YOGA - Teachers Train to Teach More Than Technique

Yoga teachers, whether in a studio, on a DVD, or at the local gym, are guides.

Ideally, they guide us with finesse, awareness, skill and a light touch. Without proper technique we would get hurt. But, technique is only part of a bigger picture.

Here's what technique offers.

1. A framework for using poses to improve your body and mind. This is easy for people who want to do things 'right' and meet the challenge. Hold the shape, work on the edge, get a great workout, and feel better when you leave.

2. It can also serve as a hangar for insecurities and the inability to focus as well as a tool for turning inward so you can listen to yourself. Hangars and tools can be very useful items.

Here's what your practice offers.

1. The opportunity to let go of the insecurities, which will free your mind. We all have insecurities, about our bodies and about our life experiences. If you can't balance on one foot (or the other, seems we're all lopsided to some degree), then keep a hand on the floor or on the wall. Bones, joints, injuries, age. They make a difference.

2. A time and place to focus on yourself. There's no good or bad, right or wrong. Listen to the music or listen to your breath. Allow your attention to roam around inside yourself. Is your upper back tight? Have your shoulders moved towards your ears? Let them go. Does the lower back twinge? Relax it by taking in a deep long breath, let the back feel puffy, and then mentally send the twinge out with the breath.

Here's an intention.

Move at your own pace. If it's slower than the teacher, that's okay. You can flow into the next pose from where you are if you stay present instead of thinking about what happened yesterday or what you're going to do later. Acknowledge whatever you are feeling now. Frustration, irritability, disappointment. It's all okay. So what. This is the perfect time and place to go with the flow and keep moving. Your technique will keep you safe as you frame your own practice.

For more tips, essays, and resources to find peace and energy in an adventurous and eventful life, visit Lisa Holdren's blog at peaceandlaughter.blogspot.com peaceandlaughter.blogspot.com Lisa retired from episodic television and series development to guide her children toward contentment and successful careers. Now she helps readers in search of tranquility and purpose with humor and intuitiveness.