Teaching What Needs to Be Taught

As a student, we feel motivated when we are interested in something. We can sit up all night with our face in a book. Its harder and less rewarding to study the topics we’re not so interested in. It can be difficult to build up enthusiasm.

As a teacher, you need to be motivated by your student. Not by your self.

Teach What the Student Needs to Know

That means that sometimes you have to bend the curriculum of what you have prepared, and move around and open up another box of information or wisdom.

The Jesus and Buddhas’ teachings are full of stories. They are similar stories, but they are different, depending on their audience. And finally, when they have spoken taught as best they can, they say, ok then, for those of you with ears, listen!

As an instructor, we need to move fluidly around the material we want to teach. If you see your students/class not responding. Its not their fault. Its yours. You need to take responsibility for doing your best to fulfil their requirements. Sometimes your students won’t like you for it. It doesn’t mean just making them happy. It means, making them grow and develop.

Remember that some of our harders, and yet rewarding lessons in life, have been difficult and even traumatic. If we survive them, we feel enriched and empowered.

The next time you stand in front of your class/student, take a moment to ask yourself ‘How much am I just talking about me? How much am I answering the student’s needs? How can I explain what needs to be taught, so that the student understands me, like a flash of light?

Meditation Madness

Meditation is a frame of mind. Or, better, its removing the frame of concepts attached to the mind.

Removing or dissolving or coming face to face with your ideas, concepts and expectations can be frightening, magical, an awakening or a terror.

Meditation asks us to see beyond the surface image of all things. It invites us into ‘what is.’

For a Western mind, it can come as a shattering experience. Or it can come as a most beloved and desired gift.

A typical response to googling ‘benefits of meditation’ is from ABC Yoga.

There are many articles if you’d like to do your own research.

However, there are quite a few on the ‘dangers of meditation’ also.

Before beginning meditation, I’d highly recommend students to do some research of their own, and take some responsibility for their chosen path. Make sure you ask your teacher any questions you have, and by all means, if you belong to a religious group, please consult your minister before commencing any meditation program.

An easy way to find out the dangers or criticisms of a chosen subject is to google them – there are plenty of blogs and personal experiences online.

Namaste

Yoga Tips for Intermediate Students

Questions to ask yourself before your next class.

What is yoga?

What are we doing here?



Tips to enhance your hatha yoga experience.


General

Use the first 10 minutes to arrive. To be focused inside the body, to breath, to become aware of the mind.

Take responsibility for yourself… NO one is going to do it for you. Listen to the teacher GUIDE you. The teacher is to help YOU understand. The teacher is NOT there to give you another authority figure to listen without your functioning mind.

Practice awareness of your thoughts.

Energy rises

Be the meeting point of two huge poles of energy .. the earth and the sky. Consider the qualities of the earth.. consider the qualities of the sky. How can your body represent and balance both?

BELONG in your space.. know that there is only here and now.. everything else is NOT real.. its just a function of your brain… memories, and projections. Know yourself to belong in this moment. You are more than welcome.. This is YOUR house.

Namaste… the hands pressed deliberately in prayer.. pressed against the heart centre… open the emotions.. be one and the same.. respect.. humble.. real, one and the same… my success is your success

Be comfortable. Think about how you can make your yoga time more comfortable, and do it. The class is about YOU.

Love the self.. feel the possibilities that love brings.. the opening. The LIFE…Increasing LOVE increases LIFE. Is that true?

What happens when we say ‘I accept myself’ ?
notice your physical, emotional and mental reaction…
is it ‘of course’ ?
is it ‘I accept my hair.. but I don’t accept my thighs’ ?
is it ‘don’t be ridiculous.. how can I accept myself.. I’m disgusting’ ?
if you are accepting only a part of yourself.. if you are against part of yourself.. then that means there are two of you… that you are divided.. and that is not yoga.. unity.. togetherness

Priorities.. discovering what is important and putting time to it.. backing off from the sacrificing.. and taking more time for ourselves…

Acceptance.. yoga… togetherness. Unity..

Enhancing our body’s awareness… the bodily functions… feeling the blood course through the veins.. feeling the energy flow.. feeling each and every cell springing to life.. being alive at every moment.. together, as one.. with your body… KNOW THYSELF!

Our attitude is ‘practicing yoga’--- (playing yoga)… because if you think THIS is it.. That this is the performance.. this is the end… then there is too much pressure.. THIS is not a test.. there is never a test.. the whole practice is just that.. practice to be stronger.. practice to be yogis..

Physical

Length of the spine… awareness!! It’s the tower of the body!

Let your body do its thing.. do not consciously hold your body together.. the body is designed to hold itself together, with NO help from you.. tension in shoulders, legs.. stomach.. let it go.. its your bodies job, not your minds’.

Your body is SMARTER than you and you need to listen to what it is saying.. it will tell you what it needs..

Build up from the feet in the standing poses.

The front side, the back side.. the left and right.. of each and every pose

Where is the breath in this pose?

Notice your eye gaze (Drishti) Consider why the eyes are important.

Its YOUR body… feel it.. know that its your legs, your arms, your responsibility..

Practice!!!

Pranayama (breath control/exercises) is the key for you to move forward in your training.

Breath like we enjoy it. Like we feel it. Like its wine… Like we are savoring our breath… how does it feel.. ? (not neat, precise barely noticeable breaths)..

Breath.. heavy breathing.. listening to someone else’s breath.. why is it a challenge?.. why can’t we feel comfortable in our breath?

Work on ACCEPTING the body just as it is today… ‘I accept my body’. How does it make you feel to say the words? Is it true? Are you ready to accept your body?

Keep asking yourself - What is the pose doing for me? Where do I feel the breath? How does it make me feel?... tuning into the body…

Your stance is built from the feet… Its strong in the legs, and wanting to go somewhere. Be expressive in the arms and fingers! Let the eyes shine.. let your practice be joyful in your body.. let love go with you with every movement..

Balance of strength, focus, lightness, balance…

We are the MASTER of our bodies.. we are the ones who know it best… nobody can know our body better than us… be happy for the confidence of having this one thing in our control… our biggest discovery yet!

First of all learn the technique.. take your time.. and become comfortable… then.. begin to feel the exercises… feel the breath.. learn to give a bit more..
And to open your self a bit more..

Soft the face.. letting go…

STOP!

LISTEN!

There are literally hundreds of books out there… its up to YOU to make THIS article work for you.. by actively participating… putting it up in your pile of papers to read will not help you to practice yoga

Accepting responsibility

Nobody tells us, in this society.. that NOW its time to be an adult.. its just suddenly.. ok.. somehow.. we are living a life that we are suppose to know what to do with.. Then we reach an age that ‘wow’.. ok… now I know that my parents didn’t have a clue.. they were fumbling around just like me..
So what do we have to learn? What do we have to take responsibility for? What CAN we actually decide?..
1) turn off your TV
2) no more news before bed
3) write down all of your favourite things
4) write down things you want.. then add to it by writing how you're going to get it.
5) give thanks for the simple things in life..
6) what else?
7) Do some yoga?

Making a Good Instructor Better

The studio instructor’s realm of influence.

Sometimes the first studio hour will be a member’s first contact with fitness and training.
This includes ALL attitudes to training, like
- Goals (short term and long term)
- Motivation
- Training schedule for the week (strength/cardio balance)
- Food and water intake for training
- Gym etiquette
- Time management (finding time to train.. schedule it into the weekly plan .. mention the creche if appropriate)

Instructor specialities
Read people to help you create the best program and give the best ‘positive’ first experience.
picking up cues
body language
speech

NOTICE what motivates the member. WHY do they train. For ‘fun’.. for health.. listen.. there is sometimes something else that drives them. It might not be what their ‘goal’s say.. Take *extra* notice and encourage what motivates the member, and if it is not a ‘long term’ strategy.. then validate their existing motivation.. and build it up with proven long term training techniques

Communication – treating clients (unless SHOWN differently) that they know LESS than you think.. tell them the BASICS .
- settings for the machines.
- breathing
- how the program is made ( the WHY’s and benefits)
- warm up and WHY
(In Australia we have a problem with young males speeding. The government ran an advertising campaign that linked small penis’ with speed. Traffic control recorded a a drop in speeding. We don’t have to tell young men that they are ignorant to lift heavy weights with no warm up or preparation, but we can hint that we have noticed ‘others’ who are in this category as incentive to train ‘smart’. What advertising works?)

Instructors’ need to remember that ‘this’ is not a client’s every day world (ie trying the cross-trainer for the first time is fun, not just an option to warm up… take the time to encourage their ‘fun’ and ‘discovery’ of the gym…)

Like all of these articles, this is a work in progress. Nothing is chiselled in stone. If you have more comments about this topic, please add them!

Meditation - Tips for Insightful Instruction

For teachers of meditation
or other forms of mind and body disciplines

Questions that we as instructor’s need to answer honestly.
Why do you meditate?
Why did you begin to meditate?
What would honestly induce you to meditate if you didn’t already? (imagine one of your family or friends)
What are the benefits you gain from meditating?
Will students also gain these things?

Ask your students to identify what they want from meditation.

Meditation facts
It clears the mind, relaxes the body, offers us distance to the every day concerns, allows us to gain another perspective. What else?

What types of meditation are there?
(Be careful of giving too much information for new beginner students)

Steady gaze
Moving meditation (tai chi, shojin (cooking), sumi-e)
Affirmations/Mantras
Guided relaxation
Breathing
Chakra
Inner beauty
Visualization

How will you practice?

I like to introduce several different methods, for example, exercises from

Tai chi -
wu chi
ball
look back at the moon

using affirmations -(I prefer to introduce affirmations to a new beginners class rather than the traditional mantra because I think the idea of ‘positve thinking’ is modern and appealing, whereas new beginners associate the word ‘mantra’ to be something less pertinent to their lifestyle.)

Examples of affirmations
I am centred and feel satisfied with my life.
I am fearless
I am one with the universe.
I now let go of any sadness and pain I have experienced.
I am filled with inspiration and divine energy.
I am at one with mother nature and feel safe and secure.

Extra Tips
In my experience, short and frequent sessions are more productive to new beginners than longer sessions.
Listen to student’s experiences with an open mind.
Give something of yourself when you teach. A typical example is to introduce a topic, or style of meditation, and give, honestly, your real life impressions.

I hope you liked the article! If you have more tips to add, let me know!

Yoga for Kids - Example lesson plan

Greet with Namaste

Intro and setting the mood
Lay down (ideally have a mat)
Tune into your senses (Relaxing the body, breathe, sounds, body sounds)
Chant om three times

Spine
rock the boat
dead bug
dynamic roll twist
dynamic easy bridge
rocking chair

Shake it up…. (to some fun. lively music - similar to hokey poky where each body part is highlighted and shaken)

Poses
mountain (still, patient, calm)
Tree
Triangle
Warrior
Sitting sandwich
Camel
Rocket – (shhhhh) neck back- counter stretch
Cradle the baby
Building the bridge
Walking the dog
Bunny hops

Sun salutations

Making the fire

Growing seed


Animals
Albatross
Rooster
Pigeon King
Eagle
Lion (ugh)
Kicking mule (mouse)
Snake
Cat (angry, happy)
Mosquito
Little butterfly
Big butterfly
Spider
Mouse cat dog

Cool down

Tune into your senses
Relaxing the body, breathe, sounds

Basic Yoga for Kids

Benefits
Stimulates posture awareness, improves breathing, calms the nervous system, increases physical and mental confidence, develops mindfulness.

Goal
The first priorities of a class are enjoyment and safety. We avoid the competitive spirit or perfectionist mentality. Our aim is to simply allow children to enjoy being in the moment.

Time
Classes can range from 30 minutes to 75, depending on the level of interest and age group.

A typical class structure
We start with a few minutes of quiet time where the thoughts are directed internally. The focus is on tuning into the senses. This is followed up by gentle spine stimulation and a general warm up. Then we’ll start on the yoga postures, which include animal games, using the body to express the self, and role play. Finally we conclude the class with a few minutes of breathing and relaxation.

General guidelines for maximizing the child’s participation
Relaxed loose clothing or leotard.
No shoes. Socks are optional
Ensure an empty bladder
No eating an hour before the class (fruit is ok)
Bring good humour


Ideas to make up a class

Be a
Tin soldier
Helicopter
Balloon (you are a balloon that is filled with air)
Troll (walk like a troll)
Elf
Snake
Dog
Racing Car
Kangaroo
Ball
Cat
Tarzan
Monkey
Tree blowing in the wind
Stomach dance
Man on the moon

Walking
Relaxed shoulders
Walk in one line
backwards
side ways
Scissors
Knees up
Legs back
Walk as tall as you can
Walk as small as you can
Slowly
Fast
Short steps
Long steps

Can you lie on your stomach and drag your body?

Jumping
Frog
Bend deeper in the knees and jump as high as you can
On foot
Tripple jump
Turn in the jump

Balance
One leg (change)
Hand stands (kicking horse)
Head stands
Stomach
Back

Dance
Listen to the music
On your stomach
Make a dance while you are on your bottom
Dance on all fours

Copy each other

Magician
Hockus pokus, you are now a .......

Obstacle course
star jumps
climb up ladder, across, and down
balance on the ball for ten seconds
3 forward rolls (look at your stomach when you roll. Can you jump up after you roll?)
jump over the mat

We’re going for a walk in a forrest.
We are walking.
We see a bear.
Its windy and the trees are moving.
We’ve come to a river! How do we get over?
We meet a hare.
We hear something that goes ’meow’.
Who else do we meet in the forrest?
We go home, but the gate is shut!
Let’s rest.

Circus

The bottle spins and turns to me!

Blind man’s buff

Body Harmoni

What is Body Harmoni?
Body Harmoni is a combination of qigong, yoga and body awareness exercises.

Body Harmoni’s Aim
The aim is to introduce a new awareness and appreciation of the body to each member of the class. (ie NOT force feed a particular theory of breathing or yoga or qigong) The class is primarily about the STUDENT, not the teacher.

Why Body Harmoni?
I created Body Harmoni in 2005 as a softer, introductory class for people who were interested in a gentle form of exercise and were not particularly fond of the idea of yoga or qigong. It was a way for me to rename (and hence remove some of the stigma attached to yoga/qigong) and reinvent beneficial exercises.

Who is Body Harmoni for?
Instructors - This information is aimed at opening the minds of Western instructors of the Eastern arts. Its designed to inspire other instructors to combine the knowledge they have into interesting and new class ideas.
Students – Body Harmoni is for people who are looking for a softer, relaxed and gentle class aimed at slowing the breath down and increasing body awareness.

Who can teach this class?
Any one who has a broad base of knowledge of differing exercises and who is not hung up on their technique being the best one. If you understand that the real purpose of this exercise is to promote love of movement, enjoyment of breathing, heightened awareness and that yoga/qigong/pilates are ONLY tools to get us to the next stage, this type of class is for you.

What do we do?
There will be a brief explanation of the class before each lesson. Then we will concentrate on the exercises them selves. Each lesson plan has a 10% lesson change after two weeks when we’ll introduce several new exercises into the familiar pattern. The over riding themes for the class are exploration and enjoyment.


Class Samples

Class 1

The class begins with
Yang Breathing (Tan Tien breathing)

We warm up with
swinging arms and ten minutes of qigong exercises designed to warm the entire body.

Learn
Scoop the stream (exercise one of the precious eight)

Then we move on to
Yoga-
Building awareness
Roll downs
Pelvis tilt

Mountain pose,Warrior II,(standing strength)
Tree, Eagle,(balance)
Down ward facing dog, (inversion)
Cobra, camel, (back bends)
seated wide angle pose sequence, (forward bends)
cross legged twist. (twists)

We finish off the class with
Savasana (guided relaxation)


Class 2

The class begins with
Yang Breathing (Tan Tien breathing)

We warm up with
swinging arms and ten minutes of qigong exercises designed to warm the entire body.

Learn
Press the sky (exercise two of the precious eight)

Then we move on to
Yoga-
Building awareness
Roll downs
Pelvis tilt

Mountain pose, side angle stretch (standing strength)
Hand to foot, warrior III (balance)
Down ward facing dog, hare pose (inversion)
Cobra, bridge (back bends)
Wide legged forward fold, cobblers pose, (forward bends)
Revolved dynamic laying (twists)

We finish off the class with
Savasana (guided relaxation)


Class 3

Your energy is where your mind is. Keep your thoughts disciplined and focused on the exercises and on the breath. Anchor with your feet and let the rest of your body rise upward.

Stance-Wu Chi

Abdominal breathing

Exercises one to three of the precious eight

Scoop the stream
Press the sky
The archer

Yoga Asanas

Cross legged forward fold (restorative)

Sun salutations

Mountain Pose (standing)
Triangle Pose (standing)

Dancer (balance)
Half moon (balance)

Reclining hero Pose (back bend)
Crescent Moon Pose (back bend)

Down Face Dog (inversion)
Hare Pose (inversion)

Intense forward stretch (forward fold)
Three limbed forward bend (forward fold)

Passive opening out twist (twist)
Sage twist III

Savasana (guided relaxation)


Class 4

Use the warm up in the class to clear the mind. Bring your awareness into your body and your breath. Be disciplined with your mind.

Stance-Wu Chi

Abdominal breathing

Light Qigong warm up

The archer – exercise three of the precious eight


Yoga Asanas

Sun salutations

Mountain Pose (standing)
Warrior I (standing)

Warrior III (balance)
Star (balance)

Camel (back bend)

Child’s pose (restorative)

Shoulder stand (inversion)

Gorilla stance (forward fold)

Lunge twist (twist)

Savasana (guided relaxation)


If you need any help getting started, feel free to contact me.

Research for Class Impact

Tit bits of information about your body helps an instructor add power behind the exercise they are teaching. Research shows that students care about the benefits of training.

You never know what or when a student hears the RIGHT words that begin a positive shift in their training. They reach the next level. Sometimes they just need to hear the right words that connect the dots and gives them the ‘ahhhh’ experience.

For example-

The brain takes one fifth of the blood the heart pumps.

Blood carries sugar and oxygen.

33 vertebrae in the vertebral column – 9 are fused, 24 are not.

Research and start your own files of positive facts to help your students. The best place to begin is the Internet and your local library. For up to date and popular research, take a look at the many sporting magazines in your local newsagent.