Over the last few months, I’ve been running something of a teaching marathon—picking up a lot of extra classes across all my studios to prepare for upcoming travel and, to be frank, to try to keep up with our unpredictable economy (#hustlemode). One of the joys of this time has been meeting a lot of new students and seeing them respond to my classes. As I learned in a poignant way during COVID, where I had a stretch of time with zero classes on my schedule, having students—especially ones who respond with feedback—is kind of a requirement if I want to call myself a “teacher” of anything…and so I really rely on engagement to help me stay centered in my own work.
At the end of my classes, I always ask if there are any questions about the practice we just did. Sometimes folks come up with questions about modifying for injuries or the name of a song on my playlist. But by far, the most common question I get—and the one that brings me the most delight—is this: “What kind of yoga was that?” My answer always varies a little, but since I’ve been asked this more frequently lately I took it as an invitation to settle in on some answers. Nothing definitive—my vāta-self reserves the right to change my mind at a moment’s notice!—but some key concepts, intentions, and characteristics of the classes I teach.
Rhythm, Circulation, and Integration
This triad of qualities forms the stable foundation of all of my sequences. Together, they work with all of the Āyurvedic doṣas (rhythm stabilizes vāta; circulation motivates kapha; and integration gives space and clarity to pitta) at subtle and gross levels. They show up in the pace of class, the combination of dynamic and still poses, what I choose to cue in a pose based on what I want to emphasize, and the way I invite students to observe their attention through their senses.
Circulation of Prāṇa
Sharing what I’ve learned from my brilliant teachers over the years, this is the goal of all yoga practice. It was the “aha” moment that gave a deeper and more integrated purpose for practice within the context of Āyurveda’s goals of longevity and cohesion within the system (an individual’s “system,” aka their body, and the “system” of Nature, of which we are a part). Rather than practicing yoga to learn āsanas (poses), which is a fine thing to do and important at the beginning, I consider yoga to be part of my overall health regimen. Circulating prāṇa is essential to, well, staying alive—but also to living. This isn’t just about breathing, which you can do absent-mindedly even in a yoga class; it’s not about connecting breath to movement, which is actually very challenging and requires a much simpler set of movements if you want to do it right than what are taught in most group classes. Because prāṇa follows awareness, this piece is about returning our attention to our physical bodies in the now of reality. The breath is a good tool for this, since it is inherently prāṇic; but even just thinking about your arm, looking down at your foot, sensing the stretch in your leg will circulate prāṇa. The more we do this, the better chances we have that all the systems of the body will function well and be able to prioritize homeostasis over the stress response, which makes it more likely that we’ll experience health over disease in the long-term.
Pay Attention!
Another delightful comment I received from a student was, “I really had to pay attention to what you were saying.” I smiled and laughed at that—because what’s the alternative?? I know many people come to yoga to relax—to “check out” after a long day at work, after a crazy day at home with the kids, after decades of living inside a noisy mind made noisier by our distraction-filled world. While I do, very much, want to support our collective relaxation (and think we should be doing more relaxing in yoga than endless sun salutations), “checking out”—or going to a yoga class where you don’t have to pay attention—is not the way to do it. Nor is it yoga! Most students have heard that the word yoga roughly translates to “union,” which can apply to many things. In the traditional context, yoga is a union of all aspects of the Self—body, mind, senses, and soul. The unifying force in the world is prāṇa, that which flows through and around us without being depleted—a truly renewable resource. But if we don’t use our attention to direct prāṇa toward ourselves, we’ll miss out on all that rejuvenating energy. Paying attention to the felt experience of your body isn’t egotistical or dismissive of the many challenging and heartbreaking aspects of our world. It’s the only way we’ll have the stamina and sheer existence to participate in solving those problems and, lest we forget, experiencing the pleasures and joys of our Being.
Fun Body Facts
I love integrating details about our gross and subtle anatomy into class, not to overwhelm your experience but to give a sense of why we’re doing what we’re doing. These aren’t canned sequences from a textbook or chatbot, but thoughtful interpretations on how to express and explore the state of our prāṇa through movement. If you come to class, you’ll soon be an expert on the psoas, fascia, and lymph/rasa, some of my *favorite* topics!
Squats (Malāsana)
Hands-down my favorite and most-taught pose. Squats are a form of functional movement for the human body that have been all but forgotten in the CE—Chair Era. They work every region of the body from a musculoskeletal perspective, and are excellent training for Paying Attention, especially learning the ways your body communicates true and perceived limitations (e.g., I want this to be done because my ankles and quads have reached their capacity, vs I want this to be done because I have to work a little past my comfort zone and don’t want my top to get sweaty).
Āyurveda c/o the Seasons, the Elements, and the Senses
Yoga has become one of the primary avenues for me to share Āyurveda, which wasn’t exactly what I planned when I set out on this path. While I love getting into the nitty-gritties with clients about their individual imbalances, observing the qualities (guṇas) of the body and mind, then taking right action in response to those observations, are at the core of both practices. I base my sequences on the dominant energies and qualities of the seasons and time of day, which may or may not be what everyone in the room needs in that moment. So I make an effort to name and describe the intention behind how prāṇa might move or shift in response to a pose, and give options for alternative qualities, so that everyone can make the right choice for them. Choosing something that exacerbates a quality that’s already high in your system isn’t wrong or a mistake—it’s a learning opportunity. A chance to be brave enough to not just follow the instructions next time, but listen to your body as the Ultimate Teacher.
Not Vinyasa
I “grew up” practicing and teaching vinyasa yoga; in fact, for a long time I thought the two were synonymous and was kind of judgy about other forms of yoga. And while I maintain that the essence of my teaching still is vinyasa—connected to breath, with attention to rhythm and alignment—it’s not the kind of yoga that’s labeled “vinyasa” on most studio schedules. The closest traditional name I can think of is hatha yoga, referring to sun (ha) and moon (tha). It’s not that we are “balancing” yang and yin in equal doses—e.g., 30 minutes of standing poses and dynamic flow, and 30 minutes of seated poses and restoratives. To me, hatha reflects inclusivity and respect for rhythm. The sun and moon are a divine partnership that provide us with the ultimate Prāṇa, and anchor the movement of our lives. Their relationship is dynamic and constantly changing, though. And that’s what you’ll experience in my classes. Learning to observe change and respond to it with resilience, clarity, and grace. To accept and embrace life not as a rigid or linear progression, but as a dynamic, fluid, spiral—a dance of moving away from who and where you think you are, and returning to who and where you know you belong. To “shine, like the whole universe is yours” (Rumi).
If you’ve been wondering what to expect in a live class with me, now you know! And if you’ve been dying to give me feedback about a class you took with me recently, now’s your chance! I’d love to hear what your goals and experiences of yoga have been over time, any hesitations you’ve had about practice, and how the practice continues to evolve for you. It truly gives my life purpose to hear from you.
