When I first began my yoga journey, I reached a point where I did yoga everyday at my local gym. I had many different teachers; Karen, Bernadette, Betsy, Odessa, and of course, Susan, my mentor. It was interesting learning each person's style, this was before you could get a yoga certification overnight so these teachers actually had a ton of training. Karen is a Tai Chi Master so she brought it to her teaching, I had just spent 3 years learning Tai Chi so it was a good fit. Bernadette is old school yoga, lit candles and did moon salutations. Betsy was pure power, throwing in extra push ups from chaturanga. Odessa is a lovely old soul, new to yoga but determined to bring beauty to the practice. She would massage our shoulders with lavender oil before relaxation. These were small classes....
Susan had trained with the big guys, grew up with hippie parents, spent months in ashrams so she brought a wide variety of knowledge to her teaching. I stayed with her the longest, soaking up all the yoga I could, in fact, it was her class that I took over when I began teaching. I'll never forget that first class... I was terrified. Here I was, a novice teacher, taking over for the Master. I had been IN the class for years, these yogis were fierce! Who was I to presume that I could hold a candle to the Master? At the end of that first class, applause and hugs... One yogi (who is still with me to this day) comes up and says, "you must feel like the understudy for the Opera Diva, who comes in and steals the show". What a great bunch of students Susan left me!
Being busy teaching, my own practice began to lag. And lag. And become almost non-existent, confined to vacations and the occasional day off. I searched and searched for teachers. Due to a huge shake up at the gym, I was the only yogi left from the "old school". I would look up other studios but times conflicted with my teaching and it just seemed really expensive and complicated. Aside: Why IS yoga so expensive? I promise to stay reasonable, no matter what.
About a month before taking my final Reiki attunement to become a Master Teacher, I was overcome with the desire to do yoga. Everyday. Kundalini Yoga. I hadn't done Kundalini yoga for years... it's a very heat producing, toxin relieving style yoga that can be quite agitating to my fiery self. It awakens the serpent within... which was extremely relevant to a Reiki Master Symbol that I didn't know I would receive but I completely "got" why Kundalini was calling me when it came. (sorry to be so cryptic, Reiki symbols are sacred and secret)
Since that time, I decided that it was well worth the investment to purchase a diverse group of DVD's to keep my own practice fresh and as a result, my teaching. It has been so fun getting reacquainted with some of the old styles of yoga that I have slacked away from. It's been great bringing "new" poses and breaths to my classes, some that I haven't done for awhile. As much as I pride myself on each class being unique, I think you do tend to go for the same essentials, especially with your beginner/re-beginner classes. (Re-beginner: someone who doesn't keep their practice up consistently long enough to become an intermediate, they just keep starting over)
These are some of the best DVD's I've done recently:
Ravi Singh & Ana Brett-- I have 5 of their DVD's now, love them! They are pure Kundalini, have really thrown in some extra cardio moves with the breath of fire, creating a great detoxing work out. I also love that they do mudras and mantras... pretty rare in our Western Yoga world.
Shiva Rea-- These are HARD. Shiva began doing yoga at 14 and obviously studied with the Masters. She has a beautiful flowing style that reminds me of Bernadette. One of her routines was one I use to love that Bernadette did and I hadn't seen in at least 10 years. It was awesome bringing that to my class--they loved rolling on the floor :) She breaks her classes down into elements-- I love the Fire & Water mixed with Shanti...ommmmmmm.
Eoin Finn-- I had never heard of him before, but his DVD was called "Yoga for Happiness", how wonderful. This 2 Disc DVD is awesome, has 6 workouts built in, ranging from 20 mins to 90 mins, so you can chose whatever workout you have time for. It's delightful, filmed in a public park in Canada, with folks walking by and the yogis smiling and laughing with them as they do really tough poses with a wonderful sense of humor.
Baron Baptiste-- I've had Baron Baptiste tapes for awhile, he's pure power yoga. He can get a bit wordy for me but he's another product of hippie yoga parents so his yoga is absolutely authentic and brilliant. My husband, Barry loves his DVD, it's a real tough workout but not overwhelming.
Maya Fiennes-- Maya is a Kundalini Master, we found her on an On Demand free trial. She's amazing, her workouts are very challenging and she encourages you to "break through the pain threshold and SWEAT" which cracks me up because it's the last thing you'd expect a yoga teacher to say. But Kundalini yoga should make you sweat and the pain threshold is not physical... She specializes in detox and I love to do her workouts after a 'one too many' late night with friends. Better than a tomato juice and tylenol cocktail anyday.
So there you have it. If you've been coming to my classes regularly and you've wondered what's going on, you now know who to thank for all the old/new poses popping up. Thanks Ravi, Ana, Shiva, Eion, Baron & Maya-- you are keeping me young and fresh!
Susan had trained with the big guys, grew up with hippie parents, spent months in ashrams so she brought a wide variety of knowledge to her teaching. I stayed with her the longest, soaking up all the yoga I could, in fact, it was her class that I took over when I began teaching. I'll never forget that first class... I was terrified. Here I was, a novice teacher, taking over for the Master. I had been IN the class for years, these yogis were fierce! Who was I to presume that I could hold a candle to the Master? At the end of that first class, applause and hugs... One yogi (who is still with me to this day) comes up and says, "you must feel like the understudy for the Opera Diva, who comes in and steals the show". What a great bunch of students Susan left me!
Being busy teaching, my own practice began to lag. And lag. And become almost non-existent, confined to vacations and the occasional day off. I searched and searched for teachers. Due to a huge shake up at the gym, I was the only yogi left from the "old school". I would look up other studios but times conflicted with my teaching and it just seemed really expensive and complicated. Aside: Why IS yoga so expensive? I promise to stay reasonable, no matter what.
About a month before taking my final Reiki attunement to become a Master Teacher, I was overcome with the desire to do yoga. Everyday. Kundalini Yoga. I hadn't done Kundalini yoga for years... it's a very heat producing, toxin relieving style yoga that can be quite agitating to my fiery self. It awakens the serpent within... which was extremely relevant to a Reiki Master Symbol that I didn't know I would receive but I completely "got" why Kundalini was calling me when it came. (sorry to be so cryptic, Reiki symbols are sacred and secret)
Since that time, I decided that it was well worth the investment to purchase a diverse group of DVD's to keep my own practice fresh and as a result, my teaching. It has been so fun getting reacquainted with some of the old styles of yoga that I have slacked away from. It's been great bringing "new" poses and breaths to my classes, some that I haven't done for awhile. As much as I pride myself on each class being unique, I think you do tend to go for the same essentials, especially with your beginner/re-beginner classes. (Re-beginner: someone who doesn't keep their practice up consistently long enough to become an intermediate, they just keep starting over)
These are some of the best DVD's I've done recently:
Ravi Singh & Ana Brett-- I have 5 of their DVD's now, love them! They are pure Kundalini, have really thrown in some extra cardio moves with the breath of fire, creating a great detoxing work out. I also love that they do mudras and mantras... pretty rare in our Western Yoga world.
Shiva Rea-- These are HARD. Shiva began doing yoga at 14 and obviously studied with the Masters. She has a beautiful flowing style that reminds me of Bernadette. One of her routines was one I use to love that Bernadette did and I hadn't seen in at least 10 years. It was awesome bringing that to my class--they loved rolling on the floor :) She breaks her classes down into elements-- I love the Fire & Water mixed with Shanti...ommmmmmm.
Eoin Finn-- I had never heard of him before, but his DVD was called "Yoga for Happiness", how wonderful. This 2 Disc DVD is awesome, has 6 workouts built in, ranging from 20 mins to 90 mins, so you can chose whatever workout you have time for. It's delightful, filmed in a public park in Canada, with folks walking by and the yogis smiling and laughing with them as they do really tough poses with a wonderful sense of humor.
Baron Baptiste-- I've had Baron Baptiste tapes for awhile, he's pure power yoga. He can get a bit wordy for me but he's another product of hippie yoga parents so his yoga is absolutely authentic and brilliant. My husband, Barry loves his DVD, it's a real tough workout but not overwhelming.
Maya Fiennes-- Maya is a Kundalini Master, we found her on an On Demand free trial. She's amazing, her workouts are very challenging and she encourages you to "break through the pain threshold and SWEAT" which cracks me up because it's the last thing you'd expect a yoga teacher to say. But Kundalini yoga should make you sweat and the pain threshold is not physical... She specializes in detox and I love to do her workouts after a 'one too many' late night with friends. Better than a tomato juice and tylenol cocktail anyday.
So there you have it. If you've been coming to my classes regularly and you've wondered what's going on, you now know who to thank for all the old/new poses popping up. Thanks Ravi, Ana, Shiva, Eion, Baron & Maya-- you are keeping me young and fresh!
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