Change in the challenges
Another exciting week went by at Nydum, and as no one day is created equal, the same happens for the weeks in a Yoga Teacher Training. The constant is the professionalism of all people that are making it possible.
The previous week it was my body finding the training program interestingly challenging. This week it was all about the mind.
Luckily Amelia and her leading teachers scheduled some 15-minute one to one sessions to provide the necessary reassurance and support both externally and internally.
An Emotional Release circle session was also offered, by Ciara which instantly created a more sensitive and supportive way to listen and communicate. By compassionately listening, mirroring and celebrating, we get to know people and their life journeys better, connecting in a more meaningful way.
My mental challenges for the week were dealing with the newly introduced Mysore style Ashtanga practice and the sequencing and teaching of my first 30' Vinyasa class to a small group of us.
While I was not surprised by the first mental challenge, the second provided food for thought.
The Ashtanga self practices at this stage benefits of a gorgeous A3 cheat sheet that we keep in front of our mat as an aide-mémoire, but we still have to remember how to precisely connect with the fundamental Ujjayi breath, bandhas and drishti. Luckily prompt and plenty of feedback and adjustments is available from the very vigilant teachers. So all was eventually under control.
About teaching the first class, it has been another story. In a Vinyasa, you must flow from one posture to another, exploring all the right and then all the left aspects, weaving the two sides with a Vinyasa while progressing towards a peak posture, keeping in mind the chosen intention, focusing on the anatomical parts while being creative. Yes, that was my mental challenge as I usually teach deliberately slow, gentle Hatha Yoga classes to people that are fasting and probably without much creativity embedded in the at least sensible sequence.Fortunately, we had a few Vinyasa classes with the leading teachers that we all found illuminating. I will be teaching other classes in the coming days so I will be able to sequence and teach a creatively sequenced class by the end of the training.
During this second week, I found the necessary distraction from my mental challenges in the Philosophy classes as we started diving more profoundly into the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The teacher created exciting opportunities for open discussions and inspiration for the daily implementation of the sutras.
The Anatomy part presented by Amelia still blows my mind in terms of clarity, and the Teaching Methodology sessions are helping in the creation of my final class.
The workshops taught by the leading teachers allowed us to work on the strength of legs, arms and shoulders and to explore a variety of standing and arm balances. I am now considering adding one of those arm balances in my final class.
I cannot wait for next week to begin.
Sal