One of the first things I did was encouraged everyone to get Carlos Pomeda's DVD's on "The Wisdom of Yoga." There are six DVDs in the series and they include lectures on: Patanjali and Classical Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, Tantra, among others. It's the most comprehensive and accessible guide to all these intricate schools of philosophies that I know. Plus Carlos is so funny, down to earth and sweet. He actually will be coming to Black Dog to give a workshop on the Gita- can't wait.

I continued by reminding the students that we were all philosophers in a way. That we have a way of looking at the world and that vision helps us understands what happens to us. Therefore, when we study other philosophies it can help us refine the prism which we use to look at the outside world and at ourselves.

Then we went through the three main schools of philosophy in yoga: Classical Yoga, Advaita Vedanta and Tantra. I briefly described them in one sentence and then spent the next two hours explaining what they mean.

Also, I always wanted as a student in my previous teacher training programs, for my teachers to give me a time-line of the events of the tradition of yoga, and no one ever did. So I wrote this huge time line for them so that they could put into context where the Vedas, Upanishads, Gita, Patanjali, Advaita Vedanta, Tantra, etc where in relation to each other. 

Lastly I went through all the major moments in the yogic timeline and gave brief talks on them. So I pretty much covered about 5,000 years in half an hour! My Goodness.

During the middle of the session I needed a break and I'm sure they did too so we practiced a few asanas together and that was a lot of  fun. Then we ate as we finished the session. This group is a blast, so sweet, so focused and into it. I had so much fun spending time with them today and was so grateful for their energy and for Jenny showing up also and being so supportive.

Then all of us went upstairs and we took a workshop together on Surya Namaskar. It was taught by a great Ashtanga teacher named Hannah House-Gilan. It was clear, challenging and fun. It was also a blast to take a workshop with my trainees as well as Sigrid and Jenny who are teaching the training with me. I'm a little sore and my hamstrings are tight.