Mindfulness & Embodiment: Humility & Boundaries
- Practice mindfulness while teaching: continue to return your awareness to your breath, thoughts, energy and expression.
- Stay grounded in your body while teaching.
Mindfulness
Paying Attention
Mindfulness can be defined as paying attention in a particular way; on purpose in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. – Jon Kabat Zinn
Connect with Yourself
When you walk into class to teach, first connect with yourself. You cannot connect to your students if you are not in touch with yourself. Then connect to the student, the human being standing in front of you right now. Finally, connect to the task at hand, often an asana. Keep this order and you will like what you say and do next. Teach from your own wisdom with love and compassion. – Judith Lasater
Become Aware of Negative Inner Monologue
As yoga teachers we can be too critical of ourselves at times. We ask our students to let go of competition and judgment, but our inner-monologue about our own “performance” is often harsh. As educators, we have to remember that we will always be honing our craft—which means we’re not always perfect and expecting as much creates unnecessary tension that causes more harm than good. We’ll continue to refine our awareness in key areas like anatomy, sequencing, manual adjustments, verbal cueing, and so on. We’ll continue to practice witnessing our students clearly and unconditionally. And, we’ll continue to develop our voice and clarify our sense of purpose—and, we’ll allow both to naturally change over time. – Jason Crandell
Embodiment & Grounding
- To be embodied is to mindfully focus on the body.
- To be embodied is to be connected to our sensate experience.
- To be grounded is to be embodied.
- When grounded, we are experiencing our mind, breath and body in the same place at the same time.