Monday, January 28, 2013

2013 Open Circle Yoga Official Timetable

Monday:      Open Circle Yoga @Myoga, Marion Street, 12pm-1pm (1)
Tuesday:      Yoga @Way of Life Gym, Parkway Wainuiomata 6pm-7pm (2)
Wednesday: Open Circle Yoga @St Andrews Church Hall, The Terrace, 12pm-1pm (3)
Thursday:      No Class
Friday:          No Class
Saturday:      Yoga @Jenkins Gym, Station Village, Railway Avenue, 11:15am-12:30pm (4)
Sunday:        No Class

(1) Open Circle means this class belongs to me and concession cards purchased can be used for all classes labelled "Open Circle". This is my newest class and it is in a beautiful space close to where I work. Please try it out if the time suits. See here for more info on this class.

(2) This class belongs to Way of Life gym, but has the same pricing as my Open Circle classes. It is a local class close to where I live

(3) Open Circle means this class belongs to me and concession cards purchased can be used for all classes labelled "Open Circle". This is my oldest class and many of the people who come have been with me from the start, even before I taught at this venue.

(4) This class belongs to Jenkins Gym, and you have to be a member of the gym to attend (membership plans are very cheap though). It is my only 75 minute class and for that reason alone it is an important class to me. See here for more info.

Small note: Keep in mind I am a 1 man show. There will be (fairly rare) circumstances when a specific class will be cancelled due to holiday; injury or sickness. When I become aware of this, I will post a blog entry about it here so participants are strongly advised to check this website to confirm a class is not cancelled to avoid disappointment and inconvenience.

Namaste!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Quick Update

Hi all.

I know one or two people are waiting on me to confirm whether Jenkins Gym will allow concession card access to the new Saturday 11:15am class that has recently started.

I can only say I have raised the question with the Gym Management there and am awaiting the slow wheels of bureaucracy to come back to me with an answer.

I promise to update this blog spot as soon as I know.

I also want to quickly mention that my friend Amber Spear is still planning to teach a Master Class in Wellington but the exact date and venue is still to be decided. I am in communication with her and am making it a priority to get this sorted ASAP so will post clear details on the time and venue very soon. My current hope is that the masterclass will be run at the Powa Center (venue of Melissa Billingtons Myoga Studio)

Namaste all!!
b

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Open Circle Yoga comes to Myoga


Namaste all

I am excited to confirm that I will be teaching a Monday lunchtime class at Melissa Billington's Myoga Studio at the Powa Centre, starting the 21st of this month.

Myoga Class Timetable

The idea of teaching at a Yoga Studio is something that has intrigued and perplexed me for a long time. As my own teaching style cannot be easily categorised into any of the recognisable yoga modalities the main barrier has always been a genuine concern on my part that I may be a round peg trying to fit into a square hole.

As my own Yoga practice has, for a long time been defined by my unwillingness to be bridled by the tenets (for want of a better expression) of a specific style of Yoga I did not feel any synergy with the idea of teaching at a studio that has already defined it's own identity.

What did that leave me with? Answering this question properly is going to be a real journey:

I started out my teaching career with a thing called Bodybalance. A modern fusion of Yoga; Pilates and Tai Chi set to contemporary music. This was a gym based class and it had a very specific formula in the way it was taught. For starters, it inherited a method of teaching by example that came from other more traditional group-fitness classes, such as Step. It followed a very structured blue-print of ordered "tracks" where a track is defined by a specific piece of music and choreography. From memory it would be ordered as: Warm-up; Sun Salutations; Standing Poses; Balance Poses; Core; Hamstrings; Hips/Twists; Relaxation.

Each track was tightly choreographed to the music, I learned the value of "counting the beat" when teaching this class in order to know when to transition to new positions/postures. This was actually quite challenging for me as it demanded the sort of qualities you might more readily expect from a dancer. There were quite strict rules about how to queue, as verbal communication was regarded as a key factor in becoming an effective teacher. Staying tight with the music; communicating well with your class and demonstrating good (or accepted) technique were all skills that needed to be merged together and played out concurrently. The ratio of female to male teachers was very high, and there is no doubt a big reason for that is that men struggle more with the sort of multi-tasking qualities needed to pull this off.

The truth is, being a Bodybalance teacher was (and is) quite a talent. It takes a lot of work and you most definitely need certain inherent skills (such as a basic sense of timing and musicality) in order to be a good teacher. It was a tremendous learning curve for me and at the same time helped (at least partially) address an area of great challenge in my life: A serious lack of self-confidence topped off with a good helping of low self-esteem. It was the beginning of a journey into self-belief and purpose, and one that had to be backed up by hard work to bring it all together.

There were some scary memories from my days teaching Bodybalance. Moments when I forgot the choreography and went off on a momentary creative tangent of my own design. It didn't happen often, and if nothing else the simple fear of forgetting was enough to push you to practice the tracks over and over until it really felt like it was drilled into your sub-conscious. I need to credit Bodybalance for allowing me to craft a strong set of basic teaching skills which I've carried with me to this very day. Even more than that, it has influenced quite significantly my teaching style, which to be honest, proved to be another nail in the coffin in terms of putting me at odds with more traditional Yoga teaching methods.

Eventually, my reasons for leaving this system were that I needed to grow. Perhaps if I were to be honest it was also a case of feeling like I was a small cog in a very big wheel and I was never going to go anywhere beyond the place I was already at. The structure of this class began to feel very limiting to me and I wanted to explore other ways of teaching. The only choice was to become a Yoga teacher and I needed that feedom.

Initially I did that without seeking a formal qualification. Instead my training and experience in Bodybalance coupled with my own very dedicated asana practice formed the basis of my classes. When I did seek teacher training it came in the form of Erich Schiffmann who coins the phrase "freedom yoga". His approach is to be inwardly guided and to connect and trust your own innate wisdom. It was in perfect sync with my own philosophy and to this day I don't think I could have picked a better person to seek a qualification from. At the end of the day I don't really think a paper document means you are either a good teacher or a bad teacher, but it does mean you cared enough to make the effort. In reality, who I am as a teacher has little to do with my teacher training, it is mostly a product of my own evolving practice and philosophy.

The method of teaching in front of the class, as it so happens works very well for what I want to offer:

1) Non interference

Hands on adjustments are not something I am inherently against and this is not a question as to which way is right or wrong. Touch is a form of communication and connection with others. There are dangers though. I have been injured by teachers who became quite ambitious on my behalf and pushed me too far into a pose. In the context of Teacher/Student, there is a balance of power heavily tilted towards the teacher. Both people are playing a role. However the role I choose to play is not that of a traditional teacher. I am not trying to create a vision for my students to aspire to. I wish to be a facilitator of a very abstract concept: to help the participant connect to their own evolving inner truth, body mind and spirit. To adjust a student I am therefore doing two things in conflict with my objectives: (a) Inflicting my vision upon them (b) Externalising their experience. I realise a new student needs guidance, but for me I limit that to keeping them safe and following basic alignment rules with which to wrapper their experience and growing conciousness around.

I'm working on a very basic premise here: That I am not the true teacher of the self. That is you. That is where I found my own truest teacher and it is what I want for my students as well.

2) Flow

I do not see Yoga asana as a discrete set of poses. I see the whole class as one pose connected by a thread of alternating breath and continuous movement. The truth is I often hold poses when I'm teaching a class, but just because the external movement has stopped, the internal movement, the breath, the flow of energy; thought and emotion still continue to occur. Pacing is a very relevant part of what I do, and there is no better way to be a facilitator of timeless flow than when you are experiencing it yourself first hand. I know there are systems of Yoga that prohibit the teacher from doing any of the poses in the class, and again I don't argue against the reasons for this approach. I will say I have been to many such classes where the combination with this and making student adjustments, the rest of the class is left to fry in a challenging posture for what can seem like a small eternity. Far from bliss it becomes a sort of torturous hell where you see if your will is strong enough to outlast the teachers absenteeism from the rest of the class. Often, when the teacher realises they have lost their sense of flow they will then rush the next side, which in my view only amplifies the imbalance. This is one aspect of Yoga where I feel closer to Ashtanga, as it becomes more about the student and the flow, than it is the teacher.

One of my students very recently came to me after class and told me she felt like the whole class felt like a dance. Her comment made me smile for the rest of the day. I don't want my Yoga peeps to feel they have done a set of individual yoga postures, I want them to feel like they have experienced a holistic asana practice.

3) Creative Evolution

Before teaching a class I have an idea of what the theme will be, but being in the moment, being in each pose, I am often guided to allow the Asana flow and connections to alter and evolve from their more regular patterns. For this reason no two classes are ever completely identical. At times very similar, yes, but sometimes a little different or sometimes a lot. Very cool things can happen that I could not have predicted because one moment suggests the next and you cannot circumvent that process. You have to let it happen and trust each moment to guide you to the next. This is not about random-yoga. I call on my own experience to use the building blocks and connect them in a way such that the sum is always far greater than the parts, perhaps even transcending them altogether. Certainly there have been some classes that went so well that I find myself feeling sadness in the knowledge that if I were to ever try and recreate it, it would only slip further away, but that is the nature of how I teach

So having said all of that, I found my home as a teacher at Gyms or independently at community halls. For the last 2 years I taught at a studio called Purebalance. It was a good fit because the owner did not teach Yoga but a contemporary blend and she was very open to my approach. Myoga is in some ways a brave step for me as I come closer to an established system that more deeply honours many of the traditional mechanisms we associate with Yoga. The truth is owning your own Yoga studio in a country as small as New Zealand can be a challenge financially. I have always liked what this studio represents and it has been reflected in the broad range of events Melissa has allowed to occur at her venue. One of the reasons I'm going to teach there is Karmic: I genuinely want to support and help Myoga grow from strength to strength. Another reason is that it feels like a great next step for me, to be closer to a traditional Yoga audience and share what I do with them. It feels like it is time and that I am ready: I have a much deeper sense of peace and understanding in what I do and what I offer, and of course what I get back from it.

The business model is slightly unusual. Members of Melissa's studio get to come to my class for free, as it is covered in their membership plan. Existing and new people to my Open Circle classes can use or purchase my existing concession cards and will effectively have access to both this class and my Wednesday lunchtime class at St Andrews. I am committed to giving this class time to grow roots and become strong, but like my class content, I am open to see how it evolves, and each moment will lead to the next. Hope to see you there.

Myoga Address

Peace

b

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The Christmas Lilly


I have a close friend who has been going through chemotherapy for the last few months. For many years we have shared all the gory details of our lives with each other, and in doing so, have continued to grow closer and closer. Slowly building the sort of trust that money could never buy.

It hasn't always been plain sailing. For my part there have been times when I was lazy and selfish, not investing in the friendship nor giving back that which I had been so generously given. With any sort of relationship comes the burden of responsibility and expectation. At times I was found very much wanting. There was even a point, perhaps in my own arrogance, where I decided I didn't really need this friendship. My life was going so well  and I felt it was becoming too much work, I rationalised my lack of effort by blaming her expectations as being too much of a burden.

Funny how a few years later when my world came crashing down around my ears she was the first person I thought of, and the first person I reached out to. Such was her quality that in spite of my own abandonment and betrayal of such a precious gift, she was there for me, 100%

It's moments like these that are our greatest teachers. They teach you about yourself, and they teach you about others. Sometimes giving love feels very easy. It pours from your heart like waterfall over the face of a cliff. Other times though, you have to really work at it. You need to fill the bucket with water, and trek miles over barren desert in order to deliver the payload. Then you watch your small bucket of love evaporate into the sand like it was never even there. So you take the trek back across the desert to your heart, maybe try to find a bigger bucket,  and begin again.

The lesson I learnt, was that whether your love feels like a waterfall, or whether it feels like you are hauling buckets of water across the face of the Sahara desert, you need to understand it's not just about you. If you both value and honour the plant you are watering, you will do it, no matter how hard it feels inside.

I have a Christmas Lilly growing at the front of my house. It is shielded from the rain, so unless I water it regularly, it will die of thirst. It was given to me by my mum and step-dad a few years ago, at a time when I had re-established a fragile relationship with them. That relationship exists no more and I will only say I am very much at peace with this: Wisdom is knowing when things are beyond your control. However, the year after I was given the Lilly it flowered, and then over the winter months it died. I was not sure if it was negligence on my part or the harsh conditions that killed it, but either way I pulled it from the earth and thought I would never see it again. But in spring small Christmas lilies started to grow from the otherwise barren ground. I was so surprised that I watered them with great enthusiasm and the following Christmas they flowered again, even more beautiful than the year before. 

It is quite an effort to keep the Lilly from dying over the summer months. The ground dries and turns to dust very quickly. But it really means something to me. Keeping this plant alive has become deeply symbolic: To let go of bitterness from my own heart; to remember and honour love that was once given; and to look towards the future with belief that love will rise again if you tend to it diligently.

My friend who has cancer fights a fierce battle that comes on many fronts. She lives with the physical betrayal of her own body, and she lives with the brutal side affects of the chemical treatments. Those side affects are more than just physical, they mess your your brain chemistry and hormones. The emotional trauma is every bit as bad and perhaps worse than the physical suffering. On top of all of this, the challenges of her everyday life are multiplied ten-fold. With all this going on, she is still my friend, and by that I mean she still works to support me and the personal challenges I face in my own life, even when they pale to triviality in comparison to what she is going through.

I have realised that my responsibility to her, and what she is going through right now is also the gift I earned over many years. In spite of my failings I did water the plant and it grew strong enough to survive. Maybe others would not have, and this one is as strong as it is beautiful. Perhaps I am luckier than I deserve.

The purpose of this post is twofold: To impart wisdom learnt from my own life experiences, and to acknowledge a beautiful and rare friendship, one that I hope and pray will not be taken from me for many years to come. For my part, I must do better to water it, while I still can.