The Foundations of Yoga Program

Each September I begin another round of my teacher training program with a course called Foundations. In this program we explore the physical, energetic, mental, emotional, intellectual and blissful layers of our yoga practice.  We get to dive deeper into our yoga practice than you can in any public class.  We explore the alignment and the physiological and energetic properties of the asanas. We also practice pranayama.  We dip our toes into  philosophy and we practice meditation.  These ten sessions are a deep immersion into your full yoga practice.

A sample day:

Meditation
We begin with an introduction of a topic or technique for meditation and then we sit and meditate for 20 minutes. This is followed by a writing in our journals to help us remember our meditation and to draw us deeper into the experience.

Asana practice
We explore a different group of postures each week starting with the standing poses and moving through all of the categories of poses:  Sun Salutes, inversions, hand balancing, hip openers, back bends, twists and forward bends.  We discuss the alignment, actions, benefits and contraindications of the poses.

Alignment
An in-depth look at the alignment of poses.  We start with the premise that every pose is based on Tadasana and then we look to see if we can find that in each posture.

Philosophy
We read and discuss pertinent Yoga Sutras as they relate to our practice on and off the mat.

Restorative practices
Each day ends with a pranayama practice and a restorative pose.

Sanskrit
Using Sanskrit is not mandatory,  but it is important to have some familiarity with the language of yoga.  We study the names of the poses and we work with mantras.

Homework
Each session has its own homework which can include asana practice, meditation, philosophical readings and writings plus an external practice such as observing silence.

You don’t have to want to be a yoga teacher to immerse yourself in this Foundations program.  In fact, it was designed for the serious yoga student who wants to dive deeper into their practice than you can in a public class.  Each session of this course is designed to be part workshop and part yoga retreat.

If you have any questions you can ask them in the comments section below or contact me directly.  Remember there is an Early Bird discount if you register by August 15th. To register contact Erin Lento at Cornerstone: 215.862.2200.

10 Signs That You Are Ready for a Yoga Teacher Training Program

You’ve had the thought that you would like to become a yoga teacher.

If you have ever entertained the thought of doing a yoga teacher training program it could be that your intuition is talking to you. I had this hit of intuition one day in a yoga class. The theme of this class was to know what you wanted to do with your life. The teacher asked us to get quiet and go inside and make a mental list of our 10 best qualities or strengths. She suggested that what we wanted to do was encoded in that list. I was at a stage in my life where I needed to make a decision about what to do next. I had just had what I called my midlife crisis; I quit my job, adopted a child and moved, all in one year! Part of what I needed to do was to stay at home and take care of my son, but I was also looking for something else: something more, something for me. When the teacher asked us to do this exercise, a voice in my head said, “I want to be a yoga teacher.”

What I wrote down as my 10 best qualities were:
1. I am outgoing and social. I like being around people.
2. I love to understand how things work.
3. I am good at explaining how things work to other people.
4. I am empathetic.
5. I am good at teaching. I taught woodshop for 18 years.
6. I am hard working.
7. I am conscientious.
8. I am dedicated.
9. I am organized.
10. I have always been a spiritual seeker.

These are all good qualities that helped me become a yoga teacher, but they are not the only “right” qualities. Now it’s your turn. What are your 10 best qualities? Do they fit with the profile of being a yoga teacher?

You’ve been waiting for the right time to do a teacher training program.

A friend once told me that if a thought pops into your head that you should do something, you should pay attention to that thought. It is there for a reason; otherwise you wouldn’t have had that thought. In the Yoga Sutras, the first sutra says, “Atha Yoganusasanam.” This translates as “Now is the time for yoga.” This has been interpreted to mean that yoga, or the union of the mind body and spirit is available now, in the present moment. You don’t have to be perfect, or be able to do a split or a handstand, lose 50 lbs or quit smoking to become a yoga teacher. You just have to be willing to show up. If you have that inspiration it could be your muse talking to you. We often feel that we don’t have enough time, or money, or that somehow we are not good enough, young enough, old enough, smart enough, etc. Life is often messy and if we wait for the perfect time, we can miss the opportunity. If the time is right for you, you’ll know. Listen to that muse. We all know that we will often regret the things we didn’t do.

You are passionate about yoga and want to share that passion with the rest of the world.

Yoga is your favorite form of exercise. You love to do yoga in a class, with your friends, in the park or on the beach. Whenever you travel, the first thing you look for is where you can take a yoga class. You may not be sure exactly what it is about yoga, but you know that it makes you feel better. You feel calm and more grounded after practicing yoga. If you can’t do your yoga practice for a few days, you feel as if you are missing something. It is a discipline that has improved your health and brought you a lot of happiness and you just want to learn more about it and share it with your friends. If someone you know has some kind of an ache or a pain you always find a way to let them know that yoga can help them. You are always trying to talk your friends, or their mothers, into trying yoga.
You love to learn more and more about yoga and about life.

You would be a perpetual student if you could.

You first got into yoga for the physical benefits of the practice but the more yoga you do, the more you realize the other benefits: you feel happier and more settled and your relationships are going more smoothly. You are becoming more interested in the relationship of the breath and your state of mind. You recognize the importance of meditation and are more interested in reading the Yoga Sutras or going to a kirtan or a mala making workshop than going out and partying on a weekend.
You already meditate or you want to learn how.

You may already have a meditation practice, or you want to start one but don’t know how.

You may have downloaded an app on your phone but wonder if it counts as real meditation. Mediation is something that is covered in teacher training. It may be one of the most challenging, yet rewarding practices you can undertake. It is also something that evolves over time.

You love to be around other yogis.

People in yoga teacher training groups often form fast and lasting friendships. There is something about going through the process that bonds people together. Some of it is the learning and sharing of information and some of it is the support that students provide for each other as they learn and grow. Trainings can be intense and wonderful; if you are willing to peel back the veils and look inside the lessons can be life changing.

You’ve thought of becoming a yoga teacher but you can’t touch your toes, or do a split, handstand or put your foot behind your head.

These poses are not necessary to do and in fact most students may never want to or be able to do these things. I once took a poll of my students where I asked them what they wanted from their yoga practice. Most of them said that they wanted to be calmer and less stressed. They were looking for clarity and peace of mind. The third, fourth and fifth reason for doing yoga was to improve strength, flexibility and balance. Advanced poses weren’t really mentioned. I always think it is an asset for a yoga teacher if poses not to come easily to them. If you could accomplish all of the poses you might falsely presume that these things are easy to do and you might wonder why other people can’t do them. When you have to work at being strong and flexible, you are able to better share the path with others and have empathy for them.

You are up for a challenge.

There is something about wanting to become a yoga teacher that excites you, yet there is something that is a little scary, too. Any new adventure will challenge you and make you grow. As with anything we set out to do there are the anticipated consequences and then there are the unanticipated ones. It is when the unanticipated challenges show up that the opportunity for real growth and change occur.
You are ready for a change.

You feel that there is something more to life than just working and trying to have fun on your time off.

You may feel that there is something else that you were meant to do, something bigger and more important. Often people get into yoga for the physical practices. Maybe they want to ease their back pain, or reduce the tension in their shoulders. But, often there is a sense of a deeper longing or seeking going on inside. Ultimately, the practice of yoga takes you deeper into yourself, into a search for meaning. This may be exactly what you have been looking for.

You want to change the world.

Have you had the thought that you’d like to be doing something in life that benefits others and/or our environment? One of the things that the Yoga Sutras teaches us is that we can only change the world by changing ourselves. While you may want to go out and tell everyone about the beautiful practice of yoga you have discovered, one of the best ways to spread the beauty and magic of yoga is to embody it yourself, to be a shining example of the practices. Ghandi said, “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.”

You may have experienced some of these things or not. You may have had other feelings that have lead you to inquire about a yoga teacher training program. That is awesome. I encourage you to follow your heart. However, don’t quit your day job just yet. Becoming a yoga teacher takes time. First there is the training program itself; two hundred hours spread over 10 months. And then there is the experience you need to gain to build your experience and a following of yoga students. Like anything else, this takes time. Be patient, but take steps in the direction of your dreams.

If you have any questions about my Yoga Teacher Training Program which starts in September, feel free to contact of please leave your questions in the comments below. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Six Keys to Safe Assisting

In this day and age of online subscriptions, one of the things that differentiates a live yoga class from a virtual one is the attention of a teacher.  Maintaining a regular and consistent yoga practice is important and you may have to do that by following classes online or by practicing by yourself.  But there is something to be said for practicing under the eyes and guidance of a skillful teacher.

We all have blind spots to our own bodies and practices and there probably are poses that we avoid when no one is watching. But, in order to keep your practice balanced, it is as important to know when you are out of alignment as it is to work on the poses you don’t like.

Much as I love to practice on my own, I also enjoy the energy of practicing in a group.  When I take a class, I like the attention of a teacher.  I am not as interested in a teacher who is practicing on her own mat.  I like the encouragement, correction and insight you can get from the perspective of someone else. I like the “Aha!” moment of a skillful assist that changes a pose for me like turning on a light in a dark room.

That being said, assisting in yoga classes is a controversial topic.  As much as I like being assisted, they can also be harmful.  I have been injured while being assisted.  There are some things you can do to protect yourself and your students from being injured by an assist.

Here are five keys points for assisting in yoga classes:

Getting and giving permission.

Not everyone wants to be adjusted all of the time.  Sometimes students have physical issues that they haven’t shared with you and it might just be that area of the body you are about to hone in on.   Nationally known yoga teacher Judith Hanson Lasater asks permission every single time she assists someone.  If someone is willing to be assisted, their bodies will be more open and receptive to an assist.  As a student, it is important to set your own boundaries. It is not fun to be volunteered for something you are not ready for.  As a teacher, be prepared for someone to just say no to one of your skillful assists.

Have clear lines of communication. 

This is separate from asking permission.  It is also important to know how the assist feels while it is happening.  Is the pressure to much, too little, in the wrong spot?  You need to be able to communicate how things feel as they are happening.  Teachers, be sensitive to  different bodies experience of pressure.  Students, don’t be afraid to speak up if something doesn’t feel good.

I was once in a large workshop setting.  We were assisting each other in a standing split. The room was full and very noisy.  My head was down near my knees and my partner was standing above me.  As she pushed on my leg which was up in the air, she couldn’t hear me say it was too much.  I literally had to punch her in the leg to get her attention to let go.  By that time my hamstring was strained.

Don’t make any assumptions.

As a teacher, don’t assume that your student’s body can go where you envision it going.  As a student, don’t assume that your teacher knows what your body can do.  While it is nice to think positive thoughts and to believe in the power of positive thinking, changes in the body usually happen over time, not in an instant.

I was once in a workshop where a teacher was encouraging people to kick up into handstand in the middle of the room.  The teacher asked this one student to volunteer to demonstrate how to do it.  The student was reluctant, but the teacher insisted that the student could do it.  The student did the handstand and it ended well.  I asked the student afterwards if she felt peer pressure to do the pose in front of everyone.  She admitted that she did, but she said, “The teacher knew my body and knew I could do it, so I trusted the teacher.”  Fortunately that trust was not misplaced.

While there is the power of encouragement and anything is possible, it doesn’t always work out that way.  As a teacher, make sure you are not putting anyone on the spot and forcing them to succumb to peer pressure.  As a student, don’t give your power away to anyone else. In my classes I see a lot of students each week.  Some of them I know well, but I never know exactly how someone is feeling inside that day.  And, quite honestly, I don’t always remember everyone’s trick knee, herniated disk or sprained wrist.

Keep your ego out of it

While I would like to be the teacher that “taught” a student how to do handstand, wheel, split or any other pose, it is really the student’s process and the accumulation of their practice and work of all of their teachers.  As a student, I might want the teacher to show me the “secret” to getting a pose.  Neither I nor the student can force our way into a pose, by self effort or an overly aggressive assist.  It would be like prying open a rose bud to force the flower to bloom.  Often the more badly we want something, the more it eludes us.  Practice takes time, patience and a curious sense of exploration.

Learning massage has been a great tool in helping me know how to adjust and assist my students.  One of the most important skills massage has taught me is to how important it is to always move with the breath, both theirs and mine.   Feeling the movement of the breath also helps you feel where there is resistance in the body.

Know your alignment

Adjusting and assisting is about helping the body move towards better alignment.  If you are not sure what the alignment is, you won’t know which direction to move towards.  This is true for both the teacher and student.

You also have to know what the foundation of the pose looks like and start from there.  There is no point assisting someone in a pose when the foundation is off.  Sometimes fixing the foundation corrects other misalignments. If a student doesn’t know the proper foundation, they may also not have the proprioceptive sense to feel the rest of their body, either.

Approach each student as unique

There is no one size fits all to adjusting and assisting.  I can’t teach my students “The Down Dog Assist”  because there are many variations of how to assist in any pose.  And the assist will be different for someone with tight hamstrings as opposed to restricted shoulder mobility.

Assisting is a skill that needs to be practiced, just like your yoga poses.  In the beginning, it is important to get feedback.  That is why I offer these workshops on assisting.  You need to know: was the pressure too much, too little or just right?  Was the direction of the pressure correct?  Did I knock my student off balance?  Does it feel better when I place my hands here or there?  What does resistance feel like?

These six keys to safe assisting are all things you will get to experience and learn in my workshop in June.  For the details click here.

I'm curious, as a student, do you like being assisted?  As a teacher, do you feel comfortable assisting?  (If not, consider signing up for my workshop.)  Feel free to leave a comment and join in the conversation.

Sequencing - Order Matters

yoga sequencing workshop

Doing yoga and teaching yoga are very different activities, yet they are inextricably intertwined.  The experiences we have on our yoga mats help us to refine our personal practice and provide insights into how we might share yoga with others.  As a teacher, developing and maintaining your own practice helps inform your teaching.  You experience first hand all the elements that contribute to how yoga enhances our lives.   It is through the interrelation of these elements that we come to specific practices - sequences of actions - that have different effects on our bodies, minds and spirits depending on how it all flows together.

What are the elements of a complete practice?  How are they best structured to make the practice the most accessible, sustainable and transforming? What are the best ways to begin a yoga practice session?  What should each session include? What are the best ways to sequence different asanas, breathing practices and meditations?  What are the relationships between asanas?  How does one pose affect another?  What is the effect of poses ordered in a particular way compared to the same poses ordered differently?  What are the relationships within and between families of asanas - standing poses, core work, balancing poses, hip openers, back bends, twists, forward bends, inversions and restorative postures?  What about pranayama (breath work) and meditation?  Where do they fit in?   What affects them and how do they affect what follows?  ON what basis, other than habit, intuition and whim, should one determine the overall structure and sequence of a complete class?  What about moving from one class the the next over the span of a week, month, year or lifetime?  What are the best ways to design classes for a lifetime of yoga?

If you are a yoga teacher and you have asked yourself some of these questions, sign up for my course Sequencing - Order Matters. These are the topics we will explore in this two day workshop.

Continuing Education for Yoga Teachers - Assisting

ASSISTING - PRECISION & COMPASSION - STANDING POSES

Assisting your students is one of the benefits of being in a live class. Often a compassionate and skillful assist can help a student immediately understand something that might take a long time to learn on their own. However, an aggressive assist can be harmful to a student.  This course will help you help your students understand postures better through manual adjustments while honoring where they are.  Topics will include:

• Asking permission

• Students who have experienced trauma

• Verbal versus manual cues

• The difference between adjusting and assisting

• Understanding alignment

• The precision of touch

  • Approach

  • Direction

  • Duration

  • Releasing

• Foundation and stability

  • Where to stand and where not to stand

• The importance of breath

• Neutral energy

• The use of props

Continuing Education for Teachers - Sequencing

SEQUENCING - ORDER MATTERS

As a yoga teacher, you direct energy.  When you are clear and precise with where you are going, you can lead your students through an energetic experience that takes them inward while opening their bodies, hearts and minds.  Building sequences is a skill with many parts that once learned can be used to take your students deep. In this course, we will study:

• The energy of the poses

• The energy of a class

• Langhana and Brahmana - How to create a smooth arc of energy and why that is important

• Posture progressions

• How to breakdown postures into their component parts

• How to use neutral and counter poses

• The difference between sequencing for beginners, intermediate and advanced students

• How to create different outlines for different poses

• Pacing and timing

Thursdays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, May 4th and May 11th
Attend one or both days.
Registered Yoga Instructors receive CEU's

How do I do this posture correctly?

I was a guest teacher in a Yoga Teacher Training Program this past weekend. I had a lot of fun and I met a great group of people.  I love teaching yoga and teaching yoga students about anatomy.  The students are always so enthusiastic and earnest and want to learn all they can.  And in particular, they want to learn how to do the poses correctly.

As if there is such a thing!

Sure, I can look in Light on Yoga, Yoga Journal, Dharma Mittra's book or  Darren Rhodes's Yoga Resource and see a very accomplished person performing the epitome of a posture. But that is not the average yoga student.

Most people are looking to move, stretch, breathe and find a deeper connection in their lives. They are not looking to put their foot behind their head.

And it depends on the pose.  Some poses are easier, more basic and are accessible to most students.  Other poses are very complex and take a long time to train your body to do.

One group of my teacher trainees used to complain that my favorite answer to any question was, "Well, it depends."  And that is the answer I always give when I am asked how to do a particular pose correctly.

It depends on the person doing it.  How old are they?  How strong or flexible are they? It depends on if they have any experience doing this kind of movement.  Were they a gymnast or a dancer previously?   Are they new to yoga, or this pose?  Would they have to compromise any part of their body to do the pose?  If so, then they should probably modify.  It also depends on if they are feeling strong and invincible, weak and tired or if they have any injuries or other health conditions.

Students who are newer to yoga are often overwhelmed by too many subtle directions as to what they should be doing with their bodies.  Often the most important thing to focus on in the beginning is the foundation and general form of the pose. They may not be in the prettiest poses, but they are doing yoga.  And in that moment, the pose they are doing correct for their bodies and capabilities.

Often when one of my yoga students brings a non-yoga friend or partner to class, they try to correct their form.  I usually ask them to let their friend be and concentrate on their own practice.  They don't realize that their friend is doing the best that they can. If that person is interested in coming back to yoga, how they do their poses will improve over time.

I once taught a month long Yoga Teacher Training Intensive.  One student in the training who was pretty new to yoga was demonstrating Downward Facing Dog. I was giving her alignment instructions and she was trying to do her best.  Her pose looked very much like a beginner's pose.  At the end of the month, the same student was doing Down Dog again.  This time, some alignment points brought her into a beautiful posture.  One of the other students looked at me and asked why I didn't tell her to do that in the beginning.  As if she could have! It was pretty amazing the effect that  30 days of doing yoga had on her body.

While I enjoy teaching yoga from an alignment perspective, it is important to point out that if we focus too intently on just how to do the pose correctly we lose sight of  what happens to us when we do the pose.     If we are too busy focusing on what we should be doing, we might not be present to feel what is happening.  And that is where the magic is in yoga.

The Ten Building Blocks of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

Becoming a great yoga teacher is a lot like becoming great at anything else.  You have to work at it and commit yourself to the path that you are on.  It takes time as Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutra:

sah tu dirgha kala nairantaira satkara asevitah dridha bhumih  Y.S. 1.14

“When that practice is done for a long time, without a break, and with sincere devotion, then the practice becomes a firmly rooted, stable and solid foundation.”

One of the things I firmly believe in regard to the practice and teaching of yoga is the quality of patience and being able to sustain your learning over a long period of time.  One of my favorite teacher training programs I ever participated in was a 200 hour Iyengar program.  We met twice a month for three years!  I loved the fact that I had plenty of time to ask questions and steep myself in the teachings.

As much as we would like our strength, flexibility or our rehabilitation from an injury to happen overnight, we all know that it takes time for our body to change.  As your body changes, so does your understanding about the postures change.   Some changes happen faster than others and some changes are not linear; they may be plenty of setbacks on the road to progress.  That was why I liked the three year program so much.  My understanding of postures changed over time as my body changed. I wouldn’t have known to ask certain questions until I felt the changes in my body.   I know a lot of people would balk at a three year training program, however, so I adjusted my program to take place over one calendar year.  We meet every Wednesday from 12:30 to 6:00 pm.  This way you get the benefit of a true immersion while having ample time for some changes to take place.  (For those students who cannot commit to every Wednesday for an entire calendar year, or who want to spread the financial payments out over time, you can take individual modules and complete the training in two years!)

These Ten Building Blocks are the steps I followed on the path to becoming a good teacher.  They are based on the things I wanted to know and learn, the questions I was asking.  These form the foundation of the modules I offer in my 300 hour Advanced Teacher Training Program.

1. Foundation and General Form of the Poses – seeing Tadasana in every pose

2. Knowing the poses from the inside – developing your own practice

3. Anatomy and Physiology – Another way of learning about the poses from the inside

4. Sequencing – the magical art of opening the body

5. Voice and cueing – It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it

6. Philosophy/Themes – Creating a yogic experience

7. Therapeutics – What to do when something hurts

8. Meditation – Knowing yourself

9. Pranayama – Breath, the vital life force

10. Energy and Intuition – Because it is more than just physical

If you are interested in taking the next step to becoming a better yoga teacher, you can enroll in my Advanced Teacher Training Program by calling Erin Lento at 215.862.2200.

I look forward to working with you!

If you have more questions you can ask them in the comments below.  And/or, you can attend the Open House I am holding next Saturday, December 10th from 1:00 to 3:00 at The Treehouse.  Details can be found here.

If you are not ready to commit to the whole program, you can register for the individual modules. (That way you can experience the longer immersion that I was talking about above.)

2017 Curriculum Planning

I am beginning to plan my yoga curriculum for next year.  I always plan the year in advance.  I like not having to wake up in the morning and worry about what postures I want to teach.  I don't always rigidly adhere to the plan, however.  One of the nice things about having a plan is that you can choose to use it or not.  Not having a plan means you are always making it up as you go along.  Some creative things can happen that way, but not consistently enough for my tastes.

I sometimes sit down with my colleagues and formulate a plan collaboratively.  One of the things I have noticed is that yoga teachers and yoga students don't think the same way about which postures they want to work on.  I remember soliciting feedback last year from students.  Not many responded, but those who did requested mostly basic poses like Wheel, Triangle and Savasana while my colleagues put down arm balances like Fallen Angel or One Arm Handstands!

I think that most yoga students want to leave the planning up to the teachers and they are happy to just show up to class and do what they are instructed to do.  But, there are occasions when students want to have input and give feedback.  So, if you do want to give me your two cents for next year, now is the time.  I have created a 10 question survey here. Please click on the link and let me know what you want to practice next year.  I'm sure I didn't cover all the bases in my questions.  I just wanted to prime the pump and get your creative juices flowing.  Feel free to answer the survey and/or add any comments you might have just below this post.

While we still have the entire month of December to go for this year.  I am looking forward to a wonderful 2017!

Elevate Your Practice. Master Your Skills As A Yoga Teacher.

ADVANCED YOGA TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM

We are so very fortunate in our area that there is a lot of good yoga.  This is great for yoga students as they can pick and choose the classes and teachers with whom they want to study.  As a teacher it means that you have to work not only on your yoga practice, but your yoga teaching skills as well.  There is a lot more to teaching a great yoga class than simply loving yoga and playing "Simon Says" on your mat.

My goal is to help yoga teachers develop themselves professionally to become better teachers by offering programs on: refining their ability to see alignment, offer fabulous assists, understand relevant anatomy and physiology, create curriculum to help students make progress, find their special niche for teaching from their passion, expand their offerings to supplement their income streams, offer the benefits of yoga to people who may not be able to attend public classes, and more.

This program is modular.  You may take any section individually, or you may take the whole thing together in order to register with Yoga Alliance for your E-RYT 500. The first modules are coming up!

The first weekday module is:

The Language and Tools of Alignment - It starts with Tadasana.

Gain a deep understanding of the principles of alignment. In this module you will develop your eyes to see Tadasana in every pose. From the moment your students take a seat on their mats, your eyes will be trained to see and understand what their particular challenges are and you will be given the tools and knowledge to learn how to help them.

Class begins Wednesday, January 4 and meets every Wednesday for 6 weeks until February 8, from 12:30 to 6:00 pm

To register for this module call Erin, Treehouse Director, at:  215.862.2200

The first weekend module is:

Sanskrit - The Language of Yoga

Discover the ancient language of yoga! Work with pronunciations and definitions of the Sanskrit alphabet, commonly used Sanskrit terms and the Sanskrit terminology for asanas. Discover mantra, the practice of traversing the mind with Sanskrit. Learn how to practice yourself as well as how to make recommendations for your students