8 Hour Adjustments Workshop for Teachers
The healing power of physical touch can be measured; Doctors have found, through tests such as MRIs, that there are evident changes in the patterns of brain activity during touch. Certain types of endorphins are released, which combat stress hormones, resulting in a sense of relaxation and peace.
When you receive a confident, safe adjustment from a teacher you know to be experienced & knowledgable, their hands & breathing help us to visit poses in greater depth with more profound understanding of the the energetic dierection & purpose of the pose.
If you are unlucky enough to receive an unwanted, inexpertly applied adjustment, possibly where boundaries are crossed, it can put you off yoga for life & even be construed as physical abuse.
In this workshop we'll look at the more accessible & common adjusts that are useful to us as teachers & discuss the pros & cons of touch after covid & the me too movement.
The following topics will be covered:
Observing first, why would we adjust?
The intended energy of the pose - having a clear intention
Length & stability
Rules of adjusting for the teacher & the student - boundaries & lawsuits
Supporting students breathing
Limits
Whole class adjustments
Demoing
Language
Physical practice
Sussex Yoga Training’s 30 Hour Restorative & Yin Yoga CPD course & is for established teachers or those working towards a level three diploma or 200 hours certificate. It is a two day training that will enable you to deliver two entirely useful methods of yoga to your students.
Course Outline
This special four-day training will consist of two days of practical explorations, presentations & discussions with senior teacher, Lucy Leslie.
Syllabus
Restorative: The anatomy & physiology of Restorative Yoga, nervous system regulation & the relationship with other body systems. The physiology of stress & relaxation, vagal tone & how to elicit the relaxation response. You’ll practice teaching, whilst considering environment, postures, props, modifications, progressions, intention, sequencing, theming, class planning, breath & language.
Combining Yin and Restorative Postures in a class: Guidance on sequencing, planning & delivery. The “Putting it all together – teaching from the heart” & Yin Yoga versus Restorative Yoga – what makes them different & why they work well together.
Yin Yoga: In context, it's purpose & benefits. The anatomy of Yin Yoga – “Yin tissues”, flexibility, fascia & the heart-mind connection. You’ll work on practical delivery of Yin Yoga postures whilst looking at intention & attention, the energetic body, duration, breathing, use of props, sequencing and themes.
8 Hour CPD Teaching Vinyasa Flow
Vinyasa Flow is a popular yoga method & is often the first form of yoga found by those who came to yoga through the gym. Like all yoga, it practiced with the breath as the guide, an oft forgotten but necessary component if it is to be called yoga at all.
Sequences of poses are linked together, generating heat, flexibility, strength, coordination & stamina.
We'll look at warm-up, Surya Namaskar variations, peak poses, themes & using the warmth we build, for the best outcome.
Important areas such as the method's accessibility to the many or the few will be carefully thought about. We will breakdown the classical transitions & consider modified transitions for increased accessibility & what to do with knees & shoulders, as well as how to language a class that moves on the breath, whilst demoing & observing the students.
This training immersion will be an experiential opportunity for you to find your own style of teaching for the clients who trust you already. As with all our trainings you will receive the support of your lead teacher whilst your skills are developing.
Asana Mastery
CPD Advanced Yoga Teaching Skills - Module A
Saturday & Sunday, 11am - 5.30pm at the lake.
You may take this module at a time of your choosing, there is no set order for taking any of the 300 modules, it can be taken standalone & will include 2 hours of self-study.
There are six weekends, which can be taken in any order & run once a year. Each weekend is 15 hours of CPD, there are 12 hours of self-study required whilst you take the 6 weekends. This module is mandatory for 300 Hour Teachers, it can be taken standalone & will include 2 hours of self-study.
Module B
Asana Mastery
Asana is evolving. We’ve been practicing in the west now since the 19th century, when it was brought to the US & Europe by Indian monks. The Yoga they likely spoke about was less poses, more philosophy, psychology & self-improvement. Our fascination with physical practice began in the early 20th century & still it pervades.
Safety, efficiency & appropriateness
Practice has changed as we’ve become more knowledgeable & as we’ve watched how practice has affected our bodies. Being attached to ways of moving or placing the body in poses just because someone else told us that’s the way to do it does not allow us to acknowledge our own history, injuries, resistances or preferences – all of which are valid. It’s in the investigation of these areas that we learn about ourselves
A physical weekend
We’ll be practicing poses; talking about their roots, the suggested alignment of various lineages, what we see the students doing & why those habits present.
Oft forgotten in modern yoga teaching are the benefits, the why.
Whilst moving through groupings of poses – extension, flexion, rotation, lateral extension/flexion, axial extension, inversions – we’ll non-stop dissect, discuss & discover how these poses can deliver a proliferation of health & wellbeing benefits, strength, mobility & mental fortitude.
Yoga Sequencing
Saturday & Sunday, 11am - 5.30pm at the lake.
You may take this module at a time of your choosing, there is no set order for taking any of the 300 modules
There are six weekends, which can be taken in any order & run once a year. Each weekend is 15 hours of CPD, there are 12 hours of self-study required whilst you take the 6 weekends. This module is mandatory for 300 Hour Teachers, it can be taken standalone & will include 2 hours of self-study.
Yoga Sequencing – Who is it for?
Deciding what to teach is my favourite area of my teaching life; I love thinking about who will be with me, what they need as supposed to what they want, considering my long-term students’ likes & dislikes, their injuries & abilities. Equally as rewarding is turning up to a class of people I’ve never met with yoga-experience or not & introducing them to yoga that allays their worries about competitiveness & performance. Feeling into a purpose & delivering an opportunity for hard-working people to experience their own bodies, consider this moment & take a break from life is the privilege of teaching. It deserves our highest attention. Walk away from this weekend with several templates for the methods you teach, devised by you with my help, that can be fine-tuned for your own clients, to suit their needs. We sequence for them.
Choosing how to Categorise for Sequencing
We do need to know what the classical categorisation of poses suggests according to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Similarly, the energetic response you have to poses along with your anatomical understanding will inform your sequencing. Synthesising this knowledge then determines your sequencing. Go simple, go complex – this is where your creativity comes alive. Body-parts, energetic directions, breathing, bones, planes, muscles, injuries, pose groups… you are an endless wealth of focusses.
The Feeling behind the Sequencing
This is a vast & personal area of teaching; we arrived at yoga-teaching after falling in love with yoga that made us feel something or healed us or gave us space to have a relationship with ourselves. That yoga that spoke to you is perhaps how you can translate your teaching for others. Aspects of history, philosophy & the mind-stuff help us theme & once the Bhav or feeling of the class is found, our pose ideas can be put to paper. Your students will get to know you through the way you communicate yoga to them – never underestimate the depth of connection that can be fostered through holding space for your students to feel.
To copy or not, how to use the work of teachers who inspire you
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”- Oscar Wilde.
We all use the teachings of others to inspire & fuel our own creativity but copying is felt by the students & whilst a winning formula is to be studied, admired & can be utilised as stimulus for our own ingenuity, if we remember Asteya as the third Yama in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, it emphasises the importance of not taking anything that does not belong to us, whether it's physical objects, ideas, or even time. Making your yoga work at a spiritual level requires us to think about how we affect others. How do we take another teachers work & use it appropriately as our own.
Sequencing for Long-Term Teaching Programmes
What is your purpose as a yoga teacher? Do you know?
One area that we perhaps aren’t as clear about when we first start teaching is what we are selling because it seems distasteful to ‘sell’ yoga. Yet the more people who practice yoga in our world, the better – we all agree on this.
Firstly, devising a programme that delivers for the students is key – so what are you delivering over time, what is their learning?
Secondly, having a programme that you can return to, maybe seasonally or by having semesters or terms allows you to manage your energetic teaching output. You need to know what’s required of you; by having a syllabus to refer to, you can manage time better, avoid physical fatigue & creative weariness borne of searching for ideas for next week’s classes.