2/5/26 Live Session Recording (Module 2)

I was able to attend the first half of class live and had to leave for an appointment during the skeleton yoga video, so I figured I should reflect on the 2nd half of the class that I was able to finish watching. I really enjoy the movements and sequencing in this class, it's accessible but feels impactful in my body. The breath work was great; I especially enjoyed Lion's Breath it felt like I released a lot in that one. Also thank you for saying what you said about not counting for the four part breath, I hadn't thought about letting the participants choose their own pace for that. I noticed I became more relaxed and more focused as you went through the techniques. I'm wanting to learn as much as I can about the body and the way that it works, but honestly I have a hard time remembering names of muscles and bones. I'm sure it will come with repetition but I'm also happy that I don't have to memorize every bone in the body to be an effective yoga teacher. I do find it super interesting and I'm excited to learn more and to get to know everyone better!

This time I watched the whole session from the recording. It´s Saturday and my sons have been fussing around all day: playing indoors, eating some candy and occasionally getting wild or quarrelling. I have managed to draw a limit for having an own bubble for studying, while taking breaks when they really needed my attention. And I have not been getting irritated on them - as I usually would when I try to do a yoga practice with them around.

The movement practise we did really supported my nervous system. I didn´t need to concentrate 100% and that already supported the peace in my family. I just pushed pause and continued when I could. That doesn´t always work when I do my usual practice. One needs so much external peace etc... explanatuons, explanations. How could I transform my usual practice - and attitude - more towards this? This is an important notion. Why do I sometimes get angry with my kids, when they need my attention while I´m in savasana? When I hear something fall down and jump up thinking it was my computer, and start yelling even before I can confirm my notion was correct? Why am I not able to be compassionate towards my kid in that moment. That yoga doesn´t work, if the result is tensing my nerves super tight. Relaxing can sometimes become so serious.

I love the focus of the asanas in how they can be accessible. It will be easier to demonstrate modified versions when Jen showed them so practically.

Pranayama techniques are so many. Thanks for all the tips how to come to them in an accessible way. I feel more free to teach these now, with some good guidelines.

I love having laughter among the pranayamas. One time recently I was facilitating flow yoga class and we were doing a half bridge pose. I asked the students to lift one leg up and hold the pose. "And then you lift the other leg..." and we all laughed. Yoga is not supposed to be so serious. Sometimes it just is so important for me that it feels serious.

I am often reminding students to scan their body to see where they might be holding tensions. Lots of reminders about jaw muscles too, even with the yoga not intending to use those muscle groups. It is so helpful for my own practice to be reminded to soften so that I am able to be a student rather than thinking like a teacher the whole class. I anticipate movements when I could be present with the moment. This video and practice moving helps evolve my own practice and teaching styles. Love hearing others speak to this as well from their own experiences. I appreciate learning anything new about our anatomy, as it is our owners manual to exist in these bodies. Often when I am able to direct students into something seemingly simple like mountain pose, I understand how exaggerated it feels having engagement standing in stillness. We are often unaware of our movements and standing are day to day and not engaging in the movements as much. Yoga brings awareness and I enjoy the benefits of that body awareness as someone who can hit the gas pedal for too long in adhd moments. Thanks Jen for leading us through these postures. 

I had to watch the last hour-ish of the recording but was able to attend live for the first two hours. It was a great class, and one thing that stood out to me was how important it is to know and be aware of potential reactions to different breathing techniques. There are so many interesting and supportive ways we can breath intentionally, to either bring in cool air or to bring in warmth, among other things-  and that part in itself was fascinating. It is important that I be aware of the experiences of people in my classes though, especially because I want to teach in spaces where people are in recovery from addictions. For that reason, I will be sure to offer variations for all breathing techniques, and especially for Alternate Nostril Breath. 

The reason I had to leave class was the university where I teach writing at hosted Natasha Trethewey, former Poet Laureate from 2012-2014 to give a speech and to do a Q and A with our students. Her speech emphasized that we need to look beyond the history we are given to ask questions and to not allow one or two voices to dominate the perspective we are living or the period of time we exist in. That is, she grew up biracial in Mississippi and was provided a narrative of history that just is not true. In some ways, we have not come very far, but we need to look beyond what the culture of white supremacy is providing as there are not "alternative facts" - there are just lies. The way I see this connected is that we see a Westernized perspective of yoga as a practice where advanced poses are sometimes highlighted or encouraged and people get injured by pushing themselves too far. I hope to distill calmness and peace by always emphasizing Pranayama first and Asana in all forms as something extra that should only be used if the practitioners in my class are comfortable. 

I appreciated the open discussing of other students sharing their activation while engaging with the live recordings, and also sharing about their imposter syndrome when they think about one day teaching themselves. Ive been having a hard time getting myself to sit for the live teaching sessions because my body feels so anxious and activated, and I even find myself wanting to race through the recordings as well. Interestingly, this is what kept me away from yoga for many years before trying it -"it wasn't fast enough". Once I found myself in yoga classes, I competed, compared and performed on my mat for a good year or two before I was really able to trust that it was safe to just.. be where I am. Its not lost on my that my process with this training has started in a similar energetic fashion that my yoga practice has, and Im trusting that and being mindful not to judge it while still being diligent in working through the modules and recordings. 

@phernyogagmail-com great share!

@aprilnitrosonicgmail-com I was grateful to hear that about the 4 part breath too.  Good insight!

What was most impactful for me from this week's course was the discussion of "energy", specifically in the discussion of the Week 2 "Energetic Awareness: Identify Embodied Reactions" module for the proposed 8-week Mindfullness and Yoga Course format. I had often heard the word energy used loosely but here I sort of touched down on the idea that this word, with its elastic meaning, is very useful for describing the range of experiences we have in the body and mind. Sometimes we feel physical sensations, sometimes we feel a mood, sometimes we feel emotions physically. I used to feel very strong emotions and part of the difficulty in regulating those emotions was that the physical sensations associated with them were really overpowering and sort of unbearable, and I have heard many other people describe physical sensations in their own bodies as so scary (even deadly) that they are not able to do anything besides try and run from those sensations or find a way to end them as quickly as possible. There are probably other people who are very disembodied and shut down, and may be suffering from a disconnection or unawareness of their body's sensations and feelings. I think that promoting these practices that can help people gain a a safe, integrated awareness of the "energy" they are experiencing, noticing how that changes, etc. can be very powerful. 

I noticed that in the first demo that Jen provided she was inviting participants to basically begin by embodying their energy through movement t, and I thought about how valuable it might be for someone to start moving randomly and realise that say swaying quickly from side to side might mean that they were nervous/excited, or that some people might find a lot of pride and self-assertion in creating their own movement and owning that movement and the feelings behind it for themselves. Lastly, I appreciated how student-lead this movement exercise was, meaning that Jen was inviting the participants to move in a way that reflects their energy, to express that for themselves, rather than offering an activity where students are meant to be mirroring and exactly copying the teacher who is giving orders: this aspect of the PYP approach is really interesting to me, the idea that people are creating their own experience through participation in a group. I assume this is partly to do with countering the highly authoritarian and hierarchical atmosphere of a prison, but I think there's something more important there around dignity and choice.

During the opening movement practice, I noticed that it was actually pretty hard for me to fully relax and stay focused on my breath. My mind kept wanting to wander, and I had to gently bring my attention back more than once. Even in the pauses, I didn’t completely “drop in” the way I hoped to.

That said, I definitely felt a shift in my energy. As I kept moving, my body started to wake up and feel more energized/ready for action. Even if my focus wasn’t perfect, there was a clear sense of circulation and activation. So while mentally I felt a bit scattered, physically I felt more present and switched on by the end of the sequence. 

I definitely need to pay more attention to the breathing techniques. Like others mentioned, I also tend to hold my breath during movement. 

I really liked all of the focuses this session - I need to remember breath work always. I tend to hold my breath, but again realizing the spaces that we are teaching in and how much tension us and our group could be holding in, this is such a great reminder. I have seen the lion's breath in action in class and it is such a great tension reliever for a group! 

I also really appreciated all the variations on poses in this session and the discussion around that perfect yoga pose for the camera, it was a great reminder that all of our bodies are different and every pose is going to look different for all of us and that those muscles are still working and stretching 

Hi! I learned so much from this module about Pranayama...Up until today I was that teacher that counted the breath for my students during pranayama...NEVER again, Jen! In my 200 hour Hatha training we were taught to count the breath. Listening to you explain why it might be hard for people when you count makes so much sense. I totally believe in breath work and think it should be taught at a young age. 

The energetic practice helped me release stagnant energy from my body that needed to be let go of. I am grateful for a practice that focused on energetic movement. I also appreciate how you encourage us to explore the movements that feel good for our bodies. The reminders throughout the practice to notice our bodily sensations helped me stay present. As I moved, my body began to feel more energized, and I became more comfortable and present while taking deep breaths. Throughout the practice, I was able to think about different ways to facilitate a yoga practice in a present, trauma-informed manner. Thank you, Jen!

I loved the opening discussion and warming up with standing movements. The posture with hands above the head, that is triggering, I felt that pain but also the power when I stood there with my hands and arms held strong. I understood what Alysehia said about feeling conflicted about healing while training and how it’s more about excitement than fear. That stuck with me. PYP truly is giving us the tools and supportive environment to step into facilitation.

Science was never my thing (I dropped biology in grade 11 so I could focus on communications and the arts lol), but I understand why it's important that I understand the skeletal system, muscular system, and nervous system so I can keep myself and others safe during practice. The contraction → stretching visuals with the colour coding helped it click.

Breathwork was the biggest takeaway. Kapalabhati, which we always did at the end of Modo (I forget what they called it there), is the one that really hit. I forgot that after learning that breathwork, I would use it in my actual life to calm down when I was anxious. I had a flashback to doing it in my car before arriving at the parking lot for my old 9–5.

Tbh, I didn’t even realize at the time that I was using yoga as a tool to regulate myself, I just knew it genuinely worked better than any other tool I tried to rely on previously. I’m also familiar with Ujjayi and lion’s breath, but I had never heard of alternate nostril or bee breath. Those were interesting too, especially Sarah K's comment! 

Energetic Awareness: I really appreciated the jumping jacks that transitioned to intentional stillness in the beginning because I needed the opportunity to shake off the high energy from check-ins, and then notice or bring awareness to the recovery. I also appreciated the suggestions throughout the practice of how different postures shift energy, such as the twist.

Anatomy Exploration: I most appreciated the encouragement to approach the topic with curiosity instead of expecting ourselves to be overnight experts. Before the video, the que to notice where the skeleton meets the floor was very helpful and eye-opening to think about where bodyweight applies pressure. The blue/red photos were super cool! And appreciated actually doing the poses with the photos to feel the colors.

Pranayama (Breath): I was disappointed to hear there aren’t “magic points” for perfectly counting my breaths, lol. But seriously, I appreciated the encouragement of making breathwork accessible by having us facilitate without creating an arbitrary benchmark for breathing. I also loves the brief shoutout to natural breath because I honestly think it’s one of the most impactful breaths. The info around tapping and face touching was very helpful from a trauma-informed lens.