Those of you who frequent yogajournal.com have probably noticed by now that we're now offering weekly, downloadable, audio podcasts. In each podcast, a seasoned yoga teacher who teaches us once a week in the Yoga Journal offices. Jason is the kind of teacher we all love. His language is precise. He gives just enough—never too much—instruction. He challenges us, but encourages us to slow things down when we need to. Basically, he's an awesome teacher.

Because I have the most fabulous job in the universe, I've gotten to practice along with Jason as he tapes the audio podcasts. And what I've learned from it is valuable to me as a teacher, so I thought I'd share. The fact that the podcasts are audio (i.e. no visuals) means Jason's language has to be not only clear and precise, but simple and concise enough to get a beginner into a pose quickly with little confusion. On top of that, the podcasts are all around Maybe this is wrong of me, but I kind of delight in the fact that even Jason messes up on occasion! 20 minutes so there's no time for lengthy explanations.

Yesterday, when we were taping podcasts six and seven, Jason and I had a long conversation about how to best describe a simple movement from Sukhasana (Easy Pose) to Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose). From Sukhasana, Jason kept telling me to move my left foot toward my left buttock, meaning my RIGHT foot. I was very baffled. I was trying to do what he was saying, but that wasn't exactly what he meant.

Communication is SO important to the art of teaching yoga. Not only the words are important, but the tone of your voice, how quickly you say the words. Sometimes, it seems, the difference between a good teacher and an amazing one is the willingness to sit down and think through the way you describe each pose, practice that wording on your students, and then modify it until it works . . . Or maybe I should say, "re-think your pose descriptions, practice that wording, and then modify"? . . .

Posted by Erica Rodefer at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Since I got my first job at the ripe old age of 16, I've become so entranced by my jobs that I would think about them all day long and dream about them at night. First there was the computer game store, that induced dreams of being stuck in the back room unable to simply open the door and give the customer the Game Boy Color he desperately needed for his child. When I was a server at a fish restaurant, you won't believe the obstacles my subconscious came up with that made it impossible to deliver a tables' hush puppies on time (I had to hold my breath and swim through a trenches, in one dream!). When I was a newspaper reporter, I would routinely wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, questioning if I had gotten all my facts straight.

It makes sense, then, that my dreams have turned to yoga recently. Last week, I dreamed I got to my class early to prepare. I had just unrolled my mat when the ground began to shake and the studio's ceiling and walls began to collapse in on me. Somehow my students still came in, ready take class, and I had to explain to them (in a surprisingly calm manner) that we wouldn't be having class. I just didn't feel up to it after the disaster.

Last night, I dreamed I was demonstrating a seated twist for my class when one of my students pointed out that my hips were swiveling, when they should have been stable. The furious student jumped up and ran out of the studio yelling, "She's a fraud! She's a fraud!"

I don't know what all of this means, of course, but I hope I never showed up to teach naked!

Am I completely nuts, or do other teachers experience similar teaching dreams/nightmares?

Posted by Erica Rodefer at 01:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)