200 Hour Teachers Training: A Rose By The Same Name May Not Smell As Sweet.

My dear friend, Ali Valdez, and I lead annual teachers trainings, and our next 200 hour starts in April.  There is still a few days to make the early registration cut off, and I thought it might be useful to hear from Ali on the topic of the ubiquitous nature of 200 hour programs and why we think ours is the choice for yogis who are serious about the practice and teaching.

Here's what Ali has to say...

Teacher Training 2013 is coming up rapidly. As teachers who teach throughout Seattle and the Eastside, as well as conduct workshops all over the country, it is incredible to see how many studios offer "teacher trainings." In fact, which one doesn't?

But what is a teacher training and the philosophy behind creating a great teacher and creating a great yogi?

A great yogi has to have the discipline to do the daily practice. Period. No excuses. But a great yoga teacher should hold themselves to the same standards. It does not make sense to aspire to be a teacher of yoga, and not actually do yoga. If you were a college professor in a topic such as English Literature, but never felt like reading, nor enjoyed literary criticism or analysis, over time, the law of diminishing returns sets in. The quality of the teaching will disintegrate because what you are delivering to your students ceases to be a gift from the heart, developed and nurtured within, but more like a product, one of thousands available on a shelf.

A great yogi by design, per Hatha Yoga Pradipika, is not necessarily inclined to 'reach out' and be connecting with the world. A great yoga teacher, however, has no choice. The desire to teach requires some level of accessibility, vulnerability and servitude. How does one teach those skills adequately?

One thing that I love about yoga is the eight limbs: all of them. They provide a true life long path for spiritual growth and self realization. They are the backbone also on how and what to teach. The cornerstone of a solid practice transcends merely the physical aspects; after all, we are profound and lovely spiritual beings. The path is not straight, very long, and often times cluttered by the weeds of vritti (fluctuation of the mind) and klesha (afflictions or sufferings), but it is a glorious path nonetheless. Having spent some time entrenching oneself into the signature of each of the limbs brings dimension and richness to the overall development of your being. Teaching from that place can pack an inspirational punch.

The spectrum of eight limbs is not for everybody coming into a teacher training, day one, all at one time. The connection between student and the teacher should be one that can layer themes, build on ideas gradually then play them out in one's own life and yoga practice. Working with their teacher who faciliates showing how all the factors are woven together, and should withstand the test of time, especially a time so fleeting as 200 hours.

It is my hope that together we can mindfully create a community of great yogi yoga teachers, and through our experiences do our best to truly walk the walk and bring the fruits of our journey to the program.

It is my hope you will join us and the different yoga studios that will be participating this year, to experience the essence of the heart of yoga in a complete way, offering up the right tools in the right way for your development, inspired yogi, or aspiring yogi yoga teacher.

There is only one two hundred hour program available this year in Washington state, and it starts April 12th. Early registration ends February 1st.

More information can be found at www.sattvayogaonline.com/teacher-training/power-vinyasa or info@sattvayogaonline.com. 

(You can check out our Kids' Teachers Training here: http://sattvayogaonline.com/teacher-training/kids-yoga/)

Kids’ Yoga and the Bigger Picture: How Children’s Yoga Teachers Can Create a Better World

Teaching kids’ yoga sounds like a lot of fun—and it is fun!  The reason for a comprehensive kids’ yoga training is that it’s not easy, and there’s much more to it than entertaining kids for an hour.

It’s my goal to introduce children to yogic practices and concepts (like being relaxed in the body while maintaining an alert mind), not just yoga poses.  The truth is, all children really need is lots of time for free play outside to learn all they need to know about themselves and life.  It’s a sad thing, but most kids don’t get that in these modern busy times, and that’s where children’s yoga can be beneficial.

Often in the "real" world, we ask our children to suppress their natural instincts to make noise and move in odd, loud and distracting ways.  As children’s yoga teachers, we learn to manage the loud, energetic, controlled chaos in a way that teaches them impulse control and ultimately how to have a “loud” body and quiet mouth.  In this program, you’ll learn many games that assist you in managing the group without extinguishing  their natural (and correct) impulses for experience and understanding in the physical world—creating better humans and yogis in the process.  For the children, these kinds of exercises are the beginnings of discovering that the body is separate from the consciousness and one can be relaxed in the body with an alert mind, and/or have an alert, active body and calm mind.

Really understanding child development (mental, emotional, physical, spiritual) is critical to designing age appropriate yoga classes that actually teach the child yoga, rather than take them through a series of entertaining physical movements and games.   For example, until age 8 or so, they are practically in their own magical world, and the messages should be hidden in the stories, songs, games and poses—much like children’s fairy tales.   It helps me to think of the kids as little spiritual creatures who are new inhabitants of a body and the physical world and they are just testing things out to see what they can do.  I think when we stifle this as children, we end up as overly individualized adults, which in my opinion, creates humans unaware of the group. The question, which kids understand and seek to answer, is NOT "how do I become powerful?", but "what do I do with all this power?"

This is why we spend an entire weekend just on child development and how to teach yogic practices and concepts to children in a developmentally appropriate way.  We want you to leave with all the tools to create your own children’s yoga experience.  Don’t worry, we’ll teach you all the games, songs and stories we know, but we’ll also teach you how to create your own.  And it’s through this process that you become a teacher of yoga to children and understand them better.

Ultimately, as kids’ yoga teachers, if we do our jobs well, we help them learn the tools to manage their power and channel it effectively for the benefit of humanity, thereby doing our part to create happier humans and a better world.  It’s the most important work, and I hope you’ll join us in Spring 2013.

“I really want to say how happy I am and thank you for all your great help and teaching.  I leave classes smiling and so happy to be doing what I do now.  I have a 3-4 year old class, a kindergarten class, elementary class and a middle school class.”

 ~B.C., 2012 Little Friends Yoga Kids’ Yoga Teacher Training Graduate

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: lizdoyle@msn.com

http://sattvayogaonline.com/teacher-training/kids-yoga/

 

Northwest Yoga Conference Interview with Liz Doyle!

I was recently interviewed by Melissa from Northwest Yoga Conference (February 18-19, 2012) where I'll be presenting Saturday February 18th, 9-11AM on Hidden Meanings in Yoga Asana (half practice/half lecture and discussion)- sign up for my workshop or the whole weekend HERE!

Read on...

Ever wanted to know a little more about your yoga teacher? Here is your chance! We asked teachers at the conference to share what inspires their teaching and practice and let us know about their yoga favorites. They also share what they are looking forward to most at the Northwest Yoga Conference. Enjoy!

Meet Liz Doyle, a prominent yogi in the northwest, who will be teaching yoga practitioners about the “Hidden Meanings in Yoga Asana”. You can find Liz Doyle teaching yoga classes and workshops on both sides of Lake Washington and at retreats, teacher trainings and festivals throughout the United States and internationally. In addition to teaching adults, Liz also offers yoga classes for children. Learn more and sign up for Liz’s email newsletter at: LizDoyleYoga.com

Inspiration:

What was your first yoga experience?

My first yoga experience was when I was a sophomore in college. I raided my parents’ library before I left for school that year, and one of the books I took was Richard Hittleman’s Yoga: 28 Day Exercise Plan. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s a great little book and a well-rounded sequence. I followed the plan religiously, and I loved it. For some reason, I didn’t keep it up, and did not practice again until I was 30, when I began a regular practice with an Iyengar teacher in San Francisco. The rest, as they say, is history.

What does yoga mean to you?

Yoga is a science for Self and/or God-realization. It’s a well-charted path for uncovering the Self, and becoming better versions of ourselves, and along the way developing an understanding that the Kingdom of God is within us.

Why did you decide to become a yoga teacher?

My original intention was to sign up for yoga school to develop my own practice. Simultaneously, I was really struggling with my job and my boss, and things were not working out. I was out of town for a weekend, doing a lot of soul searching and praying for guidance as to what the heck I was supposed to be doing with my life. I remember sitting by a river, quite emotional about my situation, literally begging for a sign as to what I should do—and lo and behold—nothing happened. Such a disappointment, but it was time to head to the local yoga class, so I got up and went. At some point during class, I handed the student next to me a block. After class, totally out of the blue, the teacher came up to me and said, “You should be a yoga teacher.” I figured signs don’t come any clearer than that, so I quit my job, went to yoga school and started an organizing business to support myself until I could teach.

What do you hope students learn from attending your yoga classes?

What I hope my students learn is that they are far more than they think they are, and the beauty of who and what they are has nothing to do with the physical practice. I know that sounds funny coming from someone who’s known for an intensely fun and challenging class—I just hope that an unusual experience in the physical practice helps them come away with a feeling of wonder and curiosity about the world around them and within them. I wrote a mission statement that encapsulates what I’m trying to create for my students, so I’ll include that here:

"It is my fundamental belief that yoga is a transformational process for the development and reorganization of one’s consciousness. With that said, it is my heart’s intention to utilize yoga to create the appropriate energetic space, and provide techniques and tools to enable the true yoga practitioner to operate from their authentic Being."

Which teachers have influenced your yoga practice and teaching?

Kathleen Hunt: Kathleen is an amazing soul, and an incredible teacher. She is a master at holding energetic space, conveying the teachings during an asana class and sequencing to a peak pose. You can check out her studio at: Samadhi-yoga.com

Edward Clark: Edward applies an uncommon level of intellectual rigor to the practice. He has designed a practice and cultivated an ujjayi method that is well-grounded in yoga philosophy, and emphasizes Grace and Beauty in asana to cultivate eka grata (single-pointedness) to connect to the One. Read an interview with Edward at: http://sattvayogaonline.com/one-enchanted-morning-the-return-of-tripsichore-to-seattle/

Andrey Lappa: Andrey is another intellectual yogi who has developed a system, a precise methodology for a complete and whole experience in the practice. It’s a rather complex system for kundalini awakening and stimulating one’s consciousness for the purpose of Enlightenment. Read more about it at: universal-yoga.com

Katerina Wen: Katerina introduced me to Edward and Andrey and in my opinion, is the perfect blend of the two. I had a magical time the two years I spent at her studio before it closed, and I cannot thank her enough.

About the Conference:

Share with us some of the highlights of the workshop you are presenting at the Northwest Yoga Conference.

The workshop I’m leading at the NW Yoga Conference is one of my favorites. As practitioners, we spend so much time contorting our bodies into shapes and hurling ourselves through space- but where do these poses come from and what do they mean? I believe that the names of the poses give us hints and clues about the lessons contained in the poses and how to unlock them. It’s these names, stories and symbols that we’ll be exploring for the purpose of adding meaning and richness to the lessons of the practice.

What are you looking forward to the most at the Northwest Yoga Conference?

I’m really excited about connecting with the yoga community on a larger scale. It’s always a good feeling to be among fellow practitioners who care enough about the practice to hang out learning for a weekend.

Think Crazy, Take Chances...

Hello Friends!

I've never considered myself a particularly fearful person, I've always thought of myself as being strong, resilient and open to change. I recently butted up against my own limitations with the latest project I'm working on, which is a children's yoga DVD (ultimately with a book and yoga cards, for those of you with kids). One thing at a time!!

If I'm to be perfectly candid, I've been procrastinating a little, and been a little half-rumped about it. I don't have a ton of money to spend on production, and I've been fortunate to be introduced to a professional filmmaker/videographer, who is highly qualified, and will do it for very little.

Anyhow, I was supposed to send him an email a couple of weeks ago, and I told him I would do it in a few days. I just didn't send it, and wasn't sure what was holding me back. I had spent the time to outline all the steps to completing the video-- find some kids, figure out what I'm going to do, etc. I finally figured out that I hadn't sent the email that would put it all in motion because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pull it off. And it sounds so ridiculous, it's just a video, and really, who cares?

I suppose it started to feel like a lot of pressure. I get a gaggle of kids lined up, and their parents have expectations, and if I tell people, my friends and students will have expectations, and what if I am not good enough to make it interesting and compelling and finish it??? I'm afraid. And that stopped me from doing the simplest things.

It became clear that if I broke it down into tiny steps, I could do those steps and it wouldn't feel scary. So, I made a list of kids currently in my classes that would be good candidates for the video, and I wrote notes to their parents asking permission to include the child. And then of course, I had to deliver them! What if they say "yes" and then it never happens, do I look like a jerk? etc, etc.... so I thought, I'll just write the notes. And then I was able to get the chutzpah to pass out a couple of them, and then a couple more...

My mind was making up all kinds of stories and reasons why the parents would say "no", why I couldn't do it, and why it wouldn't work out for me. It's almost embarrassing to be telling all of you this. I had already written out everything I needed to say to the videographer in the email, and simply did not send it. Why? Why?? So silly. So finally I just typed it up (which took a full 1.5 minutes! I'm sure he's thinking "this took you TWO weeks????") and sent it. So far, the world has not come to an end.

Now it's done and I can move forward. This was such a good lesson showing me that I just have to try. Coincidentally, if there is such a thing, I've been running across inspirational quotes about simply making an effort and trying. Reminding me that the failure is not in a lack of success, but a lack of trying to do anything meaningful. I finally convinced myself that I have to go for it. Not just in this situation, but in Life. And if it doesn't work out, so what? What am I afraid of? Seems so obvious, doesn't it?

So I encourage you to think crazy and take chances. Live a good life. I mean, why not?

Warmly,

Liz Doyle
www.LizDoyleYoga.com