My Yoga Practice 2010
Bournemouth and Poole College teach students on a wide range of subjects, lots of entry into work classes and more for the 17- and up age group. This post is just a celebration of my November and December work for them. Active Dorset who manage the Sportivate project enabled this series of teaching, as an extra curricular activity for 18-25 Women. They are all part of the Health and Beauty course, who learn a range of therapies like massage of all types, electronic beauty enhancements and activities. Strangely enough you would expect these ladies to have had the experience of a Yoga class before- however the subject was entirely new for them. Aiding their learning in anatomy and physiology I wrote new session plans that include the benefits of the postures- one example shown below for those with interest. Having a direct reference to the body parts given health and extended range of movement also allowed me to further hone down the sequencing that makes my classes more specific. One of the main issues many people express about Hatha Yoga they encounter in gyms and health centres is that the sequencing is lacking- meaning they may be standing, then lying, then standing again or other random sequence which disallows any real deepening of the students practice. This series covered Standing balances, core stability work, beginning backbends, pregnancy preparation and developing a daily practice, I made reference to a new Yoga book ‘Emergence of Yoga’ by T.K.Sribhashyam who is a desecendent of our greatest Yoga teacher the late Krishnamacharya- who himself taught B.K.S.Iyengar (homages all over my blog elsewhere). The group were challenged-unexpectedly for them and their teachers who also came along to experience the classes, many people imagine that Yoga means lying around doing some relaxing moves, not dynamically activating the Diaphragmatic breathing and coupling that to movement and posture, and much more. Also this month Ive done a 3 hour class for trainee fitness instructors who not only learnt through 2 separate hour practice sessions but a review and history of the subject and context of Yoga in the current age, class types, availability and more.
Just a summary then -a super series and insight for the students, the words below illustrate what I regard as a well sequenced session-some might be worrying about losing intellectual property publicly posting this- however the Yoga will be around a lot longer than I ever will be and I dont own it. Try it out perhaps? Some of these students have been along to my Friday Class- this starts again 09th January and you are welcome to enquire about it, or see the drop down ‘My Coaching-Yoga’ to find out exact details and in advance costing. Enjoy your practice.
Another brilliant example of a Sportivate project thanks to Jason Falconer! Thanks for all your hard work Jason!