8/3/23 Live Session Recording

Hi Jen, Thanks so much for the helpful slide shows.  I always feel I learn better with written handout materials. 🙂   

I'd like to share my thoughts on my walk yesterday into the community.  It was my first walk in the public in 2 years and by myself at that.  It felt great.  As I made my way through the city, of which I am not familiar with the area, I began to discover how the world has changed since my incarceration.  I wore a backpack for I was going to the store and wanted to carry items back with me. It was over 5 miles roundtrip so; a backpack served me best.  What I didn't realize or begin to understand is how that peace sign designed backpack my mom picked out for me would make me a target for harassment.  There were a few instances in the 3 hours I was away from transitional housing, where I encountered individuals who I felt were judging me on my appearance and the fact, I was wearing a backpack.  I am assuming that it had appeared to them that I was one of the many homeless individuals who have been gathering in the city.  Whether I am, or not, I am a human being.  I am worthy to exist.  So does every human being on this earth.  So, that being said, it had me questioning my Satya and others.  2 Particular woman both wailed on their car horns as I walked by and raised their arms at me and gave me facial expressions at which I was not quite fond of.  It presented for me feelings of rejection as a member of the community.  I felt shunned.  I began to have deep thoughts of why this happened to me; I felt that maybe their truth was causing harm to me and maybe to others as well as themselves.  How they believe that they are right, and their truth is valid.  I tried to begin to understand why they acted that way and why I did not react in a sort of way.  I do not want to cause harm.  I have the choice how to live my life.  Perhaps maybe these occurrences happened because of what these women have been through and their personal schema.  I chose to not take it personally.  Whatever the reasoning is, I can understand how the external environment or triggers that a person is exposed to does have an effect to the internal parts of us.  What I do know is how we respond is up to us.  By not continuing the cycle of harm, one-person does make a difference in the world.

Invitational cueing seems so inviting 🙂 The calming soothing ways to invite participants to explore brings participants to feel like there is no pressure to do any sort of variation or posture that causes discomfort.  As a matter of fact, bringing awareness to participants to stay mindful of their bodies and recognize when any movements feel uncomfortable or painful with recommendations to do the postures that serve them in today's body helps to facilitate healing.  I will begin to practice this sort of tone and cueing within my personal practice aloud to get a feel how to present this in a class setting.

First, I would like help participants acknowledge today's body and get a verbal explanation on where they feel they are in any pain or discomfort or feeling any stiffness.  Whether in a class, in a person's home or a treatment room, I would use anatomical cueing to begin moving and working on the areas at which need to be warmed up for the individualized practice for the session.  I would visually recognize the participants' range of motion and offer variations to warmup the areas.  I would get a feel for how the participants are doing and practice variations of anatomical cuing to where they verbalized needing it most at the beginning of the session.

Hello!

I went and reviewed the parts of the session I was not able to be at. I am very appreciative of this training and its focus on trauma-informed practice of yoga. 

Some questions that begin to arise for me when using invitational cuing in my setting is at what point is redirection needed? For example, I ran a group where we were all engaging in movement together and one patient stood and marched the entire group. I felt this is what he needed at this time and did not prompt him to join the group in our practice, however it did become distracting for me when engaging in centering and quieter activities. 

I am also sitting with the idea that with my patients, I have noticed there is a need for structured prompts and rituals within my dance therapy groups. More improvisational dance therapy interventions are generally not received well. I am wondering how my patients will respond to open and invitational cuing in a yoga group and I do not know if this is a question that will ever be fully answered as my unit is constantly changing and it may vary day to day. 

@lcoulombe86gmail-com 

Lisa, Thank you so much for sharing your experience of your walk. It made me think of Asteya, the next yama we will be discussing, and how the actions of those women stole parts of your day from you. I am so happy to hear you were still able to find great joy in your time outside. The trees and fields you pass along the route to town are beautiful and usually have more energy to share than the humans you'll pass along the way.

@kaliskodack 

Awesome insight & questions, Kali! Please consider bringing these points to the larger group for discussion- I think there may be a variety of input and thoughts! 

My initial thoughts when considering the marching individual is certainly understanding and sharing of similar experiences. As said above, I think a conversation would serve these questions more fully, but I offer that it is okay to demonstrate perimeters within the sections of sequencing and the posture and movement offered. for example, during an energetic release, individuals may be shifting weight from right to left or sprinting in place, but the movement follows similar anatomical flow allowing everyone to move at a pace that serves them, but still focusing on the joints and muscles being explored during that part of the sequence. Similar for centering check-ins, some might sit, some might stand and gently bounce their heels, but the energetic arch of the class flow should encourage these brief moments of stillness. Perhaps starting with 2 or three full breaths and then bringing movement back for a short time to gradually build competence for longer periods of stillness or gentle focus?

To look at invitational cueing, it is not necessarily an invitation to go rouge or limiting guidance. The anatomical cue comes first. Individuals arrive at the posture or movement you are guiding, the invitation comes in to support how one body may settle in to the movement over another. Some people may benefit from an invite to "notice if there is space to relax or soften their shoulders" or "as they bend and straighten their knees, notice where their leg and body feel supports and begin to find stillness there." The invitation is a tool to guide each individual person to embody their variation of the posture or movement, what, one each given day, feels right for them. 

What are your thoughts?

Hi Everyone,

This is my reflection for 8/3 because I had some family in town from Texas, and we spent the day hiking Switzer Falls Trail, and I did not return in time for the Zoom.

Regarding Sataya or Truth, I was trying to understand what was said about bodily sensation and truth.  It sounded like painful bodily sensations are truths or traumas that must be examined.  This idea seems to say that emotional pain is a personal truth that one holds until they change it by changing their understanding of things.

I see how invitational cueing can support people to connect with their bodies meaningfully and examine personal truths as one becomes more aware of bodily sensations.  I have enjoyed taking things at my own pace more after beginning this program.  I might encourage others when facilitating to put extra effort into poses only when it feels good and only for as long as your body wants it.  I like the idea of incorporating breathing in a way that feels natural to the person practicing.

I can see myself possibly facilitating with kids close to my child’s age and possibly with individuals with fibromyalgia.  I understand that range of motion for the spine, muscles & joints as well as coordination of right and left, should be introduced.  Cat and Cow can be good for gentle spinal flexion and extensions.  Easy twists may also serve the spine.  A downward dog may allow exploration of the leg and arm muscles.  Goddess may allow hip exploration.  Mountains with different arm positions and movements may allow exploration of shoulder exploration.  All of these postures have variations that may serve a wide range of individuals with different ranges of motion.

@vhainscsu-fullerton-edu 

Hello Victoria! Thank you for your reflection! I wanted to bring in the statement you made, "It sounded like painful bodily sensations are truths or traumas that must be examined." While this may be an experience of some, when discussing mindful awareness and embodied sensations as they apply to trauma and to truth, "painful" is not always how these sensations present. A healing-centered mindfulness practice invites individuals to bring awareness to self and their body, bringing special attention to areas one might be disconnected/deeply connected to in any way, including emotionally, to consider the why behind the (dis)connection. When trauma has been experienced, that bodily, let's say residue that is left behind can often be painful, but isn't the only potential experience one might have.

I am making my way through previous PYP content and it is interesting to think about my recent reengagement with this material in terms of honoring my truth or as you said in the video, "commitment to honor own capacity and truth." Being present to my father's death at the beginning of this year has really transformed the way this year has unfolded. I am learning to move with grief as opposed to feeling as though it is a burden or something to get through and this recording was a reminder to give myself permission to move at the pace that I need to move through. From my experience it can be uncomfortable to sit with my truth and to honor my truth - often times it feels like a non linear process. With my own experience of losing my father, I have to feel that there is something with the experience that puts me further in touch with my truth and because this experience is so alive for me, I feel many connections between Satya and Grief. Exploring and honoring truth is not the easy path, however it is amazing to think about the impact it can have on my healing journey or one's healing journey which also makes me think about what "easy" means and the value "easy" has in our culture. It's amazing to find pockets of communities and spaces that honor the personal healing journey since it feels like often this idea of "truth," or "honoring personal story," is not valued in our modern day culture. 

I think about how invitational cueing is so supportive of meeting individuals where they are at. Cueing is a tool that impacts the space a student might feel and the language we use while cueing can directly impact whether an individual feels empowered in their own practice. It's important to remember that there are variations to this cueing, such as using anatomical cues that individuals can then begin to explore deeper in their own personalized ways. 

One thought I have is that I am excited to expand upon my anatomy knowledge so I feel confident and comfortable cueing to anatomy. 

@elle-nelson44gmail-com 

Thank you for sharing these beautiful words. I appreciate your connections of Satya and grief ❤️