Photo: ©2011 Barbara Denowh
Different perspectives on how to sequence, how to word, how to assist, how to make space, how to run a studio. How to make a difference for your students.
BY MAGAZINE COLUMNIST BARBARA DENOWH
The morning begins at 6:00 am when I roll out of my bed. I’m staying in a yurt and last night it rained and the wind howled and I slept like the dead.
That unique blend of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.
Coffee and tea is out by 6:30 am and breakfast (spectacular arrays of fruit, most of which this Montana girl has never seen) is at 7:00 am.
There is plenty of time to get in a practice and no lack of stunning places to salute the sun.
Notes, props and conversations
Things that have struck me:
– The room set up.
It is amazing to see each person’s space set up for class. Mats, blankets and bolsters, of course. But there are laptops, iPads, video cameras and cameras, Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gitas, and notebooks.
– What the group talks about.
I think around day one I made the comment that yoga is all we talk about.
At first that was so overwhelming to me. I talk about yoga to my family and friends. I am part of a yoga teachers group that meets once a month and get to flesh out some ideas. But this…
It is so powerful to be around a group of teachers.
There are different perspectives on how to sequence, how to word, how to assist, how to make space, how to run a studio. How to make a difference for your students.
We are all in it together trying to figure it out. When I leave here I know I will have a tremendous support system and network. I know I will be able to reach out with any question and get some great answers.
Got to be real
– Access to Cora.
That might sound a bit strange.
I’m not sure what I had envisioned. She is right there, a part of the group, sitting next to you at lunch, staying up late with you to answer questions or just play on the mat. She is constantly reinforcing my sense of curiosity, increasing that sense of play. She will give an answer and tell you to question it.
– My sense of my self as a teacher.
I’m a new teacher. And, it has always felt like I was playing the part of being a teacher.
This week has made being a yoga teacher feel real. If I keep plugging away, hitting my mat, and asking questions, someday I will be an actual teacher.
From Cora today, “I’m no kind of expert…I’m sitting here with you asking for help.”
Someday I will be that kind of teacher. Share with my students and ask for help.
Barbara Denowh is a yoga teacher in Helena, Montana. You can find her in cyberspace on Facebook or at her website denowhyoga.com. She also rambles about yoga, teaching, her wonderful husband, and her hound at babsbabble.com