TEACHING HATHA YOGA - Open Source Yoga

191 Pages·2013·7.78 MB·English

by  Amy Holt

TEACHING HATHA YOGA
Teaching Hatha Yoga
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Teaching Hatha Yoga
TEACHING HATHA YOGA
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Daniel Clement with Naomi Clement
Illustrations by Naomi Clement
2007 – Open Source Yoga – Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada
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Teaching Hatha Yoga
Copyright © 2007 Daniel Clement
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise),
without the prior written consent of the copyright owner, except for brief reviews.
First printing October 2007, second printing 2008, third printing 2009, fourth printing 2010,
fifth printing 2011.
Contact the publisher on the web at www.opensourceyoga.ca
ISBN: 978-0-9735820-9-3
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Table of Contents
· Preface: My Story................................................................................................viii
· Acknowledgments...................................................................................................ix
· About This Manual.................................................................................................ix
· About Owning Yoga................................................................................................xi
· Reading/Resources................................................................................................xii
PHILOSOPHY, LIFESTYLE & ETHICS.........................................................................xiii
Why Yoga May Have Happened.........................................................................................14
· The Upanishads ....................................................................................................19
· The Bhagavad Gita...............................................................................................20
· The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.................................................................................21
· Vedanta – The Non-Dual Philosophy of Sankara.................................................23
· Kashmir Saivism and the Tattvas..........................................................................25
· Modern Yoga.........................................................................................................26
· Chronology of Yoga ..............................................................................................27
Diet & Lifestyle...................................................................................................................29
· Sleep......................................................................................................................30
· Practice.................................................................................................................30
· Relationships.........................................................................................................30
The Principle of Attraction..................................................................................................31
· Yoga and the Principle of Attraction.....................................................................31
· Receiving...............................................................................................................31
· Practice.................................................................................................................32
Ethics...................................................................................................................................33
· Yamas and Niyamas..............................................................................................33
· More on the Ethics of a Teacher...........................................................................34
Light & Dark.......................................................................................................................35
Mantras................................................................................................................................36
Overview of Yoga Styles.....................................................................................................37
· Seeing the Big Picture...........................................................................................38
The Business of Yoga..........................................................................................................39
· Marketing .............................................................................................................41
· Yoga at home.........................................................................................................42
Voluntary Simplicity...........................................................................................................45
· Principles of Simplicity.........................................................................................45
· Approach to Simplify.............................................................................................46
· A Look at the Financial Picture............................................................................47
TECHNIQUES OF TRAINING AND PRACTICE............................................................48
Asana Techniques................................................................................................................49
· Alignment Fundamentals......................................................................................49
· Holistic Biomechanics...........................................................................................49
· Structural therapy.................................................................................................52
· Asana Techniques: Posture Categories.................................................................56
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· Form & Action......................................................................................................58
· Navigating the Mat................................................................................................59
· Tailbone/Sacrum....................................................................................................62
· The Asana Practice...............................................................................................62
· Yin & Yang.............................................................................................................63
· Polarities of Physical Energy................................................................................70
· Opposing Forces...................................................................................................70
Cleansing Techniques..........................................................................................................72
Meditation...........................................................................................................................73
Pranayama...........................................................................................................................75
· Nadi Shodhana......................................................................................................75
ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY............................................................................................77
The Vayus ...........................................................................................................................81
Compression and Tension...................................................................................................82
Functional Anatomy............................................................................................................83
· Bones & Joints......................................................................................................83
· The Spine...............................................................................................................85
· Muscles..................................................................................................................89
· Muscle & Posture..................................................................................................89
· Yoga & Posture.....................................................................................................93
The Bandhas........................................................................................................................96
· Mulabandha..........................................................................................................96
· Uddiyana Bandha ................................................................................................96
· Jalandhara Bandha...............................................................................................97
The Breath...........................................................................................................................98
· Ujjayi Breath.........................................................................................................98
The Elements of Nature......................................................................................................99
· Characteristic Qualities of the Five Elements....................................................100
· Ayurveda..............................................................................................................101
The Five Koshas................................................................................................................102
TEACHING METHODOLOGY........................................................................................105
Learning to Instruct...........................................................................................................106
Adding Content.................................................................................................................107
· Level 1—Breath...................................................................................................107
· Level 2—Outer Body Movement.........................................................................107
· Level 3—Physical Alignment/Energy Movement................................................108
· Level 4 —Embodying Intention...........................................................................108
· Teaching to What You Observe............................................................................113
· Timing a Class.....................................................................................................115
· Greeting/Centering..............................................................................................116
· Sequence..............................................................................................................116
· Partner Work.......................................................................................................117
Themeing...........................................................................................................................118
· Themeing a Specific Posture...............................................................................118
Classroom Organization....................................................................................................121
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Teaching Hatha Yoga
· Sight Lines...........................................................................................................121
· Class Layout........................................................................................................123
· Offering Props.....................................................................................................124
Demonstration...................................................................................................................125
· Silent Demonstration...........................................................................................125
Health Concerns................................................................................................................126
· Injured Students...................................................................................................126
· Using Props.........................................................................................................126
· Specific Health Concerns....................................................................................126
· Yoga for Arthritis.................................................................................................127
· Fibromyalgia.......................................................................................................129
Language...........................................................................................................................131
· Tone of Voice.......................................................................................................131
· How Much to Say?..............................................................................................131
· Be Concise...........................................................................................................131
· Volume/Content...................................................................................................131
Posture Modification.........................................................................................................133
Observation: Individual Student.......................................................................................134
· Foundation..........................................................................................................134
· General Mood.....................................................................................................135
The Role of the Teacher....................................................................................................136
Sequencing Fundamentals.................................................................................................137
· Fixed and Variable Sequencing...........................................................................137
· Principles of Sequencing.....................................................................................138
· Entrainment – Centering the Class.....................................................................138
· Sequencing a Mixed Level Class.........................................................................139
Creating Intention..............................................................................................................141
· The Intention of “Releasing Tension”.................................................................141
The Practice and Service of Teaching Yoga......................................................................142
PRACTICUM.......................................................................................................................143
Homework.........................................................................................................................144
· Class Sequences..................................................................................................144
· Develop Intention for Classes.............................................................................145
· Self-evaluation....................................................................................................147
SANSKRIT TERMS............................................................................................................149
Glossary of Sanskrit Terms...............................................................................................150
AN EXAMPLE WORKSHOP............................................................................................157
An Example Workshop – Chair Yoga...............................................................................158
ILLUSTRATIONS...............................................................................................................165
Posture Flows....................................................................................................................166
· Surya Namaskara ...............................................................................................166
· All Levels Asana Practice...................................................................................167
Posture Syllabus................................................................................................................169
Hands-on Adjustments......................................................................................................186
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Preface: My Story
Before I began teaching yoga, I worked for a time as a night emergency driver picking up
sick and injured animals. The job was physically demanding, as I was sometimes required to
hoist large, injured, or vicious dogs (or at times coyotes, sheep, and once even a beaver) into
the back of an animal ambulance. I worked the graveyard shift so sleep deprivation was also
a problem. I began searching for something to alleviate the emotional stress and the back
pain caused by my work. One day I walked into an Ashtanga Yoga class in Vancouver not
knowing what to expect and ended up doing part of the Primary Series in my street clothes.
Covered in sweat afterwards, feeling ridiculous yet happy, I knew that yoga held something
special for me.
For the next three years I practiced regularly, and when David Swenson came to town, I
signed up for his Ashtanga teacher training. Soon I was dedicated to teaching yoga. I found a
job assisting classes in Vancouver but did not know what to do next. I heard through friends
that a crazy yoga teacher by the name of Larry Shultz was coming to town to open a studio,
and that he was looking for teachers. He hired me and sent me down to his studio in San
Francisco to complete his training. For a month I slept in the studio on top of the open-air
office; I learned more about yoga during the day and practiced my guitar in the empty studio
at night. Larry taught me to question some of the approaches to yoga, especially the formal
postural sequences of the Ashtanga Vinyasa method. His guerrilla approach to yoga was fun,
unconventional, and refreshing.
After returning to Vancouver, I worked at Larry’s studio and started thinking about opening
my own in my living room. The seaside town I lived in was a quiet bedroom community,
inhabited by a population quite a bit older than the twenty- to thirty-year-olds I had been
teaching Vinyasa Yoga to in Vancouver. When I started teaching at home, I realized the
sequencing of postures and the method I had been teaching was not going to work for these
students. I was at a loss as to what to do. Over time, exploration of a variety of styles of
yoga revealed essential similarities as well as important differences in approach. In this
manual I offer a practical way of teaching yoga to a broad spectrum of students using an
“Open Source” approach. The principles and methodology are influenced by a Tantric
philosophy of non-duality, in which everything – every cell in our body, every leaf on every
tree – is recognized as a manifestation of Source. It is my sincere hope that the information
contained within this manual will awaken your inner wisdom and creativity and allow you to
find your own voice as a teacher.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my teachers for their guidance and inspiration: David Swenson, for
sharing his humor and amazing practice; Larry Shultz, for his boundless enthusiasm and
generosity in training me free of charge and allowing me to sleep in his yoga studio; all of
my Anusara teachers, for their open hearts, in particular Christina Sell for giving so freely of
her energy, clarity, and wit; Carlos Pomeda, for his accessible approach to philosophy; Paul
Grilley, for his transformative approach to physical and subtle anatomy; my wife Naomi,
without whose support and contribution this book would not have been written; Elissa
Gumushel, my first Anusara teacher and great friend; John Friend, for his elegant synthesis
of understanding; and Oscar Wilde, because anyone who can proclaim, “Either these curtains
go…or I do!” on his deathbed must have been a great yogi.
About This Manual
The information contained in this manual is designed to give the teacher-in-training a
comprehensive and concise foundation for the practice and teaching of Hatha Yoga. This
manual is inspired by a non-dual, Tantric philosophy that all of us, in all our various forms,
shapes and cultures, are, at heart, forms of the Divine. The information within also complies
with Yoga Alliance standards for 200-hour Teacher Training. It is my hope that it will give
you the tools to teach a safe, fun, and effective yoga class and inspire you to continue your
study of yoga in whichever direction your heart leads you.
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“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some
extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds:
Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness
expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new,
great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and
talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a
greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
—Patanjali, the Yoga Sutras
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