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Your practice -your intro - start your own thread 		yoga teaching forum home for discussions between students and teachers

 
 


Rod
Administrator/ Moderator


Mar 27, 2004, 7:23 AM

Post #1 of 13 (14346 views)
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Hi,

I am keen for the forum to introduce themselves.

I know many of us are in the same yoga teaching class, so this may not seem necessary, but I think will be worthwhile as the forum expands to 2nd years, interstate and overseas visitors. I'm personally also just curious as to other people's practices. So start you're own thread and intro yourself. Please!! No pressure of course.

To help here a list of potential questions to answer introducing yourself. Feel free to answer 1 or all.
  • What made you start yoga?
  • How often do you practice and what types of routines do you do?
  • What is your diet like?
  • How do you stay motivated to do yoga? (by this i mean ~ I get wonderful benefits and feel great doing yoga but sometimes I get lazy and slack off a bit... how do you avoid falling into this pattern?)
  • Also, I've been trying to incorporate meditation into my daily life but I have trouble just being still and quiet ... I put it off more often then not and watch TV. For those of you who do medidate: What type of meditation do you do, how often do you do it and for what length. Also what advice do you have for me to incorporate it into my life?
  • If you are doing teacher training, where and how are you finding it?
  • Do you have a favourite yoga teacher that you recommend to others to try? (Where and why?)
  • Have you been on a yoga retreat and how did you find that different than normal yoga practice in your day to day life?

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to provide a potential topic to help you intro yourself. As mentioned, answer 1 or none. You can even just say hi...

Namaste,

Rod
_________________
Yoga au
Yoga is a light; which, once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.
--BKS Iyengar



(This post was edited by Rod on Mar 27, 2004, 7:24 AM)


Leigh Blashki
Yogi


May 8, 2004, 12:43 PM

Post #2 of 13 (14152 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
I just noticed that tere were many visits, but no replies to this thread, so I though I might have a go.

I guess I was fortunate to have come across Yoga as a teenager some 35 years ago. Like most, I was a little lost and unsure of what things were all about so Yoga was a most attractive means for shining some light onto the issues. Ironically, even though I was training professioanlly in the fields of health and fitness, it was the esoteric/philosophical aspects of Yoga that first 'grabbed' me.

There were virtually no glossy contempoary exts at ta time, so my eading was from traditioal vedantic texts, Theosophical Society works, and various complcated, poorly translated versions of the seminal texts.

Fortunately I came across Michael Volin early in the 1970s and felt an immediate affinity and a sense that there was much to be learnt from this amazing Yogi. When I moved to Sydney for a stint, I was able to study with him just before he moved away from Sydney (overseas, then to Adelaide).

His teaching was very traditional with a geat emphasis on the classic Hatha Yoga practices as laid down in the H.Y. Pradipika. Mediatio and self exploration were axiomatic.

So it was a further irony that the first class I taught after my training was in the arerobics room of a North Shore gymnasium (Aerobics had just started in Aust), coincidentally, about 800 metres from Nature Care College, where some 25 years later our teacher training course started to be offered.

Sive my first experiences with Yoga 35 years ago, I sometimes wonder whether I'm any closer to really knowing what things are all about!! However now I don't get too hung up on it and try to behave the way Sri Krishna advises Arjuna in the B.Gita - to perform one's duties cheerfully without too much attachment and 'be done with it'


bettya806
New User

Aug 16, 2004, 12:51 AM

Post #3 of 13 (13453 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
In Reply To
Hi,

I am keen for the forum to introduce themselves.

I know many of us are in the same yoga teaching class, so this may not seem necessary, but I think will be worthwhile as the forum expands to 2nd years, interstate and overseas visitors. I'm personally also just curious as to other people's practices. So start you're own thread and intro yourself. Please!! No pressure of course.

To help here a list of potential questions to answer introducing yourself. Feel free to answer 1 or all.
  • What made you start yoga?
  • How often do you practice and what types of routines do you do?
  • What is your diet like?
  • How do you stay motivated to do yoga? (by this i mean ~ I get wonderful benefits and feel great doing yoga but sometimes I get lazy and slack off a bit... how do you avoid falling into this pattern?)
  • Also, I've been trying to incorporate meditation into my daily life but I have trouble just being still and quiet ... I put it off more often then not and watch TV. For those of you who do medidate: What type of meditation do you do, how often do you do it and for what length. Also what advice do you have for me to incorporate it into my life?
  • If you are doing teacher training, where and how are you finding it?
  • Do you have a favourite yoga teacher that you recommend to others to try? (Where and why?)
  • Have you been on a yoga retreat and how did you find that different than normal yoga practice in your day to day life?

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to provide a potential topic to help you intro yourself. As mentioned, answer 1 or none. You can even just say hi...


bettya806
New User

Aug 16, 2004, 1:23 AM

Post #4 of 13 (13454 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi,

I'm new to this so please be patient with any errors I may make along the way.
1) I came to yoga because I had a terrible medical mishap that started me on the road to serious depression. Yoga was suggested so I started with simple poses as not to injure myself further. Then I lost a dear friend in June which sunk me deeper into the depression. I find my yoga so rewarding. I have a wonderful 18 yr. old little friend who is teaching me. She is working on being certified or is it licensed.
2) I try to practice everyday. I stay motivated because I love it, plus it takes my mind off from my problems. No one ever has to remind me to exercise, especially my yoga.
3) For the past few months I have tried meditating but with little success because my mind is so cluttered with problems and sadness. My yoga friend has been giving me new techniques in which I have seen signs of improvement in trying to reach a deeper level of mediatation. Such as: concentrating on the 3rd eye, my heart, and breath.
4) I have never been on a retreat and I'm not sure what that would be about. I am opened though to new things involving yoga as it is so rewarding to me physically, spiritually and mentally.
5) I am trying to learn all aspects of yoga, not just the poses such as things about Budddah and his teachings. Very similar to Christianity.
I hoe you respond, bettya


Rod
Administrator/ Moderator


Aug 19, 2004, 6:32 PM

Post #5 of 13 (13331 views)
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Re: [bettya806] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi and welcome.

I am glad your finding your yoga practice rewarding. You sound quite dedicated, I also find it quite grounding to practice everyday.

I also find meditating a challenge; at this stage I feel I get more out of my asana practice.

If you have the opportunity, I have found yoga retreats and workshops have helped me further deepen my practice - I guess removes further distractions and the normal routine that can get in the way.

Once again welcome.

Namaste,

Rod
_________________
Yoga au
Yoga is a light; which, once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.
--BKS Iyengar



hannahc
New User


Mar 5, 2005, 4:02 PM

Post #6 of 13 (11206 views)
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Hi, all:

It's Hannah from Vallejo, California (about an hour outside of San Francisco). What fun to stumble across this site when looking for the best insurance!

I started yoga about 10 years ago in a community college class. My mom taught yoga for a while (in the 60s) before I was born, but never taught me...but maybe it was in the blood.

Practice: I don't practice as much as I feel I'd like to, but after listening to Mark Whitwell (you Aussies may be more familiar with him, than a lot of American yogis and yoginis, as he's a New Zealander...) speak about it at the last Yoga Journal conference, I really resonated with the idea that most people practice yoga obsessively, as we do most things (especially here in the US). His big push is to help people really reconnect with their breathing as receptivity so that we can reconnect with the feminine within all of us--the part of us that receives, surrenders, relaxes...so he thinks (and I agree) that if you practice in that connected way just twenty minutes every day, that you'll be getting the true benefits yoga has to offer. I'm working on that.

Diet: I'm a fish-a-tarian, and try to avoid things I can't pronounce on labels; otherwise, I eat what I like in moderation.

Staying motivated: see above. Although I do think that the thought that we have to pratice for an hour every day and practice certain poses, etc is one of the things that create resistance to practice. When you make it fun for yourself by letting yourself off the hook, it's more welcoming and easier to do. My two cents' worth...

Teacher training: I went to a 17-day residential course at White Lotus in Santa Barbara, CA, USA. I liked it a lot, but I realize now that nothing teaches you to teach except teaching. But it was great to get a foundation, and what an absolutely beautiful location and GREAT FOOD!!

Teachers: I highly recommend Mark Whitwell and Judith Hanson Lasater. Mark's in New Zealand, New York, and the Los Angeles area in California. Judith is in the San Francisco bay area. I just think they both have the "whole package": the years spent learning/teaching (20 to 30 years each); the spiritual component; the humor; the imperfections; the lack of showmanship...

Anyway, thanks for providing this forum. I look forward to visiting often!!

Best,

Hannah


(This post was edited by hannahc on Mar 5, 2005, 4:03 PM)


Lei
New User


Mar 23, 2005, 2:02 AM

Post #7 of 13 (11041 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi,
I'm Lei from France,

1) I started yoga in September 2004. I just had my 30th birthday in August and it was like I turned a page and I wanted to know and experiment new things. Yoga was one of those things so I started searching for yoga videos on the internet and the first video I saw was "Introduction To Power Yoga" by Rodney Yee. My practice began with him. Then, I discovered David Swenson’s DVD " The Complete First Series Of Ashtanga Yoga. This is the video I’m using now. Yee was a good introduction to yoga. No bla bla, just do it and see if it’s your thing or not. Now, Swenson’s video is much more clear and to me, it is the natural continuation for a deeper step into my practice.
I would like to study with a “real” teacher but I’m in North of France and true yoga teachers are rare. Most of time it is more about gymnastics than yoga.
2) I practice every day the first series. When I was younger I did gymnastics for several years so that I got a good flexibility. Then I stopped and concentrated on many other sports and tennis particularly. But I also went through a difficult period of excess due to my living in town for 5 years and my job. I hate town and as a musician I still have difficulties to be creative in music in an environment in which I don’t belong. Before I went to live in town, I was very quiet, staid, I was a student who enjoyed what he discovered, I had a profound admiration for Seneca's philosophy who was a master for me. I was a converted Lucilius, stoicism was my way. I did a lot of sports, tai chi, I didn’t drink alcohol, I was mens sana in corpore sano, and then, as I came to town with an impossibility of doing sports whenever I wanted, I became irascible, quick-tempered, I became harsh with friends and people. It was a nightmare.
3) So I’m ultra motivated to do yoga because before my fall, I already knew that the sanity of my mind was linked to the health of my body and that the awareness of breathing was essential to my equilibrium. Yoga reminds me that fact everyday. Of course, I’ve been practicing for a short time but as I cannot do all the asanas because I’m not as flexible as I was, I have a goal to achieve and it makes me feel good because I know that each time I work on my physical flexibility, I also improve my mental flexibility.Yoga makes me feel I can recover my true self and even much more. It can help me not being harsh with the other. It can help me adapting myself to an environment I still hate or better, adapting the environment to myself. I’m on the road to something better for me, I can feel it in the practice and in my life after the practice.
So how do I stay motivated to do yoga ? I would say that I feel like a young sunflower growing under a big sun who has to take care of himself by his own way in watering himself everyday. It is necessary.
Yoga is my water.
4) I’m vegetarian.
5) Before my fall, I did meditation a lot after my tai chi. It was easy for me to remain quiet and still. It’s no longer the case now so I will try to meditate again but I have not read enough things about yoga meditations.

I'm new here and the forum looks great.


Lei


maria
New User

May 15, 2005, 11:04 AM

Post #8 of 13 (10697 views)
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Hi ´
i´m new in the forum
we grew-my sister and i-in contact with yoga ,becouse our father practiced yoga since he was 18 years old,so i meditated since i was 4 years but in a natural way -means not coscient about the posibility of yoga to drive us in contact with our real self,and the work with the ego ,but enjoy for the moment of meditation a loveluy moment

only 2 years ago i found this with great posibility of yoga to transform life
I live in Medellín , Colombia .

It´s very dificult to find here a yoga teacher training,the only is with the universal fraternity ,but you must be a member of the comunity
and i´m not interested in that.

I´m a yoga teacher since 1 year and a half ,but i really want to join more people involve in this proses of live
this June i will travel to U.S and then to India to take a yoga teacher training
someone know thie master M.S Viswanath or had taken their teacher trainig ?
Sorry for all this information,but i tried to reply the Rod post

Namaste
Maria


SuzyQ1963
New User

Dec 4, 2005, 12:48 AM

Post #9 of 13 (9650 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi Everyone,

I came across this site by accident and I love it, you are all so informative and helpful. So I wanted to introduce myself.

I started practicing yoga about 25 years ago and have been teaching for the last 3 1/2 years.I practice everyday, and by practice I don't mean always physical movement. Sometimes my practice takes the form of meditation, sometimes breathwork, and sometimes karma yoga, which I try to practice constantly thoughout my daily life.

I am a vegetarian for just over a year. I eat really well and cook much more since I made that decision.

I stay motivated because I love what I do. I never see this a something I have to do, its just part of my daily living toolbox. I see how I feel that day and that is the intention I bring to my practice. If I feel really "lazy" one day, I would probably do some relaxation practice or meditation.

As far as meditation goes, I see it as something I can do all the time. I use mindful meditation whenever I can, I just pay attention to all the senses and all the things that are happening around me. I also like to do a walking meditation, pacing up and down very slowly and noticing the movement in minute detail. And then I do lovingkindness meditation at least once every week.
I just learned a new one called "Holy Spark" from the jewish faith. Very interesting if you are having trouble with the other humans in your life.

I am currently working on my 500 hour "Professional Yoga Therapist" certification through IYT. I went to Brazil in November of last year and it blew my mind. I would love to go back some day.

Yoga retreats are great because it is a time of healing for you. You can cut yourself off from the crazy outside world for a while and take a brake. I would highly recommend IYT.

http://www.enchantedmountainbrazil.com/english/reveillon.htm

Well thats it for now, hope you enjoy ready my post and I hope to get to know some of the other wonderful people on the site.

Take Care,

namaste.
Sue.



[url][/url][url]


Mark
New User

Jun 13, 2007, 7:26 AM

Post #10 of 13 (3551 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
Pirate I came from a Karate background - getting beaten up twice a week had its attractions but my body began to subside under the strain, but there was one little bit I loved 'Mokuso' the end meditation. So, having lost the use of my left shoulder, again! I started doing some yoga to keep me supple before I went back. I never went back and that was about five years ago. Having spent some time at a local class I fell in with an Astanga teacher (thanks Ivan) and just loved the flow/vinyasa yoga he taught. I got lost in that for a year or two and began to read some of Desikachar's books and was blown away, because I was reading about things I already felt but had struggled to put into words.
Now, I am doing my teacher training (British Wheel) in London, it is hard work alongside working full time, but I am loving it and it is giving me a lot of focussed reading, especially in the philosophy department. My practice is coming along and the diet and lifestyle are slowly catching up. I just need to get my son to sit still long enough to get him to start meditating - life is too short at eight.


ranjeet_singh
New User

Jun 27, 2007, 3:34 PM

Post #11 of 13 (3416 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
HI,
I am a Delhi Based Call-center Executive. I have never ever joined any yoga class nor I manage to get the time for Yoga. Manier times, I tried to be regular but alas!! I my lazzy attitude compell me not to do yoga.........

But as I have heard from many resources that Yoga which was discovered in India is now famous world wide.
So, I give it a thought that why not I should be attentive towards Yoga.......Now As I am biggner in Yoga so is there any one who can let me know the do's and don't .......
Please ..........
This time I am serious..


Tiffany
New User

Aug 9, 2007, 11:44 AM

Post #12 of 13 (2926 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
Hello everyone,

This forum is a great idea, I have never seen one focused on the teaching aspect of yoga. I am looking forward to the support and learning that a community of teachers can bring.

As for me, I came to yoga from bodybuilding many years ago. Lifting weights and hiking had always been my physical outlet, and my way to get in touch with my body. I did my first yoga class at a gym I belonged to, and fell in love even though it was a sort of yogafit gym workout oriented class. I soon found a local studio which brought the experience fo getting in touch with myself to a whole new level for me, to such a large extent that I decided to become a yoga teacher.

I did my teacher training with Ana Forrest in a one month intensive program. Intensive it was! It pushed every participant to the max, physically, emotionally, and spiritually!

I now practice daily, which I can't help but do, it just feels so good! I have a number of teachers who have taught me so much, but I really enjoy the power yoga classes of Bryan Kest and Eoin Finn.

Following that, I founded a yoga studio in Connecticut USA, which I built into a great community with nearly 1000 registered students. I really loved hearing all of the enthusiasm from new students who were discovering the joy of yoga for the first time, and also from the long time yogis who had breakthroughs and found ways to go deeper in their practice than ever before.

After seeing how many of my students had challenges fitting a regular class schedule into their lives, I have co-foundered a pioneering Online Yoga Studio called YogaUniverse with the intent of bringing the joy of yoga to an even larger audience. Today, we offer a wide range of classes online via any decent internet connection to students worldwide. Don't ask me about the technical stuff, I am the yoga part of the equasion. I have a bunch of much of computer experts who handle the parts I can not even begin to comprehend!

A wonderful and deep practice to all of you!Smile
Namaste,

Tiffany
www.yogauniverse.com
Online yoga classes...delivered to you

(This post was edited by Tiffany on Aug 9, 2007, 11:51 AM)


yogali
New User

Nov 4, 2007, 12:45 PM

Post #13 of 13 (2306 views)
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Re: [Rod] Your practice -your intro - start your own thread [In reply to] Can't Post
SmileGreetings
I came to yoga out of curiousity about 15 years ago
I was on and off with taking classes and until I went to teacher training, none of the teachers I studied with ever suggested a personal practice. I make sure I suggest it at some point to every student I see more than once in my classes.
I had a good practice going in the mornings, however that led to me injuring myself seriously enough to require surgical repair...I chose the wrong asanas for my body at 5am...but I didnt know until it was too late.
I have been struggling with my personal daily practice because I cannot practice first thing in the morning and waiting until night time is difficult as many nights I am simply too tired so I skip the practice and just shower and sleep....like tonite...Frown
My diet has been vegetarian for many many years..and over the past year I have gone vegan.
I have been through a teacher training that I think was amazing..but I still have a LONG long way to go, and alot to learn.
NIce to see this site..I am hoping it is active

 
 
 


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