A Scene From Asana Junkies Practice Club and Webinar

So as some of you know, I have been exploring the joys of web-based teaching for a few years. Several years ago, I offered an Online Teacher Mentoring Group for Anusara Yoga certification candidates that was a great success. Since that time, online yoga offerings have grown exponentially and I have continued to offer classes on yogaglo and to offer webinars on topics ranging from sequencing to body image to The Inner Life of Practice.   My latest offering is the Asana Junkies Practice Club which started yesterday.

We had a call that was filmed where I gave the course outline and offered a 2-hour intermediate-level sequence that I reviewed. I also provided options for 90-minutes, 60-minutes, 30-minutes and a few 15-minute practice. I answered questions and provided some theory behind the sequence and then we carried the conversation over to our  Facebook Group, where folks in the group can log in and share their insights, victories, exchanges ideas, information and so on. I also post teaching clips from YogaTips, from the previously recorded content as well as from our onsite group practice here in Austin.

I have really missed having a regular group practice here in Austin and I wanted this webinar to be as grounded in real life as possible so I am really happy that we are working on the sequences locally as well.  I have been encouraging participants to start practice groups where they are and we have local groups all across the world, which is really an exciting thing.

This program incorporates three things I love a lot: 1.) Asana Studies and Practice.  2.)Being Part of an ongoing and committed  practice group. 3.) Being consciously connected to a larger, world-wide community of yoga practitioners.

Anyway, I am very inspired and on fire about this program. Here is a clip (one of many) from our practice here at Bfree Yoga.

The Craft of the Yogi

I spent the weekend with the good folks of New York City (and surrounding area) at Abhaya Yoga in Brooklyn, New York. I had a great time meeting some new people and seeing some long-time students and friends.  One thing that keeps filling my heart these days is the recognition of the bonds I have formed with my students and colleagues over the last decade of teaching and practice. For instance,  on Friday night in New York I was enjoying a laugh with Michael and I asked him, "How many hours have we been together in the classroom? Hundreds by now, right?" He nodded and I thought- yes, an immersion, a teacher training and countless classes and workshops along with many life changes for each of us and in all of that,  a bond was formed and an ease established that is truly delightful. And then multiply that by many people in many places over  many years and it is a pretty amazing thing.

Sometimes all of the different connections feel like too much to manage well and to serve effectively and I worry I am sucking at it all. And of course, sometimes the boundaries blur between friendship, work, teacher, student, professional and personal and the water gets murky and connections are lost and the price for what I love so much feels quite high. And yet, well, there are just those moments where I sit back a realize my great, good fortune to be walking a path with sincere and highly principled people who generously give me a seat from which to teach and who, in turn, teach me and train me. Blows me away, really.

So- before I went to New York I spent the holidays re-ordering and re-decorating my house. I threw out files of  over six years of trainings and notes and cleaned out my closets and drawers. Kelly  built shelves and cabinets and we created new areas to sit and study. We moved the art around and changed the color schemes in a few rooms.  We not only purged what had accumulated but also rearranged furniture and created some things that were new. It was a great ending to a year and highly symbolic as well as I wanted to leave some things behind and I very much wanted to carry some things forward into new endeavors and for shifted purposes.  I really enjoyed the opportunity to physicalize those intentions on the home front in such a practical way.

The other thing I did was to go see a few shows. Kelly and I saw Willie Nelson play on New Year's Eve.  Iron and Wine opened for him which was also wonderful. And a few days after that we saw John Hiatt play who opened for Gregg Allman, both of whom were  wonderful. I loved seeing the performances and the way these seasoned musicians and performers offered what they had to give. One thing I liked most about all four of these shows was the utter and complete lack of "blah blah" and the consistent focus on the music without any extra showmanship or fanfare. They simply played one great song after the other. And while  each musician had an amazing stage presence, they had very little personality showing, which was very interesting to reflect upon.

Although charisma and personality has been a hot topic in yoga circles these days  and has come under great fire from all directions, I  have no problem with charisma at all. Of course, I see the dangers and pitfalls of confusing charisma with character and thinking a highly charismatic person is somehow also moral but   when charisma is used in service to the right thing it can be a great and wonderful agent of transmission. (And just because someone is charismatic does not mean they are unethical either. And so on.) At any rate, each of these performers was a great example of "charisma in service" as well as a great teaching of what it means to develop one's craft.  It is an interesting time in music right now as so many music icons are returning to the stage, writing memoirs and reflecting on a lifetime of making music and so on.

When John Hiatt played "Riding with the King" he introduced the song saying that he had a personal high moment when this song was performed by BB King and Eric Clapton. He said, "So for all you song writers out there, keep the faith... you just never know what might happen with one of your songs one day..."

 Of course, I never just go see music without thinking about how it relates to yoga and teaching. I am a bit obsessed with all that, as you may have realized by now. So the big reflection for me was all about  developing the craft of practice, the craft of good teaching and the craft of meaningful, ethical relationships. I am very interested in our conversations this year being about  the yoga practice as we are engaging it, the craft of teaching, the task of creating learning situations where students glimpse their inner wisdom and the opportunity we have in community to support each other in living honestly from those glimpses with courage and tenacity. I see that as the craft of the yogi and the craft of the yoga teacher and role of community. These tasks of our craft  live way beyond charisma, popular acclaim, criticism and trends in the marketplace.

Someone asked me how I planned to stay relevant in the marketplace as I age. I was like "Well, uh, I, uh,  just plan to get really good at what I do." Anyhow- whether excellence stays relevant or not, I still think its a better way to go and a more interesting line of questioning to pursue.

Happy New Year

This year Darren and I taught the third annual New Year's Intensive at Yoga Oasis. We had 60 people from around the world in one room to close 2012 and set intentions for 2013 through grounded, intelligent practice. We worked a lot with Light on Yoga, exploring the postures as outlined by BKS Iyengar as a baseline for understanding and exploring the postures. We also spent some time "riffing" and synthesizing information from sources and experiences well outside the pages of that book.

Truth be told I have always been a synthesizer.  I started learning yoga in Iyengar Yoga, spent a lot of time in Bikram Yoga and some time in Ashtanga Vinyasa, before I got involved in Anusara Yoga in 1999. And anyone who knows me knows that even as a licensed Anusara Yoga teacher I still studied other systems and even took a trip in 2007 to Pune, India to study at the Iyengar Yoga Institute.  

The weird thing is that I also  love and admire purists and when I am in their world, I play by their rules. For instance, you will never see me in a Bikram class, "doing my own thing" or in an Ashtanga Vinyasa class, "being creative" or in an Iyengar Yoga class "expressing my individuality." Nope, not me. I get the value of pure, undiluted teachings from their source. I really do. Totally into it.

It's just that I didn't do it that way. My path hasn't been a purist path. My path has had twist, turns, circuitous wanderings and repeat visits back to previously charted territory only to see the same teachings again with new eyes. I am so pitta that the purist path seriously appeals to me on one level and many-a-day I wish that was the way it had gone for me. I certainly think it would make marketing myself and my teaching a whole lot easier since I cringe every time I am forced to describe my style as "eclectic."  But well, it is the truth and if 2011 and 2012 taught me anything it was the value of admitting the truth to myself. And in the next breath, I have to say, I am pretty happy to have had a diverse yoga education. So, it depends on the day.

Anyhow, we had a great intensive.   My personal intention for the weekend had to do with community and establishing my  momentum for a new cycle that would allow me to bring forward key pieces from the past and leave behind what no longer serves me.  To me, that is an important theme that emerged toward the end of my year. I feel it as a coming full circle at the end of the year and a lovely quality to invoke at the beginning of a new cycle.

The funny thing is that I even with all the challenge and heartbreak of the last year, I found myself reflecting on 2012 as a really great year. I can go back into a lot of the daily moments and remember certain difficulties and yet the sum total of all of that difficulty served me so that I am sitting here now, feeling stronger, clearer, more courageous and more aware. Adversity is a great training ground and if I were to sum it all up, I'd have to say that Rumi said it best in his poem, Lovers:

Stretch your arms and take hold the cloth of your clothes

with both hands. The cure for pain is in the pain.

Good and bad are mixed. If you don't have both,

you don't belong with us.

Not Always Personal

Well, I am enjoying a bit of time at home to catch my breath, connect with my friends and family and to make plans for the upcoming year of travel and teaching. I have lots on my mind these days and as is natural during this time of year, I am spending some time in reflection and contemplation about what the year has brought, what I have done with what came my way, what I want to release and leave behind and what lessons I want to move forward with into a new cycle.

I was in a Bikram yoga class the other day and reflecting how the community of practitioners at PURE Bikram yoga held a space for me in this last year and a half that was really profound. Having a place to go to to learn, to practice, to be quiet, to sweat and to listen to myself in the midst of so many other changes and upheavals was  nothing short of profound. It's an interesting thing because I think the staff, teachers and students at those studios were simply -albeit skillfully and professionally- doing their job. On a very real level it was not personal at all and it had nothing to do with me.  Those folks are well-trained, dedicated and good at what they do and  they were doing it before I came around and they will be doing it if I stop coming.

So having said that on one level it was not at all personal, my experience of being part of their community has been deeply personal and tremendously beneficial. As a teacher this gives me a lot to think about.  Being a student, it seems, is both a personal and an impersonal experience. As is being a teacher. For instance, I have had the great fortune lately to receive some letters and notes from folks in some of my recent trainings who articulated how they grew and how they benefitted from their participation in the programs I have offered.  One of the coolest things about these letters is that the students reported "getting" exactly what I would hope anyone would get from these trainings. And in those very same trainings, other people were disappointed by me, by the curriculum, by the group, etc.  The very same program landed differently on different people.

Maybe Bikram yoga is the perfect metaphor for this because I am not sure if any method has such strong feelings associated with it. Rarely do I run across someone who is like, "Oh, yeah, that. It's okay." People seem to love it or hate it. They get it or they don't. Maybe because it, as a system, so squarely lives in itself it becomes the perfect screen upon which to project personal observations and feelings. I mean, it is not going to change- same heat, same humidity, same script, same poses, and so its very easy to like it or hate it since it is  holding so steady. Other classes change a lot so you may like what the teacher  does on Monday and not on Tuesday and think the sequence was great on wednesday but hate the music on thursday and so on and so on. But at any rate, my point is that the very same offering- no matter what it is-- is not going to land in the same way for everybody.

I talk to a lot of yoga teachers over the course of my days and our conversation vary from the frustrations regarding finances, competition in the market place, the challenges of teaching alignment in flow-based studios as well as the challenges of getting people to move in alignment-based studios. We talk about the joys of witnessing growth and transformation and we suffer our shortcomings in skills, knowledge and capacity when we fall short of the challenges the transformational path presents us as practitioners, students and teachers.  Different teachers respond to these challenges differently, make different choices about how to teach, where they see their responsibilities and even about what our role is as teachers these days.  Yoga teachers seem to place themselves on a continuum from PE teacher to life coach to therapist to spiritual counselor to motivational speaker to spiritual guide and even to guru. There is no single role we fill and no single need we attempt to meet.  The industry doesn't decide for us and it is up to us to carve our way in all of it, it seems. But anyway--

As I was lying there in a tired, sweaty heap in the Bikram class I somehow took a bit of refuge in this "it is not really personal" idea. Because the truth is we just do not always know--good and bad-- how our offering is landing. I mean in the case of me and the Bikram folks, you know, well, it's me and I have a blog and a big mouth and I write a lot about my inner experience so maybe they do have an idea that they have really helped me a lot this year. But my guess is that in a lot of cases, we just do not always know. People may be coming to our classes, getting a ton of benefit in ways we can not imagine and we may never know. And I know that the opposite is true- we may make off-the cuff remarks that cause harm and hurt other people and never really know. (And many times we get great letters of praise and many times we get letters expressing upset and disappointment. So sometimes, we do know.)

So to be clear, since this is a hot topic these days,  when I say it is not really personal, I am not excusing the ways we sometimes miss and fuck it all up as teachers. I am just saying, there is an impersonal element going on also. As a teacher, I have a calling to teach. I want to do my best to serve that calling and to teach the yoga as I understand it and personally, I happiest when I am anchored in that remembrance as the intention for my teaching work. Some people like the way I teach. Some people hate it. I am very clear about that- I am a bit of an acquired taste as a teacher, truth be told. Always have been, probably is not going to change now. But my point is that it is a beautiful thing when the way I  teach lands for someone in a way they can  make use of it to deepen their own practice, their own path and their own unfolding. And it is a great blessing when, as a student, I can make use of what a teacher is offering in their truth.

I suppose I never get tired of exploring the student-teacher relationship and the layers of responsibility in each. More could be said but I am going to see Kelly now for an acupuncture treatment in his new office.

Flow-ish Sequence

So we had a good time at Bfree last night for advanced flow. I thought I would share the sequence in case anyone needed some inspiration or ideas for a strong flow class for capable students. Lots of these could be broken down and modified for an all-levels class for sure.

We had a hot and sweaty room, some good tunes and willing group. One thing I love about teaching at Bfree is that everyone is pretty okay with my "flow-ish" style when I teach there. Flow-ish means that I mostly keep everything flowing and linked together somewhat creatively but at times the choreography is not stellar or seamless and if, at any point  I look around and see an obvious way to help people improve their poses I will cut off the music and give an explanation or demonstration or partner assist, particularly on the hard stuff, so that people can learn how to advance.  Other than that I try not to micromanage and we have a pretty good time together. So, flow-ish.

Flow-ish Sequence from Last Night at Bfree:

Centering Sequence:
OM
Childs Pose
Down Dog
walk back to uttanasana
tadasana

Warm Up Sequence:
(This is morphed from the Ghosh Lineage's Salutations to the Gods and Goddesses. Inspired by and not identical to, etc.)
1. step forward to high lunge/vira 1 variation with right leg--turn to back of mat, left leg lunge/vira 1--turn to front of mat for right leg high lunge/vira 1- hands to floor--down dog-- uttanasana to standing
Repeat with left leg first.

2. Same thing and on the last lunge, add on: back knee down 3 inches behind front foot, take  forehead to knee, place prayer hands in front of front foot, round spine, come upright, place hands and go to Down dog then back to uttanasana to standing
repeat with left leg first

3. Same thing and after rounded spine on right leg, stretch high to the sky and then back bend as far as you can go--anywhere from straight up and down to touching the floor behind you and then upright`, place hands, down dog to uttanasana to standing

(It occurs to me a little video of this might be useful... Anyway, I will do that for asana junkies for sure but it is simliar to this opening on the yogaglo class- DEEP HIPS FLOW

Simple lunge surya namaskar variation borrowed from the Ghosh lineage-- 4X-
1. anjali in tadasana-
2. standing back arch-
3.uttanasana with hands to sides of feet--
4.squat down--
5.leg back to lunge with forehead to knee-
6. look up--
7. high plank
8.low plank
9. high plank
10step to lunge
11. forehead to knee
12. squat
13. uttanasana
14. anjali
15. standing back arch
16. tadasana
note: the squat position is key here to really open and prepare the hip joint. not super flowy and fluid at this point but very effective.

Standing Poses (which become the basis for the flows)
crescent/side stretch
standing back arch
uttanasana
step wide and keep feet wide for fairly quick holds to create movement and familiarity with the baseline poses. Do the right side of each pose then the left, do not do all right side and then all left as it would be brutal to the legs and hips! (Those of you in sequencing part 2 and in TT will notice these as our very familiar postures from the sequence we were working with.)
trikonasana *
parsvakonasana **
vira 1***
vira 2 ****
parvottanasana
uttanasana

Flows:
quicker for more fluidity:
crescent/side stretch
standing back arch
uttanasana

trikonasana flow* (2X each side)- trikonasana- sweep foot in front of you, grab outside of foot with top hand and come to visvamistasana variation- one-legged down dog- wild thing/flip dog- one-legged down dog- parsvakonasana- stand up in a one breath vira 2 and repeat on second side.

Parsvakonasana flow **(2X each side)- parsvakonasana- grab outside of foot with bottom hand- place opposite hand on floor and go to vasistasana 2- parsvakonasana- ardha chandra chapasana- ardha chandrasana- parsvakonasana- stand upon a one-breath vira 2 and repeat on second side

Vira 1 flow*** (2 X each side)- utkatasana through vinyasa- vira 1- eagle arms in vira 1- step into eagle on front leg- step back to vira 1 stretch eagle arms into back bend then to upward prayer then vinyasa and repeat on other side.

Vira 2 flow **** (2X each side) Vira 2--clasped parsvakonasana- clasped uttanasana-- Bird of Paradise--clasped uttanasana--clasped parsvakonasana-- vira 2

Parsvottanasana with gomukhasana arms
uttanasana
adho mukha svanasana

Backbends
anjaneyasana
pigeon with a forward bend

Flow-- from pigeon with right leg in front,  take back leg across front leg for ardha matsyendrasana twist--then take left  leg toward the back of mat for janu sirsasana starting position- twist over bent leg- fold over straight leg- then place right hand by right leg, lift hips, sweep left arm overhead  for stargazer pose. From stargazer, place left hand on floor shoulder width apart from right hand,  take right leg and cross it on left thigh for baby cradle in down dog. make sure your left leg is bent and then pivot on your foot and balance on your left foot and left hand and take you right foot into bow for kapinjalasana variation then go to one-leg down dog and switch sides.

pigeon with a quad stretch
anjaneyasana with deeper back bend
ustrasana
supta virasana then place hands like Urdhva Dhanurasana then come up to kneeling
setu bandha
chatush padasana
urdhva danurasana

work on:
supta virasana to urdhva D arms to kneeling
toes tucked under camel to urdhva D to camel
tadasana to urdhva dhanurasana to tadasana

then we did a few more  refinements on urdhva D

Closing
supta padangusthasana series
succirandrasana, flexed foot on upper thigh
succirandrasana, pointed foot on middle thigh
reclined twist
sukhasana forward bend (alternate leg in front)
sukhasana, seated meditation

savanasana

Have at it.

In terms of theme, I talked last night about Light, my very favorite topic. After all, tis the season to contemplate light. And in the midst of the various acts of darkness plastered all over the media this week, it makes for a good consideration, I think. Lots could be said about that but I will save it for another time. It is a beautiful day outside and I am going to spend a little time outside before I go inside and practice some asana this afternoon.

Asana Junkies Practice Club

I have spent a lot of time writing these days about the power of group practice and watching my own passion for teaching in that forum grow and expand with appreciation for all the possibilities that exist when a group of people commit to practicing together over  period of time. And so many recent webinar participants have been asking for an asana-based webinar in which to participate. So here it is- THE ASANA JUNKIES PRACTICE CLUB WEBINAR!

The basic run down is that I am going to teach a weekly webinar and introduce a sequence each week that will start more basic and fundamental and will work towards some more advanced postures over the 3-month program.  This progressive approach will be optimal to build a strong foundation, learn the various ways to work in and towards the harder stuff and will help people grow together and will help teachers see how to sequence not only within one class but over the course of several months. In addition to reviewing the sequence I will share some tips about how to modify and how to wok into those poses deeper, answer questions, , give teaching tips, etc. In general, the webinar is  a place for me to give the intellectual "how-to" for the week's sequence. Also, I will give some suggestions for how to work on the sequence even if you do not have a full 2-hours to practice it.

And each week, I am going to teach a group practice here in Austin at Bfree Yoga.  In this way I will be working directly on the sequence and  practice and exploring the content first hand as well. So one the webinar "how to" is offered for the intellect (Along with some inspirational pep talks for the heart and spirit) each person or group of people will practice the sequence or parts of it  in their own way and put the information into ACTION. I am not providing a script or a led-class format via webinar but instead want to help people really learn how to generate intensity on their own and how to advance through both individual and group practice. Also, teachers will get lots of information that will be immediately relevant to their classes. 

I have this vision that people will sign up for the webinar wherever they live and if they are alone they will have group support, and if they have a group they practice with already they will have access to hints, tips and camaraderie through which they can  build an even stronger group. I also hope that this program will help people start group practices where they live to build their local communities through practice and the direct experience of being on the mat together.  

To me this is an exciting program because it has the possibility to  strengthen individual practitioners  and teachers and bond local communities AND can provide a hub of connection to a larger network and community  of practitioners.  Already we have people participating here in Austin and across the states as well as in Canada,  Patagonia, Ireland, Denmark, Mexico, etc. The program is both local and global.

 I will be writing more about the course as time goes by but here is initial course description and the link for registration.  As usual, the webinar tuition is tiered to accommodate different budgets and to encourage participation. Let me know if you have questions.

Asana Junkies Practice Club Webinar
January 9, 2013 - March 20, 2013

Are you a teacher who wants to deepen your practice and work on more advanced postures but you are not sure where to begin?

Do you often wish you had a group of yoga enthusiasts to inspire you, urge you onward into more advanced postures and with whom you can explore creative ideas and sequencing strategies?

Are you an experienced student who has always wondered how to advance your practice and can’t find a public class where the “how to” of the postures is thoroughly explained?

Are you looking for a way to refine and expand your practice this year and would love some help and comraderie along the way?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, the Asana Junkies Practice Club is for you. Designed especially for dedicated students and teachers who want to work on intermediate and advanced postures in personal and/or group practice, this 11-week course utilizes webinar meetings, video lessons, web-based group sharing and the power of group intention to create a dynamic personal and shared experience.

The course is divided into 3 sequential and progressive parts:  Establish a Foundation, Deepen Your Knowledge and Expand Your Expression. Each month, Christina Sell will develop three to four suggested sequences to help you explore and refine your asana practice. Each week, she will host a webinar to review the upcoming week’s sequence. Christina will provide options and suggestions for how to work with the suggested sequences in a 2-hour practice, a 90-minute practice, a 60-minute practice and a 30-minute practice. Throughout the course, an online forum will be open for Q&A, group sharing and inspirational quotes, video clips and lessons.

Christina Sell is known for her clarity and passion as a teacher and is quickly becoming recognized as an expert on sequencing strategies, teaching methods and group process. She was the 2012 Art of Asana columnist for Yoga International Magazine and conducts seminars and trainings locally, nationally, and internationally on yoga practice, yoga teaching and conscious living. Dedicated to the transformational power of group practice, Christina will be teaching a 11-week course in Austin, TX throughout the duration of the online course and encourages you to create a group practice using the course materials as well. In this way she hopes to keep the content fresh, immediate and relevant to our personal and collective experiences.

Webinar Meeting:
Wednesday Mornings 10:00-11:00 Central Standard Time

Begins Wednesday January 9!

***ALL SESSIONS ARE RECORDED AND AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING THROUGHOUT 2013 

***LIVE ATTENDANCE IS NOT REQUIRED.

Tuition: $360 ($33/week)

PLEASE NOTE: This webinar is tiered with a sliding scale to accommodate a variety of budgets. If you need financial help use the following tiers and discount codes when you register:
Tier #2- $300 ($25/week) USE DISCOUNT CODE 25
Tier #3- $220 ($20/week) USE DISCOUNT CODE 20
Tier #4- $165 ($15/week) USE DISCOUNT CODE 15

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Asana Syllabus (a general plan)

A copy of Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar is suggested.

PLEASE NOTE: You do not have to be able to do all of these postures! These are the postures that we are going to work on, learn how to modify and how to approach safely. The emphais of the course is on finding good ways to prepare for and work towards advanced postures.

Establish A Foundation
Peak Postures:
Urdhva Danurasana
Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana
Handstand
Pinca Mayurasana
Head Stand
Shoulder Stand
Side Plank
bakasana
parsva bakasana
virasana
baddha konasana
uppa vista konasana
malasana

Deepen Your Knowledge
Peak Postures:
Drop Backs
Headstand drop -overs
rajakapotasana- royal king pigeon pose
Headstand and introductory variations
Shoulderstand and introductory variations
mayurasana- peacock pose
eka pada galavasana- one leg partridge
padmasana- lotus pose
pascimottanasana- intense west stretch

Expand Your Expression
Peak Postures:
eka pada raja kapotasana- one-leg royal king pigeon pose
natrajasana- dancer pose
vrisikasana- scorpion pose
headstand and variations
shoulderstand and variations
eka hasta mayurasana- one-arm peacock
kukkutasana- cock pose
visvamitrasana- friend of the universe p
kapinjalasana-
eka pada sirsana- leg behind the head
hanumanasana- full splits

This is going to be great!  

More Yogatips with Christina Sell