I have so much love and appreciation for the beautiful perspectives this training brings to the yogic philosophy and the way Jen shares it. It's so special to get to experience the yamas and niyamas through this lens of social justice and in such a compassionate lens, and through everyone's shares of how it reflects back through what they're experiencing; it's really powerful. Thank you all, so much love and gratitude for you all. I love what Jen pointed out about the trauma informed training allowing space firstly to allow for us to understand what's happening in our own bodies first and foremost to be able to integrate that and be facilitators that can have that understanding and hold that space💜and the quote "welcome! everyone's here from everywhere and now we are going to talk about harm and trauma" -I can relate in what many have shared in that it has brought up things emotionally in an unexpected way--revisiting traumas for me that have been challenging to reflect on again, that I've worked through in therapy and other healing modalities, but adding this layer of healing community has felt like another layer of grieving for me in validating so much that I didn't feel connection/support with in the past, and this community has been really helpful in that; even though i've not been able to participate in the live sessions due to limited capacity and life events that came up unexpectedly--I found out I needed to find a new living space ASAP and it has taken a lot of my energy and focus to find a place to live and care for myself, but I've been watching the recordings each week and learning with you all asynchronously and I love your beautiful souls so much. (and i'm rewatching everything again because=learning style, and am sort of working backwards to really absorb and integrate all this wonderful knowledge🙏)--thank you for holding space for these variety of learning experiences and paces, and thank you for being on this journey here, you all inspire me tremendously with your warm hearts.

These lessons on santosha feel resonant to me in my own experiences of things that have blocked me from feeling contentment in the past and have overcome, and I can see how it's so helpful to understand what these limitations can be listed here so we can hold space for it in others' journeys; thank you Jen for the clarity on applying santosha in practice: how to gently bring the considerations of how to guide these self-inquires for participants into a yoga practice through gently asking questions within our comfort, and also the physical aspect to allow strengthening of knowing one's own truth of contentment. So cool. I love the metaphor with the Gita and the moral dilemma. I often feel pulled in many directions of how to be of service, and really appreciate the highlighting of the experience of getting to know oneself and what feels like aligned action. I realize too, this can come about in more clarity and ease through tapas practice.

As I review page 54 of the facilitation guide with the prop-based practice, what comes to mind for me and what i've been learning about in my yoga journey is that as a facilitator, I intend to make it a priority to give students ample space and time to experiment within poses, especially when using props, and when potentially unfamiliar with doing so, to find what is most comfortable for them. I have experienced so many times in class as a student where suggestions are given, but there isn't enough time to experiment with the props and then settle into the pose before moving on to the next thing. I've recently been training in restorative nervous-system focused yoga practices as well, and something I am grateful to be integrating from those teachings as well as this one is the emphasis on facilitators giving verbal cues to give permission to students to know they have plenty of time, to not feel rushed, in order to really check in with the body and the props and find what feels best for that day. A verbal cue that my teachers give a lot in the restorative practice is "know that it's worth it to really take your time" because once you find that sweet spot, you can sink into presence even deeper. I think this is such a beautiful metaphor for the teachings we've been working through of being mindful and present in our bodies to get the most out of the practice. As a facilitator I would want to familiarize myself really well with the various options of using the props in each pose to be able to demo those options, as well as being sure to build in whatever time I feel will best benefit the pacing of allowing students to try out these different options, and then feel into the sensations once finding their choice, to allow for the deepest meditative experience.

These teachings reminded me of a favorite passage that helped me realize a healthier relationship with discipline — from the book Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life by Judith Hanson Lasater—“ In the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali discusses discipline in book 1, verse 12: abhyasa-vairagyabhyam tan-nirodhah, or “The restriction of these fluctuations is achieved through practice and dispassion.” This means that yoga, or that state in which fluctuations (or agitations) of the mind are resolved, can be achieved by practice (or discipline) and detachment... Practice, then, is discipline in action. This is different from task-oriented behavior. Discipline is truly expressed by my intention to stay present in each moment. Whether I am driving my children to school, standing in the grocery line, paying bills, interacting with coworkers, finishing a task on time, or practicing yoga in a formal way, if I do it with an intimacy with each moment, then I am truly disciplined. Without that intimacy, I am merely performing a series of mechanical actions. Several years ago, I met a woman who told me that she had begun to meditate for five minutes every morning. My initial reaction was judgmental. What a joke! I thought. How could five minutes make any difference? In truth, she had a realistic and balanced attitude about her life and her practice. She had declared her intention, and she lived her commitment to meditate every day. She interpreted discipline as doing what was possible with consistency. I had interpreted discipline as quantity. I realized that I thought two hours of yoga practice indicated a disciplined life, whereas five minutes did not. In time, I came to realize her wisdom: Do what you can and do it fully. Patanjali describes this as abhyasa, which comes from the Sanskrit roots abhi and as, and means “to apply oneself.” From this viewpoint, all of life is practice. Practice is not about what you get, it is about what you give. Whether you are driven or resistant, the medicine is the same: do what is truly possible with unwavering commitment to giving yourself to the moment. Without this intention, practice becomes another task to be completed, and it loses its ability to transform. And transformation, or freedom, is the reason for all discipline.”

Applying what we are talking about in our conversation with utilizing self-study in our discipline, it ties in to this passage in that it allows us to be present and more mindful of our discipline by tuning in to our bodies so we are able to access the truth of the moment, creating that sustainability; it is an ongoing balance.

As I consider building an introductory sequence, the elements that feel most important to include when welcoming a new group to yoga is creating permission for autonomy in the practice from the start, by verbally giving guidance that will allow participants to feel that freedom and power to do so: introducing the knowledge and tools of the nervous system, breathwork, and noticing feeling sensations in the body, and inviting ways to create the space for exploration of these practices. By focusing on these elements, I can see how this can help to create a supportive foundation for the inner understanding of the practice to expand upon. In terms of pacing, I appreciate that by keeping the introductory practice more simplified with less information to begin, it is helpful to allow pacing to be slower and more focused on these foundational tools to allow participants to have more time to feel and experiment with the sensations, and learn through their experience. I think this is a good way to create sustainability in the practice for the participants as well, by easing in to the practice slowly.

I think if we are working with people that are uncertain it's a great step to keep encouraging to try something new, but also settle if they are uncomfortable. As I tend to work more with youth, a positive challenge can be an okay step to take with them as well to see if that helps encourage (I know that isn't an approach with everyone, but a possibility especially if you have some rapport built.) Also using the other participants to encourage or share might help ease a participant in to the setting if they are uncomfortable! 

I always think of that picture that shows all the different animals being asked to climb a tree. We all have different strengths, limits, and ways of being. I think it’s so important to honor that we are all different but acknowledge that we can still connect through those differences if we choose to remain open and accepting.

I think that the introductory portion is really important, as there may be many people who have little to know background knowledge about yoga, breathwork, etc. Sharing some information about the purpose of yoga, touching on pranayama and the breathe can help spark some interest and increase people's comfort level when they are first approaching yoga, ditto for an some basic information on the nervous system. Techniques to foster emotional and physical awareness seem to be woven throughout the sequencing, with lots of opportunities for teachers to model -and students to practice - getting in touch with their feelings, motivations, and desires and developing a sense of full embodiment and choice that many mainstream yoga classes do not explicitly prioritise. I also think that setting up that dialectic of activation or rest (on-off) and providing opportunities for people to make decisions based what they want or need in a given moment is really important.