback any instructor would be happy to receive. “Can you let me have the sequence please?”  Oh dear, I have no idea what the sequence was. I never plan a class that closely and certainly never write it down. Luckily, I have a good memory for sequences but am I doing something wrong not having a plan?

“Hi, it’s me, I know this is short notice but can you sub for me at 5:30 tonight?” The phone call is unexpected but very welcome. I look at my watch, it is 5:00pm and I am about a 15 minute ride from the studio. “Sure,” I reply “no problem” and with about as much planning as it takes to find the bike keys and don the helmet I head off to the Yoga studio.

My own classes could be way more thought through of course. Tonight we will focus on the arm balance Astavakrasana (Eight-Angle Pose), I think to myself.  I love this pose, and judging by the number of yoga instructor promotional fliers one sees, so do most other Yoga instructors.  The class begins to filter in. Mostly it’s new people. “Everyone take down dog”.  Mmm… change of plan.  There is no way we are doing that pose tonight. The class is just not ready.  I can’t plan my classes; it all depends on who comes and, who doesn’t come.

“People like familiarity; they like to know what they are getting,” the studio owner explains to me. It’s a good point; you shell out your $20 for the second time because you liked the previous class and know what you are getting for your money.  I have friends who will only do Bikram Yoga because the 26 poses always in the same sequence means they know exactly what they are getting and what to expect.  “Over 2000 poses and you get to do just 26. You don’t know what you are missing” I evangelize to deaf ears.

An outline of a plan

I can’t plan the class; I can’t be in that tight a box, but I can have a framework within which to develop the class.

There is a general structure, into which a typical class will fall.

• Gentle stretch and meditation to focus the mind
• The warm up
• Standing poses mostly focused on the legs and hip
• A balance to refocus the mind and provide that mental and physical transition to the floor
• Floor poses for front, back and shoulders
• An inversion or two and finishing sequence
• Savasana

So within this framework a variety of sequences can be built. There are different collections of sequences for each section.  Everything can be adjusted to suit the class and even during the class to suit the changing moods. Each class can be mixed and matched by dipping into each sections “bag of tricks”. More tricks can be added to each bag over time, too. I learned a lovely vinyasa flow to Garudasana (Eagle Pose) recently. That one went straight into the bag.  Thank you Lauren

My morning class at the Devi studio can be a little chilly, so I get there early and get the heaters going. These heaters are huge and sound like small aircrafts trying to escape from earth’s gravity. It’s a morning class so everyone turns up at exactly 7:00am. It’s as if the bus just dropped them off at the back door. They get ready on their mats.  I cannot just turn the heaters off though; they decide when to shut down.  My “plan”, for today, is my usual warm up routine that has everyone doing some gentle stretching first before meditation. We patiently wait for the heaters.  At the moment the heaters stop everyone takes meditation.  The moment feels perfect, but completely unplanned. I cannot stick to my script now, I have to adjust. Even my starting pose has to be thrown out. The class has spoken, the class has decided. Between the class and heaters I am not sure who is in charge here. I could have stayed in bed longer.

Some time ago, Mozart was attributed to having invented “A Musical Dice Game for Composing a Minuet” (Mozart’s Musikalisches Würfelspiel).  The idea was simple enough.  Pre-written musical measures could be “pasted” together in various ways to create a unique Minuet at the roll of a dice. The combinations, though not infinite, were certainly astronomical.

What if a Yoga class could be constructed in the same way? No two classes would ever be the same, but as a student you would always know what you were going to get in a broad sense.  The framework remains the same, only the specific content changes. With this approach, 2000 poses, and familiarity, is possible. For students and instructors, a lifetime of different classes becomes available. Thank you Mozart J

Sometimes, I come to class with a theme.

“All the warriors…” during Super Bowl week.

“All the birds…” during Thanksgiving.  (This was a seriously hard class, there are no easy bird poses)

“Marichyasana (Marichi’s Pose) sitting or standing on either foot……..”

Other times, I have a particular pose as the goal. These can all be built on top of the framework.

In some future blog, I may dip into favorite sequences for each section. But for now here is the whole class sequence that my friend and fellow teacher asked me about.

The warm up

Warm up with breathing and neck stretches followed by side stretches
Eyes closed meditation.
Arms over head, arms out wide, arms over head, forward fold over crossed legs

Up to all fours and step back to plank pose, hold
lower to baby cobra
push back down dog

Standing sequences
Step forward, forward fold, half forward fold, forward fold
come all the way up hands over head

3 sun salutation A
3 sun salutation B  (with pause on chataranga and up dog)

1 leg in the air vinyasa sequence (both sides)

Side plank both sides

Down dog
jump forward, longer hold chair pose
half chair
forward folds
curl up to equal standing pose (pause)

Chair again, chair twist
step back to lunging twist
crescent lunge with side stretch
humble warrior
toppling tree
standing splits
twisted half moon
Step back and retake the twist (optional bind or arm balance)
Twisted chair
chair
all the way up on to toes
bird that flies through open spaces
back up and repeat on the other side

forward fold again curl up
equal standing pose (pause)

Warrior I
Warrior II (bound)
Triangle (bound)
half moon (bound)
Triangle
side stretch (bind)
Bird of Paradise
bound lunge again
Lizard
Optional arm balance (Eka Pada Koundiyanasana I )
Crazy stretch twist, quad stretch thing
Repeat on other side

The balance
Marichyasana (Marichi’s Pose) (standing on one foot, there is another name for this)

Floor poses
Vinyasa
down dog splits
pigeon
repeat on other side

Half dragon fly (both sides)
half bow (both sides)
full bow

Marichyasana  (Marichi’s Pose)
half lord of the fishes
repeat

One legged Marichyasana  (Marichi’s Pose) balance (both sides)

Inversions and finishing
on to back
plough
shoulder stand
twisted ear pinching pose
ear pinching pose
Fish

Eagle legs twist

Savasana
final resting pose

“What is that stuff?”  the yogi asks me at the end of class. Clearly they did not understand what they were agreeing too during Savasana.  They were smiling though so all is good, I think.

When I first started yoga I would occasionally attend classes where, at the start, we would be asked if we would like some China gel.  I had no idea. No idea what is was or what I should do with it. “um I am ok” I would say dumbly or more often than not just say anything.  At the end of these classes the instructor would treat us to a light forehead massage with special lotion, a different kind of savasana.  Had these been my only Yoga classes I might have thought it the only way the right way to end Savasana.

Some Yoga studios promote the use of gel and lotions others are not so keen.  So is it a good idea?  Do Yogis, new and experienced, like it or merely tolerate it?  Recently I have been trying to end most of my classes with a little China gel neck massage. The feedback has been largely positive, if fact some tell me it’s the best bit of the whole class. (I guess that says something about my teaching   ).  So Gels and lotions good or bad and what are the downsides?

Asking first makes sense of course. It would be an odd class indeed if the instructor just wandered around liberally spreading lotions and gels on every visible piece of skin the class at any opportunity. Aside from the dangers of allergic reactions, the mixture of sweat and China gel would eventually build in aroma and turn the class, perhaps, into something closer to a group glue sniffing session. One way to reach Samadhi!

So we ask first but how and when?  I like to finish with a little massage using China gel.  The idea is that the warming affect helps to relax the shoulders neck and head, while the aroma clears the nose for clear breathing. Hopefully this all adds up to a deeper Savasana.

Asking the class if they want the neck massage is a little easier than asking if anyone has any medical issue. At least you get an answer to the former question. Well mostly, sometimes it’s just a confused look, must be this British accent again.  Still some may feel embarrassed to commit. So I like to ask during the final twists just before Savasana. “Wiggle a foot at me if you would rather not have the China Gel neck massage”. Simple enough instruction you might think. People rarely wiggle their foot.  They look up, smile, wave, but rarely wiggle their foot. Sometimes the wave means “no, leave me out”. Sometimes it means “Pick me pick me”. Darn the accent once more.

The feedback as I move from person to person encourages me that this is nice way to end class. Some smile; some even whisper thank you. “No words needed, relax” I think to myself. Occasionally someone will open their eyes to thank me too. “Relax”. Other regulars even give me specific instructions. “A little lower on the shoulders please, not too much on the neck”

The final neck massage is gentle moment between instructor and yogi in the final stages of relaxation. Meant to enhance the Savasana it can back fire.  Creaking floor boards probably mean the group is listen to me wander around the room rather than drifting into Savasana. Thankfully no one sees my “grasshopper walking on the rice paper” impressions as I circumnavigate the room.  Dropping the jar on the floor, or the student’s head sort of breaks the moment too.  But my favorite was a new student, who may have been a little deaf. The class has been in silent meditation now for nearly 10 minutes (there are a lot of necks to massage). As I get to the final person, they look at me and shout “WHAT  IS IT? I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT”.  Well it seemed liked a shout.

So the jury is out for me, to gel or not to gel?  I would love to hear from you, what do you thing?

One final thought, if you are a teacher and want to experiment, practice at home on a willing partner before working with your students. Just remember one thing. When you are finished, don’t stick your finger in your eye.

As I led in Savansana I realized it had been a good one, and therefore a great yoga class, when the familiar words “wiggle your fingers, wiggle your toes” cut through my reverie and triggered my journey back to the real world.  Familiar words, but I had forgotten them until that moment. When was the last time I had heard or used those words at the end of a class? What is the best way to end a class?

The measure of the success of a class is surely the time the class spends on the mat after the final Namaste. We take our brief journey towards Samyama, the final three limbs of Yoga, in the last 5 to 10 minutes of the class.

There are so many ways to get in and so many ways to exit Savasana, different things clearly work for different students and different teachers.

“.. and stretch your feet out for final Savasana” I suggest. “legs a little wider than hip width, hands close to your sides, palms up. Try not to touch anything with your hands or feet.” The class is large (ok this is an imaginary class for the sake of this explanation) and the group is already taking different options. Some take a blanket for their head. “Good choice, keeping the nose higher than the chin.” I think to myself. Others bend their legs, candidates for a bolster. Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose) legs is an option someone takes. A couple of people choose to sit upright. “mmm I don’t remember giving that option, I see I have my usual level of command over the class tonight”.  Others are wrapped in blankets, as some people feel the cold much more than others. Some students even bring their own eye pillows and other props. Savasana is a serious part of the practice, it is important to be comfy.

For my smaller classes I like to go all out with sandbags, eye pillows (in the palms not on the eyes) and of course the optional neck massage. A lot of preparation for this brief journey perhaps, but the goal is to go deep so the preparation so worth it.

During Yoga Nidra sessions there is a magical moment when the room clearly drops deeper with the guided meditation. As the instructor you can actually feel the group mood change, it is quite an amazing feeling.

The journey may be guided with words, with music or in silence. The result is perfect calm for mind and body and a different journey for each person in the room.

So what is the best way to come back to reality?  There are so many options:-

The OM.

The teacher chants an om. They have to have a good voice of course.

The chant

See the OM only the voice better be really good this time.

The silent OM

The instructor talks through this one. No need for expensive singing lessons here.

Wiggle your fingers, wiggle your toes.

The classic that, for the longest time, I thought was the only way to exit Savasana.

Chimes or bells

All of the above jar with me when I am teaching. I don’t like the idea of my voice being the first things to break the silence. (see the Err Um Om blog entry) I like to use chimes. Usually three rings on the chimes does the job. I like this return to reality personally, the gentle initial chime nudging me in the right direction.

The Mistakes
Mistakes are a good way to learn what not to do of course. Battling with the CD player to load the latest “Karma Moffet’s Golden Bowls”. Only to discover the previous session had left the volume wound up past loud all the way to “disco inferno” does not work. Forgetting the lights, fans, or that the back door is open also taxes the student’s concentration somewhat. Simple things like the teacher walking around the room to lower the music or adjust the lighting just are not worth it. Leave the music, leave the lights, its too late.

But my absolute favorite, from a class in which I was a student…… Lying in Savanasa we hear the clump, clump, clump of someone moving around the room. “sleep walking” is my charitable thought.  Imagine the concentration challenge as I, and presumable the rest of the class, follow the foot steps as they head towards the rear. The door creaks open as our poor sufferer finds their way to the restrooms. Ever noticed how close the restrooms are to the Yoga studio, and how thin the walls are?  My focus is now completely shot as I contemplate the amount of water I drank during class. Our mystery automaton makes their way back to their starting point just in time to exit savasana. I console myself “At least they remembered to wash their hands”.

Does this seem far fetched? Surely they can wait 5 minutes? Well it has happened more than once while I have been attempting savasana.

“Wiggle your fingers, wiggle your toes”  time to come back to reality

“You might have to call me ‘gimpy’”. The call from “Capt John” came just two days before the John and Clive show was scheduled. The charity project had been “planned” for a couple of months now. Well more accurately we had been tossing the idea around for a couple of months. The planning, by design, had been minimal so far but it had always been the plan that there would be two of us providing the instruction though.

There were few goals, make a contribution to a worthy charity, give everyone who came an interesting and different Yoga session, and have some fun in the process.  John and I always felt that the interplay between our two different styles and our similar love of combining Yoga with laughter would make this more of a Show than a Yoga class. So the stage had been set (ouch sorry about the rather obvious pun)

We planned the show the day before.  The whole idea was to allow this to be as spontaneous as possible. We would not entirely wing it; just have a broad framework within which we would see where the session took us.  Watching the Capt move, I was a little concerned, the good news was that I would have no problem finding someone to pick on: Gimpy.

So how different was this “Show” going to be?  Well let’s see it featured, amongst other things:

• Warrior wars
• Levitating dog
• Guest appearance and demonstration
• Tea with the Queen
• Jaws

Music can really enhance a Yoga class, but how do you plan a play list together for a session that has by design no plan? Over to the master for that one; I suggest a few of my favorites and John pulled together a great playlist literally overnight.

John and I meet 30 minutes before the show. There is no sign of Gimpy. It seems there is no way John would miss this show either. He even throws in a demo of Kapinjalasana (The bird that feeds on raindrops) during the show.

What if we threw a party and no one came? There has been no advertizing of the show, and the time Sunday 2:00pm was not ideal. We had no clue how many people might come.  “The bus must be stuck in traffic” we joke as the class is slowly filling. It really seems that way as there are 5 yoga mats laid out but unattended. It is past the hour, we decide to wait for them and so starts the impromptu session as we kick off with a foot massage.  No, I don’t rush around rubbing everyone’s feet, after all Dawn is in the room.    This is a self guided foot massage session.

The “bus” finally arrives and we get started for real. An intense warm up followed by Warrior wars. The Capt and I are trading off different Warrior poses of either increasing complexity or esotericism. Warrior IV and Twisted-Twisted Warrior are a couple that spring to mind.  Try looking these two up on google or yogajournal.com

Have you ever played the game musical chairs? When the music stops and you rush to find a chair to sit on. We had a variation in the John and Clive Show, when the theme from “Jaws” plays, everyone takes Shark pose until the normal music resumes and we continue with the class.

The final part of the show became more reflective, restorative poses followed by some Yoga Nidra bringing the session to a calming finish. The para-sympathetic nervous system received a double dose of everything that is good for it, Yoga and laughter: the ultimate combination.

Sharing a room with another teacher was an interesting experience too. Not so much the loss of control, but achieving the balance for the students. It could have gone so horribly wrong, but the Capt is such an excellent teacher, mentor and guide it all worked very naturally.

We decided we would let the audience decide how good the show was by accepting charitable donations only at the end.  We received $600 for St Jude’s Children’s hospital so I think we may have gotten something right!

There are no plans for another Show, but then again we did not plan this one. If and when we do, I hope you can join us. Maybe you will even learn what “tea with the queen” is.

“Oh there’s a sub tonight?” The disappointment is clear on the face and in the voice. “Yes it’s Clive……um…he is very good” the girl behind the desk suggests hopefully. Clive stands there inane grin plastered on face. Could this be anymore awkward? She wants to turn and walk out, save her $20 for another day. Social etiquette kicks in. She smiles politely and hands over the cash. I decide a better vantage point for this particular sub is inside the studio on the mat. Yes it’s time I warmed up anyway.

The social niceties that caused the woman at check in to stay are not shared by everyone in the class. One person packs up and leaves. Presumably demanding the return of cash gathered under false pretenses. At least I hope so or the message to this poor sub is “I would rather be any where else but in your class.” Ouch!

I totally understand the emotion of course. As teachers we don’t pick our students they pick us. Over time people gravitate to the teachers they resonate with. That does not mean I have a class full of short, bald, old age, dudes, who are past their sale by date. For each of us there is something about certain teachers that works for us. Everyone is different and we all look for something different in our instructors. So the disappointment hits you when your long sought teacher is not “performing” today. It’s not about the Asana, it’s about the experience.

Back in the studio I feel like I am at a party where everyone else knows everyone else. It’s my worse nightmare; ugh I hate these kinds of parties. Better face this problem head on; this is no time to hide on the corner of my mat with a beer and large plate of finger food. “Hi I am Clive, I am subbing tonight” I say, as I start to “work” the room shaking everyone’s hand. “Hi I am Samantha.”

And so it begins the desperate battle to try to remember some names. I have been teaching classes for nearly a year now and the names are just starting to kick in. Association that is the key to remembering, repeat the name and associate it with something. Samantha, “Bewitched” I the TV program I am sure her name was Sam. Got it, one down about 12 to go.

“hi I am Clive “ I announce again. Jane shakes my hand. Associate, associate, “You Jane me Tarzan” mmm nope I have to keep my shirt on (read previous blog). “Baby Jane” the movie yes perfect. She is young, well younger than me and has the light hair and dark eyes. Next….

“Hi I am Clive …..”., muttering “and I will be your waiter for this evening” to myself.. Hi my name is Ramanchandra Krishnaswami”. Ok this game is over. I can’t remember my own classes after a year, I have no chance here. So I “work” the rest of the room, wondering where they hid the beer, and promptly forget all the names, except Sam. Mmm or was that Samantha, this is shaping up to be very embarrassing.

I have no idea if there are any injuries. The ideal time to ask would have been when I was touring the room but I was too busy trying to associate names with black and white movies. So my class, like so many other sub classes is gentler and less challenging than the real thing. Adjustments? Well we have steer clear of those too. I console myself; No one wants their sub to be better than them anyway.

Music is the next challenge, where does the iPod plug in, how does the volume work? What kind of music do they expect or like. Some teacher don’t use music at all on the theory that it gets in the way of concentration. This is no time for that playlist with the punk rock track. Time to be conservative again, can’t gate crash a party and demand your own music.

As a new teacher, unless you are really lucky, subbing is your only way into teaching. You put yourself on a sub list and wait. It’s a baptism of fire, brand new to teaching, class full of students expecting, wanting, and anticipating someone else, the Yogic equivalent of the medical intern perhaps.

If you are a student, take a chance try the sub, you may like it. You may learn something new. When I make a commitment to go to a yoga class I always stay if there is a sub, it gives me so much more exposure to different styles and teaching.

It’s a little like visiting you favorite restaurant and resisting that dish on the menu you know you love, branching out and picking another dish, just as an experiment.

I have had find subs for a couple of my classes recently. I really appreciate their help, in what is possibly the worse teaching scenario in Yoga. The only advice I could think to give them was “have fun and teach your own class”.

Have to go now. I am subbing a class this morning.

The characters portrayed in this blog are, almost, purely fictional. Samantha was loosely based on a popular pin up in an English tabloid newspaper. Jane, a cartoon character from the same tabloid. Kris while he may exist and may have done Yoga, certainly never came to any of my classes. I would have remembered that name

I am teaching my beginner class, everyone is watching me closely. They watch every move as we take Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I Pose).  Once in the pose I straighten up to walk around the class. The class straightens up with me. I squat back down in the pose. Frozen unable to move,  every movement every motion I make is mimicked by my class. It’s at this point that the feeling starts.

My right ear is desperately needs a scratch. The more I think about it the itchier it becomes. I need to stick my finger my ear. How can I do that with a room full of students watching my every move? It will look like a group audition for an early Jim Carrie movie.

If only this was a level II-III class. Whole sequences of poses can be reduced to a single word. “Vinyasa”, I command and the whole class cycles through the well understood sequence. Some are even cycling through with their eyes shut.

How do we, as Yogis progress from watching every movement listen to every word to blind folded serenity?

Another class now, any class is does not matter, everyone is facing me, “raise your left leg” I say as I raise mine to demonstrate. “no other left” I joke as a couple of people raise their right.  Later in the class it’s time for Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) “The right arm goes up the left down”.  Confusion, why is this so hard. Is it my British accent again? There is always one who twists the wrong way, always. It’s great fun of course, gives me a chance to pick on someone and even threaten to sing the Sesame Street song. Everyone knows their left from their right, what is going on here?

People learn in three different ways.

• Verbal or instruction
• Visual or demonstration
• Tactile or touching and adjustment.

We all have different capacities to learn in each of these modes.  Some people, me included, and even some extremely bright people, cannot learn effectively through verbal instruction. “Rotate your left leg inwards.” the instructor might as well be speaking Martian to me.  I stare, eyes fixed on her trying to figure out, what “left leg inwards” means. I grab an appropriate leg, at least I think it is, it is one of mine, and manually try to twist it somehow.  “It’s more a feeling that a real movement” she continues. What! How am I supposed to see a feeling? She can see my feeling it is all over my face. “Now inner spiral the …..” ok that’s me done.

Clearly as teachers we have to cater to all kinds of learning traits. If someone in the class is not a verbal learner, standing up the front calling out instruction is not going to be terribly effective. So how should I teach Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose) to this mixed bag of learners?

Verbal.

I begin “Triangles have straight side”. What is this kindergarten? May be I should not be so condescending but clearly at least 3 people don’t get it. “legs spread wide pull up on the knee caps, to straighten the legs”  Reinforcement of the straight legs that ought to do it. Now the tricky part, “you need to stack you hips, one on top the other”.  I glance around things are not going well, may be a course in Klingon would help.  There are a lot more words to come of course but I have already lost half the class. It is time to move on and cater to the visual learners.

Visual

I am facing a room of Yogis, mostly women. I have to show them what I mean by stack you hips, it’s crucial to the pose. I turn and face away from the class, breaking the teacher training code right there, but it gets worse.  “Everyone look at my butt” I demand as I attempt to demonstrate a movement a little like “The bump” with wide legs. It’s at this point in the class that my wife arrives, late from work. “oh um err, just trying to help everyone with their visualization dear ”  Perhaps I need to walk among the group and do the pose between the mats, clearly some are just still not getting it. These must be the tactile learners. Time for stage 3

Tactile

“Yes your honor, I was just attempting to show these Yogis how the pose should feel, so it was a necessary part of my job to adjust every butt in the class”.  Adjustments, that delicate area with lawsuits pending, were discussed in my previous blog. Without adjustments how does this huge percentage of the class learn?

Personally, I am a tactile learner and I know this transfers into my teaching. I love adjustments and love to offer adjustments. It’s not about the precise pose; it’s about experiencing the right feeling. Knowing how the pose should feel. If you put weight in the outside edge of your back foot in Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose) you can use it to help tuck your butt under more.  What a lot of words, one quick demonstration and you will feel what I mean and, possibly, never forget.

An experienced class will be like a professional orchestra. The teacher calling out familiar poses and the class moving in unison, some even with eyes closed, feeling their way through. As soon as we get to an unfamiliar pose though it’s all eyes and ears on the instructor and here come those three modes of teaching.

She explains and demonstrates, we watch and listen. Some Yogis learn. Finally she visits us “attention seekers” to adjust us so we can feel what is expected.  This is true for all levels of class of course.

Teaching a true beginner class is like standing before a mirror. Unsure what is Yoga and what is teaching, the students copy every single movement of the instructor. All the rules of teaching apply to this class too, but remember there is one extra one

never pick your nose in a beginner class.

Maybe you already know what kind of learner you are? If not here are a couple of suggestions for finding out. You can read the following boring chart of words I shamelessly copied from another site or you can come to one of my classes and see what happens. Remember if I touch your butt, it’s purely in the interest of education

Check out the chart below, it’s ok to be a bit of all three.

When you..	Visual	Auditory	Kinesthetic & Tactile
Spell	Do you try to see the word?	Do you sound out the word or use a phonetic approach?	Do you write the word down to find if it feels right?
Talk	Do you dislike listening for too long? Do you favor words such as see, picture, and imagine?	Do you enjoy listening but are impatient to talk? Do you use words such as hear, tune, and think?	Do you gesture and use expressive movements? Do you use words such as feel, touch, and hold?
Concentrate	Do you become distracted by untidiness or movement?	Do you become distracted by sounds or noises?	Do you become distracted by activity around you?
Meet someone again	Do you forget names but remember faces or remember where you met?	Do you forget faces but remember names or remember what you talked about?	Do you remember best what you did together?
Contact people on business	Do you prefer direct, face-to-face, personal meetings?	Do you prefer the telephone?	Do you talk with them while walking or participating in an activity?
Read	Do you like descriptive scenes or pause to imagine the actions?	Do you enjoy dialog and conversation or hear the characters talk?	Do you prefer action stories or are not a keen reader?
Do something new at work	Do you like to see demonstrations, diagrams, slides, or posters?	Do you prefer verbal instructions or talking about it with someone else?	Do you prefer to jump right in and try it?
Put something together	Do you look at the directions and the picture?		Do you ignore the directions and figure it out as you go along?
Need help with a computer application	Do you seek out pictures or diagrams?	Do you call the help desk, ask a neighbor, or growl at the computer?	Do you keep trying to do it or try it on another computer?