#deconstructtoreconstruct

#Repost per credit from & courtesy of @alexandriacrowyoga ... CONVERSATION STARTER: Have you ever suffered from āsana practice guilt? You know, that nagging feeling you get when you aren’t practicing āsana in the way you teach or were taught. A regular and worthwhile yoga practice doesn’t need to include a mat—and it definitely doesn’t need to involve sweaty vinyasa flows. So why isn’t the #yogaeverydamnday hashtag full of images of people using a variety of techniques or graphics explaining that there are a wide variety of approaches one can use to fit changing needs? And no, I don’t mean making yoga into anything you want via appropriation, but instead using more than just āsana. The yoga industry is mixed up with #nodaysoff fitness culture, which tells us we lack discipline if we dare to take a day to rest our bodies. That emphasis on proving something only perpetuates the binaries and self-judgment that yoga is meant to lead us away from. I used to believe I needed to practice āsana every day to teach well. When injuries ended my ability to prove my worth with fancy poses, I was forced to rethink things. I learned that I could achieve the aims of complex poses—and make them accessible to others—by focusing on the function of the poses over their form.  And along the way, I found that I could have a very deep and personally beneficial practice even if all I did for a week was lie in Constructive Rest or sit for meditation each morning. Sure, Patañjali never said practice was optional. But he definitely never said a yoga practice needed to involve chaturangas or side crows.  The real practice is the hard and uncomfortable inner work. And sometimes that involves letting go of damaging cycles like the hyperfocus on perfection and physicality that can surround physical practice.  What’s included in your vision of a good and steady practice—and what can you let go of? #yogaphysics #deconstructtoreconstruct #yogaforeveryone #accessibleyoga #yogaforallbodies #yogaforeveryone #functionalyoga #modernyoga #yogarevolution #yoga101 #yogateacher #yogapose #yogapractice #sidecrow #yogaeducation #yogastudent #yogaasana #asana #yogaathome https://www.instagram.com/p/COjjfX_jNNu/?igshid=3e8rhq3j1q7w

#Repost per credit from & the courtesy of @alexandriacrowyoga ・・・ CONVERSATION STARTER - What does your practice look like right now? Has it changed? This has been my go to for years, and my secret weapon (which isn’t very secret because I’ve shared it with pretty much everyone I know or meet). Feel the floor, hear the sounds, feel and hear my breathing, all while in the safety of my own home or hotel. There’s something so soothing about it. So here it is, Constructive rest. This is one of my go to’s and it’s been where I’ve spent most of my time when I’m not working online since all of this started. What does your practice look like right now? . . . . . . . . #yogaphysics #deconstructtoreconstruct #yogaforeveryone #accessibleyoga #modernyoga #yogarevolution #yoga101 #yoga #yogateacher #yogapose #yogapractice #staysafe #stayhealthy #yogaeducation #yogastudent #yogaasana #functionalyoga #yogatips #asana #stayhome #onlineyoga #constructiverest https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nRFzVDjkf/?igshid=1vw9accu6lh5x

#Repost from @alexandriacrowyoga ・・・ CONVERSATION STARTER - The pandemic have placed a moratorium on many things, one of which is hands on teaching. How are you adjusting to teaching online without the ability to utilize hands on assists as communication device for your students? How are you adjusting to practicing without them if you relied on them in the classes you took before? It’s not an easy shift to teach online and I know it’s a steep & scary learning curve for a lot of you right now. I have lots more to add and offer on this topic & plenty of support and help if you need it, some of my thoughts will soon be available in an upcoming podcast interview. What tools or information would be helpful to you so you’re able to teach without assists? If it’s in my wheelhouse I’ll post information about it for sure. We all need support right now. For me, I primarily teach with just audio which is how I teach in person and online. Words alone. It’s taken a long time to get here but teaching without using touch or even demos is something very natural to me now & I’ve been teaching online for many years now the online format. The feedback I get from participants about practicing to just my voice is so moving. People feel cared for & guided by the information they hear while also feeling completely empowered to do what works for them. It’s really so beautiful when I look at it compared to the philosophy I’m trying to offer. There’s no pressure from me to do it in any other way than that which works for them, no pressure from others in the class, no need to perform. They’re able to tap into their bodies and feel what is wise and what isn’t. I rely on repetition, building blocks, options of equivalence, & information about what may be worth moving away from as to keep them safe, so that they’re able to make informed choices & to not feel lost. You can listen to some my classes on my podcast channel Yoga Physics Radio, they’re free. How are you doing with the online teaching or practicing? Where to you need support? Thank you @julesofwellness & @rose.x.rose.x.rose for inspiring this post and supporting this conversation. #yogaphysics #deconstructtoreconstruct https://www.instagram.com/p/B-qWk-NjpmS/?igshid=1ns3hlx3sw00y

#Repost per credit from & the courtesy of @alexandriacrowyoga ・・・ CONVERSATION STARTER - What are the yoga and yoga practice misconceptions that you wish you would get cleared up once and for all? How do you go about creating change around the misconceptions that you run up against? How do you explain them without shutting people down? Building on a post that my friend @kayamindlin put up asking us to share our yoga misunderstanding pet peeves and as she said, not to gripe, but to share. My hope is so that we can I have a list that seems to stay about the same. Some of the highlights from that list in relation to general misconceptions are: You must be really flexible/strong/in “good shape” if you teach yoga. Yoga is anything you do mindfully. Yoga is about flexibility, stability, anything that is related to gain. The poses are the yoga. Yoga is exercise/fitness. And others. How do I create change around these? Well, the public ones I use as an opportunity to elevator pitch (I mean in the describe what, why, and who it’s for) to remove the misconceptions. I spend a lot of time on this one in Ubers. Then for the rest, this page, class I teach, workshops I lead, the D2R Web Course, and now the YP Community Membership all serve as places to have these dialogues and to offer ways to bring about change. What are your yoga misconception bothers at the moment and how do you go about changing them? #yogaphysics #deconstructtoreconstruct #ypcommunity #yogaevolution #yogaforeveryone #accessibleyoga #yogablog #modernyoga #yogarevolution #yoga101 #yoga #yogateacher #yogapose #yogapractice #sidecrow #followyoga #yogaeducation https://www.instagram.com/p/B4dVpHbDEFe/?igshid=1iui5u3evfrpo

#Repost per credit from & the courtesy of @alexandriacrowyoga ・・・ My New Yoga Bro Marketing Strategy This 2015 photo wasn’t actually used for marketing, it was taken for a blog but never used. I stumbled on it while cleaning out photos and it got me to thinking. When will this shirtless yoga bro photo trend end? Does it bother any of you like it bothers me? I don’t love the idea of yoga pose photos much at all at this point regardless of gender. I also have a big problem with sexualized imagery being used to sell any and all products, not just yoga ones. Obviously I have taken tons of them in the past, never topless though, thank god. I just can’t do it anymore though, haven’t been able to for years because of how incongruent it felt and how much it preyed on people’s feelings of lack and need both overtly and subtly. That said, there is something particularly grating about the yoga bro shirtless photos. I can’t quite put my finger on it, can you? #yogaphysics #funnymemes #deconstructtoreconstruct #modernyoga #yogarevolution #yoga101 #yoga #yogateacher #yogagram #igyoga #yogabro #yogadudes #whytho https://www.instagram.com/p/B15ACgPDER8/?igshid=1y0z4ojgy6hum