I am making a commitment to share the topics that I am immersing myself into this year. I am excited about all of these doors of opportunity and I know it will not only benefit me and my relationships, but for YOU, my students.
Recognizing that my postural Yoga practice was not serving me as a whole, over the years, I have slowly begun to integrate more knowledge from different teachers (online, via podcasts and books) in the fields of:
- Meditation
- Embodied self-awareness
- Somatic psychology
- Nervous system resilience
- Polyvagal theory
What do these topics have to do with Yoga? Quite a bit! So far, I’ve gleaned
there is a convergence between the brain and body and how it affects
self-regulation, resilience, and then, how we interact with others. This
IS Yoga!! (A little refresher: the definition of Yoga is to unite, to yoke)
I find it interesting the types of clients/students that continue to show up to
work with me. Many are searching relief in their
tight/post-surgery/injured/post-chemo bodies. Others are seeking solace from
anxiety/depression. No matter how it originates, tension has a sneaky way of
negatively affecting our physical and emotional wellbeing. It’s all a matter of
feeling safe, comfortable and balanced in our bodies.
“We need to realize that our bodies respond to everything we hear and
experience around us, as well as to what we think and experience on the inside.
Every time we don’t feel okay about something, we tense up in our body and it
doesn’t release until we feel grounded, slow down, take a deep breath, and
soften our body. In other words, in order to release tension we need to feel
safe.”—Jillian Pransky
By immersing myself into these topics of neuro and somatic psychology, my
intention is to not only enhance the experiences I create for my present
students, but to reach people beyond those who come to my classes. Yoga is not
only practiced on the 4 corners of a sticky mat or meditation cushion. I also
want to connect with people who don’t come to classes (for whatever reason that
may be). I want to share that it is possible to feel
whole, present and aware in your body no matter what your circumstances may be.Ultimately,
I want to guide people to connect the dots between sensations, emotions,
thoughts and memories and recognize how that shapes how we feel and respond.
In my teaching, I have been gingerly dropping these seeds throughout the years
and this time I plan to go deeper. But first, I need to dig deeper
for myself. I need to embody the learning and make it mine.
Being a teacher is about being as honest as possible as I continue to evolve.
My hope is that my teaching, then, is a reflection of my love of learning,
being endlessly curious and continuing to dive into different experiences.
