The students seemed into it and very attentive. I also mentioned how important it is to be a great student when we go to each other's practices. How sometimes- ironically- teachers often end up being challenging students when they themselves go to someone's class. I've seen through all these years some teachers be difficult, judgmental and not so open. I think it goes back to Zen Buddhism and the idea of the "beginner's mind" which is being open and full of possibility. Whereas the expert's mind is closed. Whenever I go to anyone's class I make it a point to be in the front, to be open, smiling and supporting. I know first hand how intimidating teaching can be and whenever I see a teacher come to my class there's that moment of "oh, God, I better get it together." Thankfully, with time, teaching gets easier. Funny I had Peter Barnett in class recently who is a great and popular teacher and also happens to be the owner of Black Dog. And he is by far the best student-teacher I've ever had. Whenever he comes to my class he is open, smiling, he tries anything and I've never felt any judgment from him. Quite amazing and inspiring. I hope to be like that for my fellow teachers. And I feel incredibly flattered whenever I've been told by my fellow teachers that I'm a great student.

Then we went through seated poses and mainly what to look for when you are teaching seated poses and forward bends. I spoke of how these are the hardest yoga asanas, because most people have flat lumbar spines. And when you have them sit down on the floor, their lower back rounds the opposite way it's supposed to. I spoke of looking first at foundation and the lower back. To be mindful of student's who have their knees higher than their iliac crests. To offer them a blanket, a prop, and some verbal instruction so that their knees can be below their hips and their lower backs can return to their healthy curvature, which is a lordotic (concave) curve.

At one moment when we were going through adjustments I taught them the foot adjustment on someone's sacrum when they are in paschimottanasana. I explained how in seated poses, the tailbone goes down and the sacrum goes in and up. They liked that adjustment which is a great one to know. I also noticed that some weren't sure where to put their foot so I asked them to stand up and show me where they thought their tailbone was. I've been doing this experiment for years- every so often I'll do it in class. And lo and behold most people think their tailbone is too high. They confuse it with their sacrum. And if you think your tailbone is that high, then when it's time to "scoop" your tailbone, you will end up tightening your psoas, your groins and flattening your lower back. So we went through that again and I think they got it.

Then we went upstairs to take a workshop that Jenny was teaching with Joy, and that became their practice of the day. Jenny Brill and Joy Stone are two of my best friends and such gifted teachers. This was by far was the funnest workshops ever. They taught all these familiar poses, using blocks, to help us see things in a new way and be more playful. The atmosphere was fun, light and breezy.  Their instructions were clear and helpful. Mazel tov my sisters!

Lastly, I forgot to write about yesterday's Restorative class at Still. We had 15 people there and we were running out of props! We had to use pillows from the front bench and some bolsters that were on sale and the store! 

I taught about being content with who you are, with your past, with where you are in your life. I spoke about how restorative yoga is so much about being at peace with what is, without doing anything. Just being.

Solana assisted me who is a natural in this realm. I can see her get more confident each time and trust her intuition more and more. And because we had so many people she really worked hard in helping me with all the props. Thank you Solana!

Claudine was there (also from the training) and she took class. It was so lovely to see someone from the training take my restorative class. 

We did a few supine stretches. 

Then Lazy Boy Pose. 

Then a twist. 

Then Savasana. We had a 15 minute Savasana and ended with Nadi Shodhana.