Teaching my Karma Classes
A Reflection
I recently completed my 300 Hour Advanced Yoga Training. Offered by My Vinyasa Practice in Austin, TX, part of my graduation requirements are to offer 20 Karma Hours, or free yoga classes, based on all that I learned. I found, however, that my experience in teaching these classes turned into a two year long lesson in “how to live your yoga.” If our goal is to move through the 8 stages of yoga until everything one does and experiences in life becomes a moving meditation, I feel I was gifted a peek into this way of being and how one may pursue it (or not pursue it) in every day life.
Back in the fall of 2020, I felt like I hit the ground running with my training, systematically going through My Vinyasa Practice lessons on the Teachable platform, and I was happily working my way through Learning Labs at home. This training felt like a literal godsend. It kept me grounded during a period of upheaval and turmoil and it gave me the tools to maintain balance in a world that had seemed to become anything but. Deepening my understanding of Ayurveda and Anatomy and Physiology felt empowering and illuminating to my own personal practice. Delving deeper into Sequencing and revisiting the Subtle Bodies reminded me of why I’ve always been drawn to yoga. Trauma Informed Yoga and Prenatal Yoga were poignant reminders how yoga can be used to help and heal students who may require special consideration or adjustments for special conditions.
But when it came time to shoot my practicums... If you look at the dates on my YouTube videos, I feel as though they can tell a fuller story that I didn't see or appreciate while we were in the middle of it. During Classes 1-7, I had a small group of friends willing to take yoga with me who were already in our “Covid bubble.” This was during the Spring of 2021. Class 8 was filmed a full year later, after my family dealt with the thing that had been my greatest fear since Covid began- my father had to go in and out of the hospital with increasingly deteriorating health issues (unrelated to Covid, but made worse by the environment created by Covid) and each time seemed to be harder on each of us. It would be another full year until I would finally complete Classes 9-20. While much of my "living your yoga" lessons happened during the events that occurred in the years between videos, Classes 9-20 felt like a lesson in "play the edge," "breathe through it," and "stay with it even though it's uncomfortable," artistically.
I initially imagined my karma hours as reaching out to as many in-person students as I could find. When I first started out, we were still pretty limited by the restrictions of quarantine, but I imagined that I would offer larger classes later, such as ‘sunrise yoga on the beach’ or 'sunset yoga at Deering.' I imagined yoga classes for the adult students who take classes at Cirque Art Studio, where I teach (one of the ideas I floated: “Flexi-yoga” for the students wanting to combine yoga and contortion). I planned offering classes at my acting studio, Take One Academy, specifically tailored to actors, many of whom I’ve had the privilege to teach acting. But none of these in-person classes ever seemed to pan out. Even as our professional lives continued to come back, finding in-person students to commit to attending a class outside of their regular schedule - even a free yoga class! - proved to be a challenge.
So I found myself doing the incredibly uncomfortable thing (for me) of teaching to the camera. I ultimately focused more on content than style, so I hope you will forgive my lack of post-editing and professional sound or lighting. As an actor, I have always preferred working on stage rather than film (for many reasons) and when I found myself alone with a camera, I was reminded of this preexisting personal preference. With no students in front of me on whom to focus, my own monkey brain was at risk of running wild and free; I often use personal anecdotes to supplement and connect with my in-person students, but when I was faced with a camera lens, I found that I was increasingly preoccupied as to whether I was coming across effectively or whether it would seem as if I was just rambling. It knocked me off my concentration and away from my original teaching points on more than one occasion. So next time, I might consider a more formal shooting script or investing in a post-edit afterward. I may also consider having a director.
We shall see.
Across the board, I strove to create as wide a range of offerings and styles in my training practicum that I could “try on” for myself and for my students during this period of karma and trial and growth. With each class, I found myself planning the next one a little more easily, adjusting to the inevitable surprises that show up on shoot day (although I don't think I effectively hid all of my reactions) and considering how I might change things around for the next time. My series ends with a combined Vinyasa/Yin/Restorative practice, in homage to the iRest name and belief in Integrated Restoration. By integrating the Vinyasa Flow with the Yin Tissue workout and Restorative postures, my goal was to give the student a full-body, balanced practice that can prepare them for whatever lies ahead. I’m looking forward to producing more of this content on the other side of graduation.
When it came to teaching specific classes, Vinyasa: I tried creating tailored practices for the populations I already teach in the dance and theater world. While I felt as though my Vinyasa classes focused a little too heavily on Surya Namaskar, which might feel repetitive for more advanced students, I will work to bring more integrated flows to future practices, such as the Warrior Dance and other full body warm-ups that can be used in theater and real life.
Yin & Restorative: Even before coming to this training, Yin Yoga was my natural method for attempting to balance all of the Yang energies that bombard us throughout our days. To recognize our tissues as either Yin or Yang, and realizing that Yin postures tone the Yin tissues, was a perspective shift that deepened my own practice and ongoing healing. While I’m still playing the edge with the subtle differences between Yin and Restorative postures (they are both slow moving with prolonged 'hold' times), they both have different purposes and goals and may assist in attending to different student needs. As I currently work with dancers, actors and circus professionals, all with their own unique imbalances and challenges, I’m excited to be able to offer more appropriate yoga therapies for their particular needs.
Yoga Nidra & Adaptive Yoga: “When life calms down a bit” I want to bring more yoga to the populations who will benefit from it the most. As a child of a veteran with PTSD, I found great inspiration in the iRest book, a part of the Yoga Nidra training. Initially, I purchased the book with the expectation of finding scripts for Yoga Nidra to be used during Savasana, or Corpse Pose, after a Yin or a Vinyasa (or Adaptive) practice. But as I read through the program and considered planning my karma classes, I decided to try a handful of dedicated Yoga Nidra practices (including a short “nap” meditation and a longer “sleep” class). Future recordings will have more professional production value. This is an area I want to keep growing and learning in, as well as adapting my yoga practice to bodies of all shapes and abilities.
For years I have meditated on the idea of “how to live your yoga.” How to take the lessons we learn on the mat and bring them out into the world. How we find balance within our bodies so we bring our sattvic energy to help others find theirs. How to stay soft and strong in a world that seems to be increasingly testing us. Off the camera, this included breathing through the days where "what else can go wrong" felt like a cruel joke. On the camera, this included accepting the fact that our plans don't always play out in the way we expect and that this 'stage actor' was finally facing the intimidating platform of YouTube and film. But throughout the entire process, it was a constant dance between dualities: Yin and Yang. Sukham and Sthira. Rajas and Tamas. I’m excited to keep playing the edge of these balances and bringing these lessons into our next several seasons.
Namaste.
You can follow my karma yoga journey here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaVkXGZnV_h6duVeaZ90adT7WF_BTUrAm
