Double Rainbow- all the way!
I know I know this has nothing to do with yoga, but it’s damn funny. And on Mondays, funny is good.
Let’s have a great “double rainbow” week!
NOTE FROM DARLA: 8.20.10
last night we started doing little “double push ups” before low cobra in the SSB series. AFter the 4th set or so, i started calling them “double rainbow” not “double push up” which made for light-hearted fun!
oh the joy of the Double Rainbow!
FULL ON!
So you want to be a Yoga Teacher?
This is a post I wrote a couple of years ago for Examiner.com. I want to say a bit more on this subject, and went to read this post to see how I felt back then. I decided to post it again here for you to read if you are new to my blog… or me. I will post more on this soon it just keeps coming up again and again. Here’s the original link if you care: Examiner article
And here is the text:
Just recently on Twitter I had a debate with another yogi about the importance of a yoga teacher-training program being Yoga Alliance approved. “the other yogi” stated the advice seeker need not worry about such a thing since “yoga training is not at all similar of as good as it was less than 50 years ago”. My point was completely opposite. I believe since every yoga studio that is open seems to think they can raise their bottom line by cranking out teachers in a weekend – they are right! They can make good money but they are not making good teachers.
As a yoga teacher who has been highly trained and who was studied the various limbs of yoga for most of her life- I find this “quickie certification” highly offensive and ludicrous.
A yoga teacher needs knowledge. Yoga teachers must study the practice the philosophy and human anatomy to fully understand yoga. A teacher needs more than the ability to stand on their head or to be “bendy” to effectively and safely teach.
I have taken yoga classes over my city and found some great teachers. I have also found many more that were…bad. REALLY BAD. Specifically these teachers were “trained” at studios who hold weekend- 2 day “teacher training” courses. (or worse some “yoga teachers” do not claim any certification at all but simply list teachers they have taken regular classes from.) Oy!
As a result of this my practice has become mostly a home practice or when I do go to a studio I will only go if I know the teacher has been trained in a valid- teacher-training program. This saddens me deeply. Students are being ignored, instructed to do postures that are beyond their level or ability and worse- students are being injured.
So yoga students BEWARE! Research your yoga teacher. Find out who trained them, how long the training was and if it has any Yoga Alliance validation.
And yoga teachers listen up: Just because you can do advanced postures and practiced with a great teacher once or twice at a yoga conference or took a weekend workshop with Famous Yogi X does not make you qualified to be a yoga teacher. Oh, and if you took a weekend Teacher training course at Studio X and they call you “certified”- this means nothing, except that your wallet is little lighter and your ego a lot bigger.
WOW! I can’t do THAT!
This is the fun pose we are exploring lately at Darla’s Yoga Garden. Mostly we are falling over and laughing. BUT a few are flying! It takes many other poses to prepare for this but the journey is the gift. The classees are lovely, fun and confidence-boosting!
In other words, you should join us. even if you can’t imagine yourself in this pose, or even sitting on the floor, you should join us.
You’ll do what you can and feel better for it! Promise!
Both Hot and Cool Yoga Classes are Available you know. http://www.darlateachesyoga.com
From Bikram Bitch to beyond and beloved
I cut my teeth as a yoga teacher in the Bikram system. It was perfect for me as a shy person who had no clue how to teach yoga, and I think it’s a good beginner teacher training. There are problems with the Bikram yoga Teacher Training for sure, the biggest being the unusual mean-ness and encouragement to feed the teacher’s ego. I bought some of what he was selling — I was a kick ass Yoga Nazi.
I understood the discipline part. I could see the system really was for those who need a place to start with their body and mind, and I was a great Bikram Yoga teacher. I never taught “the dialogue” and saw ways to teach the postures so the student could understand. I also did the unthinkable. I gave students individual instruction: instructions for their bodies, considering their injuries and their abilities. GASP! It was what made me a great Bikram Yoga teacher.
I already hear the rumblings from the Bikram yoga teachers who are reading this… the purists who say the above statements are exactly what made me a BAD Bikram yoga teacher. Nevertheless, my approach to the Bikram system was fun and fresh and desperately needed in Houston at the time.
I currently have students who were my yoga friends before I became a yoga teacher. They experienced the “new” yoga teacher, the “hard and controlling” yoga teacher, the “ego- filled” yoga teacher. I am so blessed to have many of them still practicing with me. A couple of weeks ago I was teaching a private class in a cooler room with one of these long time students and he asked, “What happened Darla? Why are you nicer? Why don’t you teach the same way anymore?” Wow. Great question.
I am already intense. You might even say I am high- strung. As I kept teaching and interacting with students I realized this teaching style did not suit me. My personality, the heat and trying to control everything in the yoga room was too much. It did not soften me as I needed. The repetition, the structure, the rigidness are all yang. I needed some yin. No, not Yin Yoga- but yin energy. As we all know, The Universe is all about giving you what you need. So as life went on a few very intense things happened that ripped me to shreds. I will spare you the very ugly details but I found those events to be very softening, to say the least. Life humbled me life made me softer.
So now I am still teaching and doing yoga in the heated room. I am still intense, but I have many many classes, endless hours of watching people do yoga, and lots of life under my belt. Teaching yoga for me is no longer what I “do” — it is who I am.
When I am in that yoga space with you, we are there to explore. We are there to go a little deeper, breathe a little longer and get out of our heads for a while. I want to be there guiding you, helping you, loving you, and I want to do it gently and with heart open. That is the place of growth, that is the place where the spirit can dance.
What makes Bikram and hot yoga so Great?
i think it is the instant transformation from “Jumpy” to “Jelly” – that includes both the mind and the body!
what do you think dear readers?
what do you love about hot yoga?
please comment below!
LOVE LOVES
Darla
Yoga butterfly
are you a yoga butterfly?
Yoga as Medicine
A decade of Darla
please help me celebrate my 10 years as a certified yoga teacher!
We will have a special class: June 18th 2010. FRYDAY (5pm-ish)
2 hours super sweaty- silent. watermelon after.
make your reservations via e-mail.
subject line: get your hand off my asana.
yogadarla@gmail.com
(very limited space)
Practice yoga more often!
doing more than a yoga class every now and then can mean the difference in healing sooner than later. feeling better sooner than later and slimming down sooner than later. you know this, i know this.
and since you are smarter than i… at your request i have added a package that is “frequently sweaty friendly”.
10 classes in 30 days. no excuses. no missed classes. no extensions. no refunds. no more stress!
$150. 10 classes 30 days.
for the best goll-dang hot yoga you’ve had?
pssshawww. what a bargain!
reservations required of course. it’s on line. go get some!
Bikram Yoga Certified for a Decade!
WOW! it’s a decade later from my first yoga teaching certification. It has been an amazing journey.
I have so many people to thank and remember who have played a part in my journey thru the years.
First a big thanks to “Chicago”. None of this would have happened without you and your faith in me early on. Thanks for seeing and caring.
“LA Bill” for saving my life in LaLa Land. How did you know i was never going to ride that bike up Marmot Ave?
Definitely owe “J” a nod. (and a middle-finger) you turned me on to it and you showed your true colors. Two really fortunate events for me.
Thanks to “MB”. I had such high hopes, but you were so fragile.
Hey Waugh Drive, the “decorators” and the rich bald man. One word: Karma.
Krishna’s Devotees- thank you for your love and your decades of patience, love and understanding.
“DPG” for always keeping it purty and light!
All the loving Darling yogis thank you for practicing with such enthusiasm and open hearts.
To Mr.Darla. Your tireless loving- kindness, your unmatched equipoise and undying support. You are the best thing about me.
AND a special event is in order.
On Friday June 18, 2010 please join me for a 2 hour HOT yoga class/celebration!
5:00 pm
We’ll have yoga and sweat and music and watermelon!
There is a 15 person limit to the yoga class.
Reservations only via E mail: yogadarla@gmail.com subject line… “get your hands off my asana”
darla cooks 