Wednesday Morning

Well, it is Wednesday morning and I have a few minutes before heading out to teach Focus on Form at Castle Hill. Yesterday was a pretty decent day. Kelly and I went jogging- which was kind of fun in a brutal way. See I really do not jog or do anything like that but since we are going to Oregon over Labor Day we thought it would be fun to do some of the great trail runs we used to do so we decided we should train a little for that. So yesterday was run #3 for me and while it was somewhat enjoyable, also I am pretty sore. We will see how long it lasts. Usually things like running and biking trash my yoga to such a degree that I just do not stay with them as the tightness is unbearable. But it is a trade off because jogging on a trail is a fun thing. Well, fun once you are in shape for it!

Okay- what else? Classes went well yesterday. I worked with the theme of Constructing a Crucible for Transformation. If we look at the principles of alchemy which we might consider a sister science to yoga, the crucible was the container in which the alchemical experiment was conducted. It had to be very strong and sturdy so that when the heat was turned up, it could withstand the pressure of the process. So to in yoga, we have to be strong, stable and committed because when the fire of transformation gets turned up we want to be able to withstand the pressure. So we worked to create stability and strength in the outer shines and inner thighs so that we could transform the hips. Like that.

The Castle Hill 4:30 class feels like it has some regular momentum which is nice. Building a class in the summer in Austin is, well, not easy but here we are at the end of the summer with a nice group of people who regularly attend that class. We worked a lot in flow yesterday visiting Inner and Outer Spiral and peeking at a few arm balances.Same with 6:30 at Breath and Body Yoga. We worked with a very similar sequence but had time (since it is a 90 minute class) to visit a few back bends as well.

It was fun to have so many people in class who had been at the Immersion all weekend. Many times the Tuesday after an Immersion is more sparsely attended but this time, both classes were populated with people who had spent all weekend at the yoga studio. Desiree Rumbaugh used to refer to this population of student as "yoga animals." (You know who you are!)

The dates and info is set for the online mentoring group. I will be sending out info to those of you who requested it this week. For those of you interested, send me an email at christinasell108@gmail.com and I will send you a flyer. We will get started on October 1 and finish the first portion December 17th. We will have a virtual classroom where we will have a forum for "discussion".

Here is some info from the flyer:

The Art of Teaching Anusara Yoga: Teacher Development and Online Mentoring Group with Christina Sell

This 12-week Mentoring Program is designed to take the experienced Anusara Yoga student deeper into the art of teaching Anusara Yoga and prepare them to apply the principles of teaching Anusara Yoga to their unique teaching circumstances. Special attention will be spent on preparing videos for both the Anusara and Anusara-Inspired assessment processes.

This unique class will meet online in a virtual classroom. Each week Christina Sell will post a lesson online with video clips and suggested teaching drills designed to bring teaching theory to life. Students will be invited to post their thoughts, comments, concerns and teaching challenges online, giving them a chance to clarify their own process, to receive feedback and assistance from the group and to assist Christina in preparing lessons and assignments that are as relevant and personalized as possible. Students will receive homework and reading assignments designed to enhance the “classroom” work.

General Topics will include:
· Developing Heart-based themes
· Honing Articulation Skills
· Developing Sequences for introducing the Universal Principles of Alignment
· Sequencing Strategies for teaching Beginning, Mixed-Level and Advanced Classes
· Observation Skills and creative methods for teaching to what you see
· Making effective verbal adjustments
· Preparing videos for assessment and navigating the assessment process

Prerequisites:
· 108- hour Anusara Yoga Immersion
· 30-hour Anusara Yoga Level 1 Teacher Training
· Must be teaching one asana class weekly

Okay- more to come!