Tag Archives: Yoga

A Story About My First Yoga Teacher

18 Thursday Oct 2012

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If I had to be really specific, she probably isn’t my first yoga teacher.  My first yoga class was at the gym with an Iyengar teacher who must have been at least 60 in a blue leotard and tights, and she scared me as she was super strict if I didn’t have my toes pointed at the precise angle she wanted.  She will so intimidating to me I was kind of put off yoga for a while before I went back and tried it again.  Anyways, I don’t consider her to be my first teacher, maybe just a scary yoga experience.

Then a year or two down the line, I decided to give yoga another try.  My friend’s been to this class a few times and had told me good things about it.  Can’t be worst than the leotard lady anyhoo.  I remember walking into quite a full class at the gym (a different gym this time round), I get a spot close to the front so I can actually see the teacher.  The teacher is fairly young with her dark brown hair tied up in a bun.  She smiled and greeted at every individual as they came in and laid their mat down.  She had a cute pink top on.  She was really nice and patient, and she never made you feel like you were doing something wrong in a horrible you’re-back-in-school kind of way.  She cared.

Whilst I walked into my first yoga classes hoping to keep fit and lose weight and look like all those hot yoga models in magazines and learn to do circus monkey stuff (all of which I did), little did I know I would get so much more out of it.  As my teacher grew and learnt more, my practice evolved and my relationship with yoga changed.  In fact she probably inspired me in some ways to pursue the path I’m going down now, teaching yoga and helping others.

As many of us do, I had/have baggage and emotional stuff I deal with, and her openness and courage in sharing her own experiences helped me significantly to feel that I’m not alone, and I too can have the skills to overcome my troubles.

What’s most exciting is that now she’s put together those skills she’s learnt over the years into an e-course to share with the whole world, for those who want to heal, get strong and feel empowered.  ”Light up your life“, she says.  As much as I love wearing dark clothes and sometimes listening to emo music, living and playing in the light is so much more fun.  And this 4 week course is only $99 until the 30 December – one less pair of yoga pants in exchange for kick starting 2013 in full bright daylight?  Yeah, bring it on!

Nadine Fawell, you’re such an amazing woman, a great teacher and a fabulous friend, have I told you how happy I am to have you as one of my people?

Do you have a teacher/person who’s made a difference in your life?  Or you have some “stuff”/baggage/crap/bullshit that you need to deal with and want some guidance?  Head over to my awesome friend Nadine’s site for more details about the course!

x

Duties of both teachers and students

18 Tuesday Sep 2012

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It’s been a while since I’ve blogged and I wish my return post wouldn’t be this one, but alas, such is life.

So just a quick insight into why I’ve been absent from blogging in recent weeks *cough* (probably months, but let’s pretend it’s only been weeks!).  Mainly I’ve been working really hard, and when I’m not I’m working really hard on rolling around on the floor to look after my body, and, well there’s the new boy in the picture.

But more on that another day!

Today’s agenda is a bit serious, and hopefully doesn’t turn into a rant.  I think this is also a rather appropriate topic with John Friend returning to the yoga scene and even talks about the teacher student relationship.  Seriously?

When I was younger, my father use to tell me, “Your role now is a student. So be a good student and study. My role is to provide for this family, so I work hard and I provide.”  Of course, said in his stern voice and serious face.

We all have duties, many different kind of duties as we play different roles in our lives. I’m a yoga teacher, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a girlfriend, a flatmate, a colleague etc to different people and I have a different set of duties in each of those roles.

As a yoga teacher, it is my duty to serve my students, to help guide them in and out of postures in a safe way, to care about the wellbeing of others, to ensure I have the adequate training and knowledge, and continue to learn as there is an endless amount of information out there.

As a yoga student, it is my duty to listen to my body, always practise with loving kindness and compassion for my own self, explore how we practise on the mat because that’s a reflection of how we live off the yoga mat.

Since I’ve started teaching, I’m fully aware of the areas I need to improve upon to become a better teacher, part of which is just experience, and part of which is to educate myself further on specific areas (and I’m totally excited about these two courses I’m doing in the next few months!).  But also, there’s only that much I can do to ensure my students’ safety.  Ultimately, we are in control of our own bodies, we make our own decisions.

Basically all I’m saying it, everyone should just play their part, and play it well, whatever it is.  Usually compassion to yourself and others will go a long way, common sense comes in handy too.

For a longer list of duties for teachers and students, check out my friend Nadine’s two recent blog posts “How to be a really bad yoga teacher” and “11 sure-fire ways to hurt yourself in yoga”.  She’s hilarious.

My Two Words Project Mid Year Review

02 Monday Jul 2012

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At the beginning of this year I assisted at my lovely friend, Nadine Fawell‘s Two Words Project workshop. Personally I think I got more out of it than she got assisted. Basically the Two Words Project is about setting an intention (rather than resolutions, which tends not to work out very well for most people) for your year. It can be any two words that you feel sums up what changes you would like to see in your life, or things you would like to maintain.

Given the extremist I am, I remember I came up with two words that were on the opposite end of the spectrum. *Sigh* Well that’s not gonna work very well, is it? Then someone in the room mentioned the word ‘balance’. Balance. That is exactly the word I needed.

And hence, the Two Word Project became the One Word Project for me.

Working on just one word is difficult enough, so never mind two!

And how is it going so far?

I started the year off jumping into teaching yoga head first with big ideas and great expectations, which some did not pan out the way I had wished. Remembering what my word was for the year, I reminded myself to find balance and that good things are built on strong foundation, rather than hitching up a tent in a matter of minutes. In all my life, when I want something, I want it all and I want it now, so I went through a rough patch where I found myself disappointed with everything, but ultimately and mostly with myself.

Since then I feel I’ve made great progress in terms of not being too hard on myself and learning to do things one step at a time, and sometimes it meant baby steps too. And surprise surprise, it worked out really well! Things are coming together nicely in just a matter of months.

Approaching the middle of the 2012, I am now finding myself in another situation where I’m struggling to find balance. As work gets busier and so is my personal life as I slowly build relationships with new people in a new city, sometimes it is hard to find balance between the two. I find myself having to constantly remind myself not to work too hard, then ending up not being able to work at all. Or spending too much time on making new friends and building new relationships and not enough time on myself or neglecting work.

My conclusion thus far? Balance – it’s fucking difficult!

Just like all the balancing postures in yoga which I hate doing. Arm balances, forearm balances, headstands, handstands…

BUT if I do all the preparation required, it makes things easier. If I build up my core strength (which I am doing and it’s making a world of difference!), suddenly it’s not so difficult to find balance in Bakasana. If I learn to have some patience and compassion for myself, and not be so quick to judge myself, it makes it easier to try again when you fall out of a headstand. If I learn to take baby steps instead of giant leaps, handstand doesn’t seem that unachievable anymore.

For the rest of the year, my One Word Project remains Balance, and I’m adding in the following reminders/mantras/affirmations:

  • It’s okay to fail/fall
  • Be patient
  • Have compassion not only on others but most importantly, on myself
  • Baby steps
  • Just take a deep breath in!

How about you? How’s your year going? Don’t have an intention for the year but think you might benefit from having one? There’s also a Two Words Project page on Facebook for some motivation and check out what other’s Two Words are! Oh and tell me if you have two words or one word or an intention for 2012!

Happy July!

XO

Mindfulness – the irony of it all

25 Friday May 2012

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I’m typing this blog post as I’m sitting outside my apartment, waiting for my flatmate to come and rescue me. Yes, I locked myself out of the house.

I was suppose to be on my way to teach a yoga class, where I usually spend most of the time reminding students to be present and focus on the task at hand (usually breathing and moving with that). One hopes that we can take that kind of focus we have during a yoga class to our everyday life.

And yet here I am, sitting outside my house because I was too busy thinking about everything else that I have to do today instead of focusing on getting all my shit together before slamming the door shut behind me. Only to realise it the moment I heard bang.

Oh the irony. Do you do stupid things like me sometimes as a result of not being present and living in the past or future?

My thoughts on Yoga Teacher Training

14 Monday May 2012

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Recently I received an email from a friend of a yoga student of mine asking for advice about doing her teacher training, so I thought I’ll write a post about it.

Now I recently made a video about things to consider if you want to be a yoga teacher, and if after watching that video, you still want to pursue this then read this for my two cents on this topic. This is just my personal opinion on this matter and I may be wrong but I’m just a human being so sue me.

So you know in school we learnt maths and english and science and whatever else for 12 whole years (unless you’re a genius child who went skipped grades and went straight to university at age 10 or something), and then if you were good at maths you’ll probably go study accounting or finance, and if you were good at science and physics, you went off to be a doctor or a scientist. And then you study for another 3 – 6 years at university before you became whatever the hell you became.

My point is, we basically prepared for those things our entire lives, we were studying those things to prepare for college and then studying further to prepare us for our careers, so why do people think they know enough after doing yoga for 6 months to become a teacher and go out and teach?

I’ve been practising yoga for almost 7 years now (I think, I lost track…) and most days I still feel like I know nothing. My friend/teacher has been teaching for 10 years now, and she still learns new things every now and then. Whilst a teacher training is a great way to deepen your knowledge for yoga in a fast way, one should understand that it does not mean that you can now go out there and teach yoga to the average Joe in a completely safe way.

It is true that you can learn a lot as you do, but personally I just feel that if you haven’t been practising yoga for at least a few years consistently, one should not even contemplate the idea of teaching. UNLESS, you have a superb knowledge already on the anatomy of the human body, combined with a very good teacher training course, perhaps then you can fast track to becoming a yoga teacher (and if you are one of the lucky few people who can figure out exactly what they want to do in life in a very short 6 month period! Damn you, damn you…).

Now the reason I say all of the above is because many teacher training now days are these 4 week intensive 200-hours things that are just pushing out loads (or heaps as they say in Oz) of yoga teachers, some of which are really just not that experienced in their practise, so never mind about teaching someone. This is the reason why longer, more detailed teacher trainings are preferred. So if you aren’t in a rush to become a teacher and money isn’t a problem, I would personally really recommend taking the time to do a solid teacher training rather than a quick short one.

Is that what I did? NOPE! I went to India and did a 200-hour intensive and the whole time I was doing the teacher training, I was thinking to myself, how in the world is this course suppose to prepare me as a teacher? There’s just no ways that I will be equipped with the skills to teach after this!  (If you are one of my students, fear not… Just read on…)

Fortunately, I’m one big nerd and yoga obsessed junkie, so of course I didn’t just do ONE intensive course while I was there. Aside from my teacher training, I also did this course called the Heart of Yoga in Chennai at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. ALSO, I keep going to all sorts of yoga workshops and read tons of books and blogs and articles and watch Youtube videos on yoga, which helps me learn lots of new things that I can always share in my classes.

I’m in no way dissing 200-hours intensive teacher training courses because that’s what I did too! But I fully recognise the fact that those 200 hours are just not enough. If you are a super nerd like me who will in your own time go and do loads of research and reading etc, then the 200 hours thing may work for you. Or if you already have a great background in bodyworks or anatomy (like if you’re a doctor, or a physio, or someone who studied something to do with anatomy…), or if you have some background in fitness and is able to appreciate that everyone is different and we got to respect people’s bodies for being different!

Anyways, that’s my 2 cents. I probably should have made a video for this instead of writing this long rant. Actually, maybe I will make a video AS WELL AS a blog post! How about that?!

Namaste good night everyone.

Should you be a Yoga Teacher?

11 Friday May 2012

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So this is something that’s been on my mind for some time now as I’m finding my own way around being a yoga teacher. There are certain qualities that a yoga teacher must have, and there are certain things that one needs to consider carefully before going down the path of a yoga teacher. These are either issues I discussed with friends or things I have discovered that I think is important for one to know if you are even thinking about becoming a teacher.

I’m not saying though that you shouldn’t do a teacher training course if you don’t fit into the qualities I discuss in the video. If you want to deepen your knowledge in yoga, a teacher training is often the best way to learn more. However, just because you’ve done a teacher training, does not mean you should be a teacher!

Anyways, I wanted to try make a video and try out my video editing skills! Let me know what you think~

Thirty Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know By The Time She’s 30

04 Friday May 2012

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Someone showed me this yesterday and I thought I’ll repost and blog about it…

List excerpted from Glamour’s “Thirty Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know By The Time She’s 30.”By 30, you should have …

1. One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you’ve come. - double check, let’s not discuss this though haha…
2. A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family. - check, have acquired something since moving to Australia few months ago.
3. Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour. - check, I can wear my yoga gear to see the employer or man of my dreams right?!
4. A purse, a suitcase, and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying. - check
5. A youth you’re content to move beyond. - check, didn’t have a quarter life crisis for nothing.
6. A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age. - check check check
7. The realization that you are actually going to have an old age — and some money set aside to help fund it. - I think I will by my old age given my ability to manage money in general.  At the moment I don’t have since I spent it all on traveling for a year and setting myself up in a new country.  Can that count as half a check?
8. An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account — all of which nobody has access to but you. - check, who doesn’t have an email address now days?  Besides my mom.
9. A résumé that is not even the slightest bit padded. – check.  My issue is that it might have too much on it given what I do now and what I used to do…
10. One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry. - too many checks.  I love my girls.
11. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra. - Oh no. Ok I still have some time before I’m 30!  And yoga teachers hardly even wear a bloody bra!
12. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it. – Oh check Louis Vuitton.  Check Ed Hardy jacket.  Check check check check check.
13. The belief that you deserve it. - CHECK.  If I don’t believe that, how can I convince other people?!
14. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine, and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don’t get better after 30. - check.  Thank you yoga.
15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship, and all those other facets of life that do get better – check career, relationship I’m working on…  Lucky I’m not 30 yet then….

By 30, you should know …

1. How to fall in love without losing yourself. - check I think! Leo’s and Pitta’s are damn passionate people though and it’s hard to change that sometimes.
2. How you feel about having kids. - OH DEAR GOD I keep changing my mind on this one…
3. How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship. - check. Think I’ve handled this pretty well thus far in life.
4. When to try harder and when to walk away. – Walking away is still pretty hard for me…
5. How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn’t like to happen next. – hmmm I have to try this one out next time, it’s been a while since my last kiss hahaha….
6. The names of the secretary of state, your great-grandmothers, and the best tailor in town. - Um…  I’m not 30 yet I still have time to find out!
7. How to live alone, even if you don’t like to. - check.
8. Where to go — be it your best friend’s kitchen table or a yoga mat — when your soul needs soothing. - check.
9. That you can’t change the length of your legs, the width of your hips, or the nature of your parents. – CHECK!
10. That your childhood may not have been perfect, but it’s over. - check…  I am very grateful for my childhood because it made me the person I am today whether it was good or not at the time.
11. What you would and wouldn’t do for money or love. – I think it’s a check but I think that will still depend on the situation when it arises…
12. That nobody gets away with smoking, drinking, doing drugs, or not flossing for very long. - HELL YEAH check. Don’t do drugs people. And floss your teeth and go to the dentist every 6 months for check up and cleaning!
13. Who you can trust, who you can’t, and why you shouldn’t take it personally. – check…  But sometimes it’s still difficult to not take things personally…
14. Not to apologize for something that isn’t your fault. - I grew up in South Africa, we say sorry instead of excuse me, and sorry for just about everything hahaha
15. Why they say life begins at 30 - I CAN’T WAIT TO TURN 30 NEXT YEAR!

So I always thought in my teens that by my 20′s I’ll know everything. And in my 20′s I realise how little I really know. But as time goes by I can undoubtedly say that I am more and more sure of what and who I am. That includes accepting myself for everything I am, the good and the bad. There’s still a whole lot more to learn but isn’t that just one of the joys of life?  Lamo I know, but you know it’s true!

What’s in your list of should have’s and should know’s?  HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

XOXO

I AM WHO I AM

Not just another ordinary Monday… Part 2

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

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If you haven’t read Part 1 (<—-click there to read it), you should probably do that before reading Part 2!

Finally I get back to my car about an hour after I pulled over.  It’s not raining anymore. THANK GOD.  There’s no ways I’m driving in the rain after seeing all that happened.  I call my friend to tell her that I won’t make it to yoga class later because my energy will be all kinds of wrong to be teaching or assisting.  She wisely tells me that I should probably go get a cup of coffee before I drive home.

So there I am inside the Red Rooster standing in the queue.  The lady who hit the guy is still there with her friend who was the one standing over the guy with the umbrella.  She must be traumatised as I saw her crying earlier while we waited for the ambulance to arrive.  How awful she must feel though it’s not really her fault at all since the man had ran into her car (because he was trying to get out of the pouring rain).

When I ordered my coffee, the Red Rooster staff didn’t accept my money.  Yay free coffee.

OMG did I just think YAY?  Someone had to get hit by a car for you to get this free coffee, shame on you!

Oh the whole way home I couldn’t stopped thinking about how that it could have been me lying on the driveway if I had gotten out to get that coffee.  And then no one would have been around to cover me up with a yoga mat.  And my new lulu pants would be ruined.  All this time whilst the smell of his blood from his head was still fresh in my brain…  Then of course I was appalled at myself that I even considered for a second of leaving the scene while a man is lying bleeding on the floor!

I tried to remember the steps to first aid and emergencies and finally understood why it was so important to do a refresher course every 2 – 3 years.  I did my course a year ago and I hardly remember anything anymore.  Which is why I was reading this First Aid wikibook last night to refresh my memory.  If it’s been a while since you did your first aid course, remember to refresh your memory every now and then, because you never know when it might come in handy.

Even if you don’t remember all the textbook steps during an emergency, it doesn’t matter.  Just use your common sense.  Don’t move people around if you think they might have broken something.  Don’t dig around in their open wound.  Don’t ask them to perform a shoulderstand if they have neck issues, oh wait, that’s for yoga class, but also applicable during an emergency!

Most importantly, do everything with Metta, loving kindness.  Yes I’m kind of digging that word at the moment, so you might see it come up again and again in future posts. If you act with loving kindness and common sense, chances are you can’t go wrong.  The victim will feel as comfortable and looked after as he possibly can given the circumstances.  Reassure them that help is on the way and that they will be okay, with loving kindness.  Picking them up and giving them a hug is NOT acceptable, not that kind of loving okay.

This incident also reminds me of how important it is to be mindful.  Be mindful of how you are treating another human being’s body.  Be mindful of your own body.  Be mindful of your surroundings.  Be mindful of how you cross the road.

Don’t be a mind fool, don’t be mind full, but mindful.

Namaste and be safe everybody,

Karen

Everything you do, do it with Metta

22 Sunday Apr 2012

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I’ve been AWOL for a while it seems, that’s because I’ve been busy with something very exciting…  Doing my Thai Yoga Massage Course!  I love yoga, I love massages, so what better than to combine two of my greatest loves?!

So Thai Yoga Massage, what is it exactly?  Well number one, it’s the best massage in the whole wide world.  No jokes.  Here’s why…

Thai Yoga Massage actually came from Ayurveda and evolved in Thailand to what is now known as Thai Yoga Massage.  The name itself honours the two lineages of its origin.  It is practised with the receiver of the massage fully clothed, so everyone’s dignity is preserved.  No oil is used during the process so you won’t feel like you’re paying someone to lather oil all over your body in any weird way (sometimes that’s how I feel with massages that involves oil!).  Thai Yoga Massage combines the best of yoga and massage, with assisted stretches, acupressure, energy work, meditation, and much much more!  Whilst you can just release and let go and enjoy the massage for some physically relaxation (perhaps catch a great nap), you may also choose to remain mindful of the massage and focus on the breath and find yourself at a meditative state.

What I loved most was that we were taught to do this with Metta, a Buddhist teaching of loving kindness.  Not only do you treat the receiver of the massage with loving kindness, but the giver of the massage should also practice with Metta on themselves.  Techniques used allowed the giver of the massage to practise with minimal effort.

There were many remedial massage therapist at the course I did, and most of them were there as a result of realising the damage that remedial massage has done to their bodies.  That’s almost the ultimate irony that someone who pursue a path of healing is doing damage to their body in the process.  Count-intuitive?  Yeah I think so!

I was shocked when the one girl told me that when she was studying remedial massage, the teacher had actually informed them that it will only be a 5 year career!  Assuming we live in a perfect world, one would only want to study things they are passionate about and be told that their passion would only last them 5 years before their body is too damaged to carry on?  OMG.

If I love something, I want to be doing it for as long as I possibly can!  And with Thai Yoga Massage I think I can!  The techniques used are so brilliant that not only does that receiver benefits from it, but as a giver of the massage, I felt as if I was doing a meditative practice throughout.  As our teacher said, you almost feel a bit selfish when you give the massage because you feel so good as well!

Wow, how great is that.  And I experienced this myself during my course.  It was the first time in weeks I felt as calm and serene as I did whilst giving someone a yoga dream.  I can’t wait to start offering this to my community as I continue on my path of healing.  Watch this space for more coming soon!

What’s the best massage you’ve ever had?  Try Thai Yoga Massage if you haven’t had one before and tell me what you think!

Yoga – Bootcamp Style!

05 Thursday Apr 2012

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I’ve never been a big fan of core workouts.  Hate doing boat/Navasana.  Pilates class makes me shake like there’s no tomorrow.  A few years ago when I got myself a personal trainer for a month to get fit, I suddenly started having sharp pain in my lower back so I wasn’t able to do any abdominal exercises (the pain was ever only there when I was at the training sessions, it’s my body’s way of telling me how much I hated doing them!).

And of course I know how important it is to have a strong core.  A strong core keeps the body up.  It helps with back pain.  And muscle burns fat, so strong core probably minimises the likelihood of an expanding mid-section!  But I’ve never been very strong in that part of the body, and that probably explains my strong dislike for many yoga poses which requires a strong core, like arm balances…

But the other day I went to a yoga class and I held crow/bakasana for, oh wait, I can’t even remember how many breaths because I stayed up for so long I was so shocked I didn’t even manage to keep count.  I haven’t done this pose for a long time, like I said, I’m not a big fan of arm balances, so I practically never do them in my personal practice.    But from all the other poses I do on a regular basis, I was able to build quite a strong core that allows me to do all the poses I use to hate doing as well!

So I put together this little yoga bootcamp sequence that anyone can try at home which can be found over at my Freebies page.  It’s short so it’s easy to remember, and you can repeat it several times doing it dynamically, or hold each pose for longer to build more strength, or BOTH!  Just remember to keep breathing!  And let me know how it goes if you try it :)

*Click on the image below to download

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