Two weeks ago we had a Friday night philosophy class with Sean Haleen based around theming. I really enjoyed learning from him, and what he taught integrated perfectly with what Elise was teaching us. He helped us to think about different ways to theme, ranging from peak poses, body parts, stories, philosophies, emotions, and quotes. In the classes that I’ve taken with him in the past, I’ve found this use of stories to help theme quite inspiring, and so it was great to learn more about how he utilizes stories to compose a class. He talked a lot about the koshas, based upon the second chapter of the Yoga Sutras. Koshas are hard to define, but they have to do with a cloaking of the heart and the ways in which we see the world. In a sense, they are like the layers of onion, and as we peel them off, we are more able to see things as they are. They have four different levels of intensity, ranging from active, when you’re super attached to the layers, to dormant, when you’re quite far from being stuck in the samskaras, or energetic grooves, that keep you attached. This is obviously an intricate system, but it was fun to think about in relationship to theming and structuring a class.

Then over this past weekend, Darcy led our Friday night philosophy class, which was centered around the psychological concepts of transference and counter-transference. I don’t think that this is something that a lot of yoga teachers are taught, and I’m so grateful that she imparted it upon us. It’s so common for yoga students to transfer early learned psychological dynamics on to yoga teachers, or really any teacher for that matter. This is especially true in regard to idealization transference. Because yoga teachers are for some people spiritual teachers, the transference can get really intense, and has the possibility of being really unhealthy, especially if the yoga teacher does not handle the transference in an ethical manner. Counter-transference is basically the response to the transference that occurs, so we learned, in a sense, ways to deal with transference in ethical and responsible ways. So many yoga teachers don’t do this, as we can see in the cases of so many scandals in so many places. Darcy left us with the task of writing our own sexual code of conduct, so that we can be prepared for different tensions that might arise during our times as teachers. I feel really grateful to have had the opportunity to learn about this from her, as it really is so rarely discussed.

The post San Francisco Yoga Tree Teacher Training: Sequencing, Theming, and Transference appeared first on Yoga Tree.

Tim Floreen

I teach a vigorous, challenging, heated vinyasa flow class, but always with the understanding that students should modify and rest as needed, and always with the awareness that yoga is much more than just a workout. My classes also include breath work, meditation, and other traditional yogic practices, as well as plenty of lightness and silliness. And did I mention I like to play good music?  Learn more at http://www.yogatim.com/.

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About six months ago, during pigeon, he told the class about this amazing TED Talk he had seen with Amy Cuddy about body language. I watched the video when I got home and it has stayed with me ever since.

Instead of faking it until you make it, she talked about faking it until you BECOME it – that your body language and your posture can ultimately shape who you are as a person.

Isn’t that one of the primary functions of yoga?  Moving our bodies through asana that require us to have good posture, become comfortable in discomfort, to breathe life into the darkest parts of ourselves – until one day we emerge a better version of ourselves.  Having the confidence to hold ourselves tall, being able to move through challenging situations with ease, knowing ourselves better.

Watch Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk, and in the comments let me know what you are trying to become, and how you can fake it in the mean time.  (PS this is a great video to watch before walking into a conversation you’re intimidated about, like a job interview).

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What struck me almost immediately was the beauty of watching the mass of people move.  Lauren’s style is very fluid from her background as a dancer, and so watching a sea of people flow between the poses was incredibly beautiful – almost like a choreographed dance.

As a new teacher, I was completely in awe watching Lauren navigate the classroom.  She led a complex class fluidly, walked around the room giving adjustments, and was able to read the room.  When the energy of the class got really focused, she lightened the mood and made people laugh, reminding them that this is just a step in the journey and a place to gather information.

Having taught myself, I know how much skill it takes to juggle the different dynamics of teaching a well-taught class: having a good sequence, leading with clear language and instruction, giving hands-on assists, and paying attention to how her class was affecting her students.  So much was going on at the same time beneath the surface.  She was like a swan who seems to be gliding above the water, but below I know how much work was going on to propel her forward.

What moved me the most assisting Lauren’s class was the student’s trust in allowing me to watch them.  I’ve assisted other classes before, but none in such close quarters as this one.  When I’m in class I love having an assistant come and give me adjustments.  But being on the other side, it’s almost overpowering to see so many people in such an intimate way and knowing that they are completely trusting you.

They are allowing themselves to be very vulnerable, showing and moving their bodies in ways that tell their personal story without words.  As an assistant or a teacher, feeling that wave of intimacy is striking, humbling, and moving.

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Two weeks ago we completed our last anatomy segment with Harvey. It was really amazing to see it all come together in the end. I had anticipated a lot of anxiety about our final exam, as I really had no prior background in anatomy and as there is soo much about the body to know! But Harvey made it cohere in a way that I was very much impressed by, especially in relation to yoga. Taking some time to read the Anatomy of Movement book by Blandine Calais-Germain helped a lot too. He talked to us a bit about going on to the 500 hour training, and about ways that Yoga Tree might start having a college-style major system, so that people completing the 500 hour training can choose to major in an aspect of yoga, for instance, anatomy. It sounds like he’ll be spearheading the anatomy major in the future, which I feel really excited about.

Two nights ago we learned about women’s health and yoga from Britt Fohrman. Although we had already done an intensive on prenatal and postnatal yoga with Jane Austin, it quickly became apparent that there was so much more to learn in relationship to women’s health and yoga, ranging from the anatomy of the pelvic floor and particular poses, regardless of pregnancy to yoga and menstruation. She made an interesting point that for centuries, yoga was taught by men to men, without much regard for female anatomy. Today, the majority of yoga practitioners in the West are women, but many still learn yoga as it was designed for male anatomy. I had never really considered this, and was grateful for the insight. I left realizing that while this is true, and while much energy needs to go into this, there is even less regard in yoga worlds for people living outside of that gender binary, or for transgender people with different relationships to anatomy, hormones, visibility, and safety. I’m really interested in learning and thinking more about this, and I hope that when I go on to teach, that this can become a focal point in my practice.

Last Anatomy class of teacher training with Harvey

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Attitude Towards Food: From Willpower to Warrior!

By Darshana Weill
Food Freedom Mentor and Yoga Teacher

As many of you might know I had a history of struggling with my relationship to food. As a young girl I was a dancer and I believe because of that I did not hit puberty till 15 ½. This was a blessing in some ways but in another way my journey into women hood came as a shock. One day I was looking out at the world from the eyes of a young innocent girl, the next day I was full of rage, frustration and anger. And what was I angry with, MY BODY. It was changing –rapidly -and I didn’t understand. And that affected my relationship to food.

Before hitting puberty here’s what I ate for lunch. 10 peanut butter cookies. Yes that’s right. My mom gave me $1.00 for lunch and they were 10 cents. I bought 10 and ate them all. I justified it because I danced 4 hours a day after school. Other favorite foods were artichokes, salads, sandwiches, boxes of cereal- Crispix to be exact, cookie dough, the brownies out of the chocolate fudge brownie ice-cream, mike and ikes and tuna-fish. The word dieting was non-existent. Didn’t have to worry about it.

A few months after hitting puberty I was confused. I was rapidly gaining weight, an emotional crying mess, could not stand the skin I lived in, was eating everything in site and the 4 hours of dancing was not balancing me anymore.

Could what I eat be affecting my weight, moods, hormonal balance and energy? YES!  I started to think, no obsess about food all the time.

This went on for about 10 years. The only way out was to abide by the rules of the four-letter word….. “DIET!”

Luckily I was still into exercising. One day I stumbled into a yoga class at crunch gym where I was member. The minute I heard the woman with long black hair say, everyone please get a sticky mat, lay it on the ground and stand at the top of my mat my life changed. I became hooked to yoga. I started to not only feel connected to my body but to the greater flow of life.

At the same time I also started studying nutrition.

During the next 5 years I dedicated my attention and energy to changing my relationship to food from a different angle. I used the principles of yoga and whole foods to end this battle with my body.

Yes there were lots of sun salutations and learning about the different properties of food but there was an inner shift that took center stage to my transformation with food and my body.

And that’s what I want to teach you this month. The main mental attitude adjustment I made and have helped 1000’s of women use to transform their relationship to food. This is the ability to shift your attitude from will power to warrior.

Will power is a buzzword when it comes to dieting. How many times have your heard or said the following? “If I only had the willpower I would be able to stick to my “diet”.”

I think not, will power has nothing to do with it.

Warrior ship is where it’s at.

The dictionary says the meaning of warrior is as follows:

A person engaged in, experienced in, or devoted to war. Another definition is a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness.

Let’s look back at history. Being a warrior, and I like the image of a samurai meant a life path. This was your destiny. Samurais were not only motivated by violence. Instead they cultivated wisdom as strategy and much of that wisdom was based in Buddhism.

To me being a warrior is someone who decides she is in the game for life. The objective is not to win; instead they were called to learn the delicate, compassionate and fierce ways to stand for what they believe in.

This is why people fought war? There was an injustice and they wanted a better way.

Now I don’t really like the word WAR but when you think about it, isn’t that what you’re doing when you give into yo-yo dieting? A war with your body and/ or food?

How many times have you felt the battle when you didn’t lose the 10, 20, 40lbs? Or when you hear the voices in your head saying- “This is good, this is bad. Eat the good food then you are good. Eat the bad food then you are bad.”

For me it got physical. I used to literally make fists with my hands and pound on my stomach saying I HATE YOU! CHANGE!

Now if that’s not war, I don’t know what is.

I was angry, I was harmful. I lacked direction and I was “acting out”.

The violence was unconscious.

A warrior is not unconscious. Every step, every strike of the arm, every thought, every turn is done with intention, there is a bigger picture in mind and it’s all connected.

It takes courage to go against the enemy, it takes vigor to stay in the game and the aggressive nature speaks to the power and intentionality warriors embody.

What attitude are you using towards your relationship to food? How do you embody vigor, courage, and aggressiveness? Are you attached to “winning” the battle? Or rather do you stand in the principles of health, loving kindness and compassion?

Freedom from suffering in your body is not about power over your will. Our will must carry us towards the warrior inside.

Your warrior knows. Your warrior is steadfast. Your warrior trusts the process and your warrior is always there for you.

Your assignment. Notice how your dialogue, your intentions and your actions are motivated either by will power or your inner warrior. Then with an open heart and open mind lean towards the warrior and ask for strength. Ask your warrior to show you the way into your body. Ask your warrior what to eat today and ask your warrior to support you towards your truth.

She is there. She is waiting.

For more on how to go from willpower to warrior please join me Saturday June 29, 2013 at YOGA TREE Hayes for Treat PMS Naturally through Yoga and Mindful Eating. For more information click HERE.

In the meantime please post comments or ask questions in the comment section below. I will reply.

HERE’S TO YOUR FOOD FREEDOM!

Darshana

Darshana Weill, Food Freedom Mentor and Yoga Teacher has counseled over 900 women world wide to learn to feed their bodies and nourish their souls through individual sessions, group work, tele-classes, webinars and home-study programs. A guest teacher at the 2011 Yoga Journal Conference in SF you can also find Darshana teaching LIVE between Sonoma and Santa Cruz CA or via tele-classes and webinars.

To find out more about Darshana’s FOOD FREEDOM Programs check out www.darshanaweill.com or www.findfoodfreedom.com

To contact Darshana directly call 415 637 7222 or email her at darshana@darshanaweill.com

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS DARSHANA AT THE YOGA TREE

Treat PMS Naturally through Yoga and Mindful Eating

June 29, 2013

Yoga Tree Hayes

REGISTER HERE

OTHER WORKSHOPS WITH DARSHANA AT YOGA TREE

The Yoga of Food: How is life feeding you?

Nutrition 101,

Sugar can be Medicine,

Yoga and Food For Emotional Eating,

Health Moms, Healthy Families,

Kick Cravings; A 21 Days program for women who want to take back their power over food.

The post Attitude Towards Food: From Willpower to Warrior! appeared first on Yoga Tree.

Surya Yantrasana

The practice of Yoga is a continuous journey of being present for all things that arise. In cultivating this presence, we are able to more skillfully wade through the tricky quagmire that is life. To steer away from sensation and presence is to eschew reality and further disconnect us from our surroundings and our contribution to them. My teacher Jack Kornfield says that to live without a practice is to try and steer a boat without a rudder- it may work but more in a haphazard than deliberate way.

The pose of this month is Surya Yantrasana- Sundial or Compass pose. This has always been one of my favorites because of its rich symbolism and powerful energetic effects. A sundial is always in line with the sun as it moves across the sky from high to low, east to west, and so on. It is completely uninterrupted and unremitting in its commitment for that which guides it. Surya Yantrasana reflects the power of a deeply committed practice. A yoga practice which creates a strong rudder that guides us through both joy and sorrow, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, and all else that comes with our precious moments each day.

In the early 1990s, during the siege of Sarajevo, there was a man named Vedran Smailovic who became known as the “Cellist of Sarajevo.” During this time, as his beloved city was under attack, Vedran would take his cello through the war torn streets and neighborhoods to play beautiful music. While a city hid in fear, shaken and distraught, Vedran played every day for months bringing glimmers of hope and beauty to an otherwise dim landscape. He captured the imagination of the world in his unshakable commitment to music and joy.

I write about Vedran because in each of us lies this same capacity of dedication to being present with our hearts and bodies even as things occasionally crumble around us. Note that Vedran did not leave Sarajevo to play but rather stepped deeper inside the city to play his music. This is the power of a committed practice or a strong rudder. To be aligned in each moment- ceaselessly, with love and passion. This is the Sundial of the heart.

The Pose

Surya Yantrasana is quite challenging. In fact, its common to feel as though you’ve been trapped in a small box when first performing this Asana. Before attempting Surya Yantrasana, several parts of the body must be thoroughly warm and stretched including the hamstrings (particularly), the spine, and shoulders. Good poses to prepare these parts of the body for Sundial include Hanumanasana, Bada Parsvokanasana, Parivrtta Parsvokanasana, and Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana.

To perform the pose, begin seated in Dandasana. Pick your right leg up and hold the pinky toe edge of the foot with your left hand and draw the knee back. Keep your right shoulder inside the knee and place your right palm underneath the right calf. Using the leverage between your right palm and calf, draw the right knee as far back as possible and then swing the leg over your shoulder as though you were throwing a purse over your shoulder. Squeeze the leg into the shoulder and release your right hand flat to the floor beside your hip (or a foot or two to the right of the hip). Maintain the firm grip with your left on the right foot. Lean into the right hand and begin to straighten the right leg. As the leg straightens, pull on the foot with your left hand and spin your chest, belly, and gaze to the left and underneath your left armpit.

For beginners, you may either begin in the preparatory stages of the pose or take several options. The first would be to hold a strap connected to the foot with the left hand which would ease the amount of openness in the shoulder and hamstring required. Or, you can try before straightening the top leg, leaning onto the right hand, picking your right butt up of the ground, sticking it out as far as you can while you straighten the leg, and then revolve your spine and twist as you place your sit bone back down (this action, although strange, tremendously frees the low back and tight hamstrings and allows for a greater extension).

For more advanced practitioners, the classical form of the pose is not the one pictured above where one leg is in Sundial and the other is in Dandasana. For those adept with this posture, in the preparatory stages, put the leg that isn’t going into Sundial into Arda Virasana. This is significantly deeper and should only be attempted when the first stage (as described above) is mastered.

Contraindications for Surya Yantrasana include torn hamstrings or adductors, rotator cuff injuries, MCL sensitivity, and herniated/bulged discs in the lumbar spine. These are addressed below

For those with knee problems, ensure that the leg that is in Sundial (being extended) has an active ankle and shin. Typically as one pulls on the foot, the ankle will sickle and put strain on the outer knee. Be sure to flex the pinky toe and engage the Peroneal muscle which will help stabilize the knee.

For rotator cuff problems, make sure that the top shoulder (the one holding the foot) is pulling on the foot while it is kicking. If one kicks and straightens the leg without pulling on the foot, it is possible the leg will overpower the arm and strain it. By pulling on the foot while extending it, you ensure a more secure connection of the arm bone and shoulder girdle. For the bottom shoulder, be sure to press the shoulder into the leg. Without this action, the leg will push the shoulder forward and strain the neck and chest.

For lower back issues, make sure you don’t attempt this pose if you cannot first establish a curve in your lumbar spine. For severely herniated discs or other low back and SI problems, avoid this pose completely or work toward it only in the presence of a seasoned teacher.

For hamstring issues, it will depend on where and how severe the hamstring or adductor tear is. If bad, don’t attempt straightening the leg. Stay in the bent knee position. Otherwise, be sure to squeeze the buttock and firm the hamstring as you slowly straighten the leg.

The post Yoga Tree Pose of the Month: Surya Yantrasana, Sundial Pose appeared first on Yoga Tree.

Tim Floreen:
I believe music can be a powerful complement to a yoga practice.

It can open up our hearts and call forth emotions like nothing else can.  That’s why putting together playlists is one of my favorite parts of teaching yoga.  I like to venture outside the realm of New Age-y yoga music and create eclectic mixes that embrace music of all genres: electronic, folk, hip-hop, classic rock, and sometimes–SOMETIMES–even country.  Years ago, I used to live in L.A. and listen to KCRW, an NPR affiliate with amazing music programming.  I still stream KCRW online and get much of my music inspiration from them.

I hope you enjoy this!

Tim Floreen

I teach a vigorous, challenging, heated vinyasa flow class, but always with the understanding that students should modify and rest as needed, and always with the awareness that yoga is much more than just a workout. My classes also include breath work, meditation, and other traditional yogic practices, as well as plenty of lightness and silliness. And did I mention I like to play good music?  Learn more at http://www.yogatim.com/.

The post Tim Floreen’s May Yoga Playlist appeared first on Yoga Tree.

We began by learning about what Darren called the business of yoga, in other words, how to get jobs as yoga teachers, and how to make being a yoga teacher financially sustainable and generative. I’ve been a little daunted by this subject from the get-go, as I know that the yoga market is overly saturated right now, especially in San Francisco. Much to my surprise, Darren mollified my anxiety by explaining that even if the market is saturated, that any of us in this teacher training who commit to teaching can, and will, have full yoga teaching schedules within a year or so, if we put our intention and energy into it. I was skeptical at first, but he presented us with an array of tools and resources to begin applying, and he explained how much getting our certification through Yoga Tree would help us, as it is a well respected studio, and as it is connected to a vast network, which we will be hooked into upon graduation. He also explained that teaching yoga was advantageous in that we, as yoga teachers, don’t have to create the need or desire for yoga in our students. Unlike with so many products and services, the need is already there; we just need fill that need. This was really helpful for me to think about. Yesterday of my classmates wrote “I was just thinking how lovely it will be when we can drop in on each others yoga classes” on our shared Facebook page. It will be lovely.

Then, over the next two days, we all took a crash course on pre-natal and post-natal yoga with Jane Austin. It was really quite amazing, in part because Jane is so knowledgable. Not only is she a trained doula, midwife, and yoga instructor, but she integrates all three into her teaching seamlessly. She is also a mother of two, and we were lucky enough to get to learn from her on Mothers Day. Since I’ve been taking yoga classes, I’ve always heard yoga teachers talk about modifications for pregnancy. Sometimes, it’s seemed like modifications that I’ve heard have contradicted each other. Other times, it’s seemed like yoga instructors have been fearful of those pregnant in the room. Even other times, it’s seemed as if those pregnant get almost infantilized, if not objectified. I think that observing all of these trends has made me a little nervous about teaching pregnant yogis. This past weekend helped ameliorate some of my fears, as it provided me with a wealth of information and knowledge about the anatomy of pregnancy, and about how to responsibly integrate such knowledge into teaching yoga.

I was struck by how, in the beginning of class, Jane asked us to go around and talk about things that we had heard in other yoga classes about yoga and pregnancy. Not surprisingly, the majority of what we recounted were negative. It’s true – so often in yoga classes we hear about what to not do when pregnant. So rarely do we hear what to do, and so rarely do we hear those pregnant get asked about what feels right for them. I think that a lot of this reflects how much pregnancy is pathologized in Western culture, reflective of an entrenched sexism and over medicalization that, one could argue, actually abetted in Western projects of colonization and global domination. I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this lately, helped by thinkers such as Franz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Elizabeth Povinelli, Ann Stoller, and others. But anyway, the last thing that I think any of us our training want is to perpetuate such cycles of oppression, and now, thanks to the training, I don’t think that we will. We spent a lot of time learning about the anatomy of pregnancy, and about the benefits of certain poses, and about other poses that could create discomfort or risk during different stages of pregnancy. We learned about the benefits of strengthening certain muscles, and of opening others. We also learned about poses that were helpful to do after pregnancy. I’m really grateful for all of this knowledge, and look forward now to being able to apply it in the future.

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You can listen to the full podcast HERE

Watch this amazing video of Jason HERE

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