That's right, boys and grrls! This is the name for my yoga teaching biz...
Sonic - meaning sound (an important element to my classes is music, as well as audible breath, self-expression and chanting)
Shakti - Divine Feminine Creative Power or simply put it's the energy that vibrates through all of us! Powerful :-)
Also on this same day, I have been offered my first regular yoga class on a Sunday and these start in two weeks in Prahran. So exciting! Now I just need to find a venue for my Punk Rock Yoga classes.
I came up with Sonic Shakti during a book-keeping class yesterday at school... I was looking at my android phone on yoga sites whilst the teacher was talking tax - oops! This led to irrepressible laughing and giggling, and I actually had to walk out of the class to compose myself. Fun! I believe my joy combined with the fact that numbers actually make me go a little bit crazy set me off. When you're laughing that much, who cares?!!
Thursday, 1 September 2011
I love the way you dream - Bali YTT
I wrote this a little while ago, but wanted to share it here :)
BALI 2009
Dare to be who you are
Like standing somewhere on your way up a great mountain, it’s that point where a magnificent view comes into being, you’re now close enough to see the first peak of the moutain! And it’s the most beautiful view. Yet obscured by cloud and fog, trees, are many more peaks and the top reaches so high it’s completely out of your vision – infinte mountain peaks.
Bali teacher training is one such experience. I arrived there fragile, tired and sick! I’d been travelling around Bali, avoiding the main tourist areas, on a trip with Intrepid, met some really cool people, and arrived at the yoga training feeling like a scared little deer. Put it down to the dodgy water I drank. The amazing surroundings in lush tropical gardens, massive swimming pool and my glass of fresh coconut juice and smiling faces that greeted me did give me hope. After about 10 days I completely felt myself again, gathered my energy, renewed strength and felt a sense of openess and love pulse through me each day.
The asana is challenging, hard, fun, beautiful. I can’t describe standing on my mat balancing in warrior 3, gazing out at the valley outside the big open windows, hearing the sounds of nature all around. Upbeat, motivating music pumps all around and our teacher, Daniel, is adjusting, encouraging, using bold words and statements … and pushing us to our limits, even when we think he is crazy, so that when when we stretch ourselves to go deeper, to go to the edge, we may see it’s not where we thought it was, and there is a world of possibility and potential opening up before us. Sometimes we can’t reach it in that moment, and that’s okay but I begin to see, right at the end of the training during these morning asana classes, and the Ashtanga classes also, that maybe I’ve been holding myself back, staying safe. That maybe I’m much more capable than I give myself credit for. This isn’t just about physical yoga practice, but it’s a realization that ripples out into my life.
Our teacher in Bali said that “after these four weeks your life will never be the same. It will ‘ruin’ your life,” that it would elevate us higher and that if we went back to an old way of being that didn’t sit right anymore, we would know. For me it’s been a subtle shift that’s occured in Bali and since I’ve come back in the last few months. Our Jivamukti teacher, Alanna, started off classes sometimes with the guitar and her amazing voice. After chanting Om, she would always say something that reverberates through me and uplifts me whenever I neeed to hear it: “Don’t miss those vibrations.”
A full month
of challenging asana classes, morning meditation, yoga philosophy, eating only raw food and dipping into the knowledge and experience of our many varied teachers spanning Ashtanga, Yoga Synergy, Jivamukti. At night we’d meet in the yoga shala and chant and sing kirtan with Geoffrey Gordon and guests. I loved it when we rocked out with he and Alanna, and some students played on drums. A fucking awesome experience!
On the last day of training after our exam where we instructed a mini yoga class, we were given our certificates and went out into nature for our ‘initiation ceremony.’ It was pretty cool, a little out-there, and afterwards I let myself drift in the beautiful blue water of the pool surrounded by jungle sounds and green and felt relieved it (training) was over, yet sad. But excited about what was to come…
Dare to be who you are
Like standing somewhere on your way up a great mountain, it’s that point where a magnificent view comes into being, you’re now close enough to see the first peak of the moutain! And it’s the most beautiful view. Yet obscured by cloud and fog, trees, are many more peaks and the top reaches so high it’s completely out of your vision – infinte mountain peaks.
Bali teacher training is one such experience. I arrived there fragile, tired and sick! I’d been travelling around Bali, avoiding the main tourist areas, on a trip with Intrepid, met some really cool people, and arrived at the yoga training feeling like a scared little deer. Put it down to the dodgy water I drank. The amazing surroundings in lush tropical gardens, massive swimming pool and my glass of fresh coconut juice and smiling faces that greeted me did give me hope. After about 10 days I completely felt myself again, gathered my energy, renewed strength and felt a sense of openess and love pulse through me each day.
The asana is challenging, hard, fun, beautiful. I can’t describe standing on my mat balancing in warrior 3, gazing out at the valley outside the big open windows, hearing the sounds of nature all around. Upbeat, motivating music pumps all around and our teacher, Daniel, is adjusting, encouraging, using bold words and statements … and pushing us to our limits, even when we think he is crazy, so that when when we stretch ourselves to go deeper, to go to the edge, we may see it’s not where we thought it was, and there is a world of possibility and potential opening up before us. Sometimes we can’t reach it in that moment, and that’s okay but I begin to see, right at the end of the training during these morning asana classes, and the Ashtanga classes also, that maybe I’ve been holding myself back, staying safe. That maybe I’m much more capable than I give myself credit for. This isn’t just about physical yoga practice, but it’s a realization that ripples out into my life. Our teacher in Bali said that “after these four weeks your life will never be the same. It will ‘ruin’ your life,” that it would elevate us higher and that if we went back to an old way of being that didn’t sit right anymore, we would know. For me it’s been a subtle shift that’s occured in Bali and since I’ve come back in the last few months. Our Jivamukti teacher, Alanna, started off classes sometimes with the guitar and her amazing voice. After chanting Om, she would always say something that reverberates through me and uplifts me whenever I neeed to hear it: “Don’t miss those vibrations.”
A full month
of challenging asana classes, morning meditation, yoga philosophy, eating only raw food and dipping into the knowledge and experience of our many varied teachers spanning Ashtanga, Yoga Synergy, Jivamukti. At night we’d meet in the yoga shala and chant and sing kirtan with Geoffrey Gordon and guests. I loved it when we rocked out with he and Alanna, and some students played on drums. A fucking awesome experience!On the last day of training after our exam where we instructed a mini yoga class, we were given our certificates and went out into nature for our ‘initiation ceremony.’ It was pretty cool, a little out-there, and afterwards I let myself drift in the beautiful blue water of the pool surrounded by jungle sounds and green and felt relieved it (training) was over, yet sad. But excited about what was to come…
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
lack of motivation/bad yogini!
So yesterday I rocked up to my Ashtanga Mysore practice late, with only half an hour on the clock. It was dark and cold, and, yes, I believe I slept in. I walked in, tail between my legs, hoping that my teacher would smile sweetly. But she didn’t. Anyway, she is so awesome that after a brief talking-to, she lit some incense, set a place for me and allowed me to do my sun salutations. I told her about the lady that had walked out of my class the other night and she was very insightful and supportive, also when I told her how the woman had said, “I’m sorry, it’s just not yoga,” she burst out with, “What?! She can just piss off then! Nothing is yoga. Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.” Read: Patanaljali Yoga Sutra 1.2. I had to laugh, hysterically. My teacher is really traditional, in the sense that she follows a traditional practice and style of yoga and had never heard of “Dolphin pose” (which I really think is cute) she is also an awesome person and it’s great that she is supportive of me teaching Punk Rock Yoga even though I’m pretty sure the only style of yoga she has practiced is her traditional Ashtanga practice.
Today I just feel out of sorts though. I want to feel totally inspired and in love with life, but it’s cold and grey and I need some kind of motivational speech. I’m not lazy, I’m just on pause. Soon, I’ll spring into action like some kind of crazy banana on legs. Or something like that. Purposeful action is what I need, as it’s fun to explode in different directions, but I tend to explode and fizzle. I need direction, so hopefully if I commit to a few small things that will make an awesome difference in my life, like my Ashtanga practice, things will really start to crystalise. I can't wait for Spring!!!
surviving the walk-out
So tonight someone walked out of my yoga class, for the first time. It was in the first 15 minutes. I was subbing for someone else for a vinyasa class at a gym I’d never taught at before, and was taking a bit of extra time to warm up as it was so cold outside! I had the students doing dips, and moving from downdog to high plank and back, after doing some gentle twists and forward bends, before getting them into sun salutes part of the class. My beloved Yeah Yeah Yeahs was playing in the background, though not all that loudly. Suddenly I was interrupted in the middle of my instructions by the lady closest to me who announced to me that she didn’t like the class, the pacing, the music or my voice, “It’s everything,” she said and totally caught me off guard, adding, “I’m sorry but it’s just not yoga.” I think I may have made a surprised sound before instructing the class to go into child’s pose, and I was going to have a word to the lady. She went into child’s pose as well, so I continued on momentarily and then there was a knock at the door. A man had stepped in from the street to enquire about the gym which was closed, so I quickly tended to him and came back in, to see the lady rolling up her mat and going to leave, looking very much “not happy Jan.”
With my heart in my mouth, I continued teaching, having to go into downward-facing dog for a full five breaths along with my students, as now my voice was quivering and I started to worry that there would be a mass walk-out. I realized I was just creating a drama in my head and that the class had to go on as if nothing happened. I tried to adjust my voice so that I sounded more ‘yoga-like’, speak a little bit quieter, slower and turned the music down! Was I speaking too loud?
The class flowed on, and by the end hearing laughter erupt from students falling out of half moon pose showed me that everything was more than okay. After the class, a few people thanked me and said they enjoyed the class and came up to have a chat, and no-one mentioned anything about the lady that walked out (or my voice). Perhaps they hadn’t noticed?
Not having experienced this before, especially as a fairly new teacher, I have come to the conclusion that not everyone is going to like me or the way I teach. It’s not personal, even though it seems it. My reaction is everything. It brings up my insecurities; that I am not a good teacher, that I am not yet ‘yoga’ enough to teach, etc. While there may be some truth in that and I am a newbie, I KNOW that I am a sincere teacher, that I respect and honour yoga and that I love teaching. I know there are always improvements to be made, such as reading the energy of the class and mayyybe not playing rock music in a regular yoga class ;-)
And in the words of Le Tigre, “Keep on Livin’” and teaching!
And in the words of Le Tigre, “Keep on Livin’” and teaching!
Saturday, 17 July 2010
I would get up early
It's 5.17 am on Sunday. Am I crazy? I can't sleep. I am excited. Enough babble.
Things I would get up early to do...
1) I would get up early to disappear into a Mary Poppins painting
2) I would get up early to watch the incredible sunrise over the rice paddies in Bali, surrounded by green mountains, humidity and sounds of a jungle3) I would get up early to climb a mountain at sunrise
4) I would get up early to walk through a rainforest in summer, hear the birds and the rustling of the trees and breathe in the beautiful air
5) I would get up early to fly on a magic carpet over Egypt or India and watch the twinklight (a new word I just made up)
6) I would get up early to sing mantras in a temple that overlooked a valley - oh yeah baby!
7) I would get up early to write fiction, apparently
8) I would get up early to write on my blog !
9) I would get up early to perform a magic ritual that involved powerful communal energy
10) I would get up early to grow wings and fly with the fairies and visit magickal realms that do exist that vibrate at a higher frequency
11) I would get up early to walk on the beach especially at full moon
12) I would get up early to practice yoga in a room full of vibrant energy ;)
13) I would get up early to become new, reborn, alive in a way that feel's alive, peaceful, ecstastic, renewed and totally awesome!
14) i would get up early when I no longer need to sleep in and do creative, fun and amazing things like make art, write, create make-believe yoga classes that oneday could become real, play a harp, go on an early morning dark picnic with a goddess (girlfriend) or a pirate (buddy) and drink real chai or bathe in the aura of a butterfly
15) I would get up early to make a zine, a purely creative, stream of consciousness-based, artful and loving piece of work without it mattering what anyone else thinks, without taking into account their likes or dislikes and whether it is 'cool' but just doing it cos I want to
16) I would get up early to dance somewhere that I can see the sun rise (especially on a hill top) to tap into the energy of transformation that can change our lives and energy bodies somewhere between 5 and 7 am
17) I would get up early to swim in a warm and calm seawater pool - or the ocean at sunrise to watch the pink and orange liquid lighting up the gentle waves
18) I would get up early to watch an amazing rock band play outdoors where there are no words spoken, just words sung and music played. Something like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
19) I would get up early to ride on a train cross country past dark rivers and oceans and through trees and past lakes and into the energy of sunrise and the most beautiful landscapes. I looove train journeys especially in America and New Zealand!
20) I would get up early to transform myself, rise above mediocrity and create a life that resonates with my dreams~ to write, create yoga, be inspired, travel, meditate, exist from the heart instead of the head, to see with inner clarity what my truth is, to BE.
21) I would get up early to be open to life, and to begin to make some things from this list, magickal or not, come true. I am already doing it. Yay! :)
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