12 Ways To Deepen Your Practice
Quite often I talk to students that are interested in teacher training, and they tell me that they do not actually want to teach yoga, but that they have a need to better understand the poses, or to go beyond the physical practice and explore the philosophy and history of yoga, or simply put, to know more. To that end they feel they would benefit from taking a comprehensive yoga teacher training. And that is usually a great way to start the journey of further study. However, teacher trainings are an investment of time and money, and they offer quite a bit more than just “deepening your practice”. They are a serious undertaking. I am here to tell you that you can be a more knowledgeable, smart student, without ever having to spend big bucks. And even if you do plan to teach, these things are a good foundation to have before you take the next step into a TT commitment. Having an appreciation for the vast and varied field of yoga study and an understanding of how much is available to us to explore is a fertile ground to grow your teaching from.
Ask questions! Yoga teachers love to talk about yoga. And we love to share our knowledge with you. In your basic teacher training, you will spend time on breaking down families of poses and their underlying alignment principles and biomechanics. However, this information is taught in many public classes by those teachers who are fond of exploring alignment and know a bit of anatomy. Seek them out! All you have to do is listen. If during class something comes up, or you are not sure you understood a certain cue, action, or adjustment, go talk to the teacher. Before or after class, asking questions will help think critically and recognize common patterns in your body. It will also create a connection with your teacher. It’s a perfect opportunity to have a 1 on 1 moment, introduce yourself, and get on your way toward getting that complicated action, or finding the right balance between two seemingly opposing cues. Also, this makes your teacher infinitely happy because it demonstrates your interest and receptiveness. The more interested you are, the more your teacher will be willing to share. Similarly, if you are working with an injury, tell the teacher. Don’t assume they will infer just by seeing you practice. Also don’t assume you have all the tools to work with your injury. Always tell the teacher and ask for their advice. different teachers will offer different perspective, which is very helpful, and it is important to know how to practice WITH the injury, rather than DESPITE it (But that’s a whole other blog post).
Go to the front of the class. When you set up near your teacher you are in a prime spot to be seen and absorb more. Put yourself in front of a teacher you trust. This requires a bit of courage since it's a place where you will feel more exposed and therefore vulnerable. But what is practice if not an exploration of our own dark habits. If someone were to make a statistical analysis of my adjustments and verbal cues it would probably show that I spend more time with the students front and center. And students know this too of course. This is why we hide in the back…
Find a different style of yoga to practice. The more I practice yoga the more appreciation I have for learning through different disciplines. Now, taking one single Iyengar class and calling it done is not going to cut it. What I am proposing is that you go consistently, for a long period of time, until you start to embody a methodology you didn’t experience before. Meaning you can feel the experience and instruction in your body. When you step into an unfamiliar style it will require that you listen better, follow the teacher closely, and be aware that you are beginning again. Funny as it may sound, the ability to be a beginner is an important element in becoming a more advanced practitioner. When we assume we know, we become impermeable and unteachable, so trying a different style is a good way to break yourself out of the funk of knowing too much. It is also interesting to experience different approaches in your own body, and be able to appreciate them all through a discerning eye.
Seek out good teachers. Well, here’s to stating the obvious. Of course you want to go study with a good teacher, but sometimes we let habit and time constraints limit us. This goes back to #3. Good teachers are what it's all about! Whether they happen to teach Forrest, ashtanga, or slow flow, they are ultimately all in service of the same practice. If you hear there’s a wonderful teacher at a studio that is 10 min further away, get over yourself and drive the extra 10 minutes. Seek wisdom and experience even when it's slightly less convenient.
Listen to the teacher you have! This of course builds on #4 but equally as important. So you walked into a class and it’s a sub (oh, the horror!), or there’s a new name on the schedule, or you chance upon a class of a teacher that is unfamiliar to you (due to the aforementioned time constrains, etc.) don’t be that student who checks out and ‘does their own thing’. Listen to the teacher, be with the class. Perhaps they have something new to share that you’ve never heard before. Let your teacher actually do their job and teach you something. Also, it’s the decent and respectful thing to do.
Use your memory to do good on your mat. In order for you to deepen your practice, you have to understand that a teacher will not always repeat the same cue to remind you what to do. If you have been to many classes, over time you realize there are certain actions that need to happen in a pose even if the teacher doesn’t mention them. More specifically there are certain things you tend to do in your body that need to be corrected or enhanced. Do those things! Don’t wait for the teacher to tell you YET AGAIN. Once is enough. Carry the memory with you into your next practice so that you can build on it. Every time you reinforce an action, you are creating a healthy habit, and then can move beyond that still to discover a new layer of subtlety and challenge.
Read a book about yoga. Duh! if you sign up to a training, it will often come with a list of books to read usually containing a recommended translation of the sutras, an anatomy book, and other writings on history and philosophy. This one is problematic for me because I mostly like fiction books, so picking up a text that’s informational has always been daunting to me. However, listening to audiobooks proved much easier. I listen in the car, while I clean the house, do the dishes, walk the dog, etc. Some of my first favorite books about yoga: Light on Life by BKS Iyengar, Living your yoga by Judith Hanson Lasater, Do your OM Thing by my friend Rebecca Pacheco, and The Heart of Yoga by Desikachar. But a short search online will give you thousands of titles. Just pick one and skim through it, see what is interesting.
Listen to yoga podcasts. Similar to #7. There are so many out there. Just good conversations about yoga to spark your interest and get you to go online and figure out a term you’ve never heard before, or seek out a teacher you’ve heard speak. I like Chitheads, On Being, J Brown, and Yogaland. Share your favorites in the comments.
Check out local workshops. Boston is an amazing hub of delicious, mind-bending, outstanding yoga teaching. Not to mention all the excellent teachers visiting on a regular basis. Go online and see what’s out there and sign up! One shoulder workshop can change your practice and prevent injury forever. a weekend of inversions can become the basis for an ongoing steady handstand. There is so much out there! and a workshop is usually $25-$40. So much less than the $3,500 you’ll spend on your TT…
Build a home practice. Just 5-10 minutes a day. Establishing a home practice helps us realize how portable yoga is, how simple and no-frills. My teacher Natasha always recommends a one-minute forearm plank followed by a one-minute baby cobra (twice a day). Add a supine single leg hamstring stretch (Supta padangustasana 1), Follow that with a downward dog and a couple of sun As and you are done. Of course, don’t forget savasana! You can do this on days when you can’t go to class, or right before your class starts, in your bedroom or at the beach. Your practice becomes a firmly established habit, and it DOES NOT need to be 90 minutes long to change your consciousness for the rest of the day. When done consistently, a simple short practice can move mountains (in your body). It will also help you get a taste of self-study, one of the cornerstones of practice.
Once a week, take a restorative class. A restorative practice is a perfect complementary practice, especially if the style you usually practice is a more vigorous, athletic style. Slowing down and spending long moments in a single supported pose is an opportunity to study your mind and the mind’s habits. It will nourish your nervous system and restore a sense of balance to a life that’s very fast paced and busy.
Slow Down! I don't necessarily mean taking a slow flow class (although I love them). My friend David Runkle (who's a wonderful human and teacher) always says: "slower is faster". Meaning, when you slow yourself down, your overall progress is faster. The advanced practice is one where the space between the poses is a pivotal point. It is in fact there that everything actually happens. Moving slowly keeps the mind in the present and help recognize and shift patterns that are detrimental. Move too quickly and you've missed them. Once you train yourself not to rush then even when your pace is faster there is space between the poses, space between the breaths, space between the thoughts. In these spaces in-between many of the gifts of yoga lie hidden. Be absorbed in the transitions so that you may recognize them rather than zoom right by. Place your feet lightly and deliberately. Place your blocks without a noise, fold your blankets with care. If you do that on your mat you may start to experience these moments of deliberateness off the mat as well. It's magic.
Did I miss anything? I am sure you could add more to my list. Comment below if you like.