1/23/25 Live Session Recording - Module 1 (Part 1)

@darnellwashington I just wanted to say, as I was going through the last live session recording, everything you said was incredibly well put and so so spot on. Yoga truly is a reflection, a mirror of how we move through life, how we treat ourselves and others, it really shows, it's a constant motion in progress, everything changes, everything evolves, the more awareness, the more expansive it all gets. Thank you for all those insights !! And for everyone elses insights and incredible support from Jen and all.

I watched the session this morning and have reflected on three topics:

I really loved the perspective of a classmate on balance, "Being out of balance brings us so much wisdom, life is about being out of balance constantly", I loved this take on balance because I always try to stay in a balanced state and sometimes get frustrated, but shifting this perspective as being unbalanced is what brings great wisdom, makes me accept being imperfect. 

Yoga Activity: I never focused on how much energy and strength a simple stretch takes; this makes me feel grateful. 

On Kleshas: I've learned about Kleshas in my first ever yoga class in college, and I'd love to explore and learn more about them, like how can one master their Klesha/s, through yoga practice? Is it true that the ignorance/ego Klesha are the root to the other Klesha's? 

@jassy9 Hey Jasselle!! I really appreciated that you mentioned what was said about balance and that it inspires and motivates you to accept yourself as a whole! Soo sweet to hear your insights! Even in those moments where everything just seems so chaotic, I find that staying with all of myself creates more support, more understanding and that I am a human flowing through lessons and experiences! And I believe this is what makes us all unique 🤗

Hey there!!!I really enjoyed watching this recording. I wrote down three words in my journal that described my internal experience as I watched along: ease, calm, and connection. It feels so good to reconnect with this content and the yoga teacher training. I am so appreciating the community within this cohort and the lessons delivered by everyone!

In my notes, I highlighted the phrase "honor your range of motion - in every aspect of your life." This really stood out to me and resonated deeply. Often, I push myself outside my range of motion. Sometimes, this results in positive change and growth, but sometimes it also creates harm. I love the reminder to honor our range of motion in every aspect of life. It's a beautiful metaphor that can translate into so many different things. Perhaps most beautiful of all is how the practice of yoga, specifically this variation, models and celebrates this mantra.

Look forward to week 3 😊 

What a great live! I appreciate all the work that has gone into the Group Agreement and the way Jen leaves the floor open to reflect and the pause moments too, to have a micro recentering to remember why I am here and but, take in the new perspectives and pay attention to how my body is responding. Do I need to relax my jaw, sigh out loud, how are my shoulders and my breath? Exploring more into mindfulness and the distraction barriers I was able to see where I had become desensitized to dangerous situations. As a teen and some events during my adulthood I have  been more inclined to put myself in harms way as a cover up of what was really going on. I sat with that realization and looked back and that knowledge alone has led me to want to explore that path and be aware of how and if it still shows up in other forms. A lot of the terminology and yoga philosophy is very new to me. As Andy mentioned the imposter syndrome I could relate. I’ve never been to a studio or practiced yoga with anyone other than some four legged fur babies. But, then I thought of one of my favorite quotes from Disney’s Dumbo movie, “ The very things that hold you down are going to lift you up.” I let any expectations of what I thought I should know just leave and realized my ground zero is a perfect place to build and discover my own truths.

The Samskara and The Keshas are new to me ans well and I am eager to know more about the origin. They also remind me of paradigms and a term called a “terror barrier”. One of the incarcerated men I help was afraid to even talk to me or any woman. i look back over the few years we have been connected and him seeing me overcome my obstacles gives him confidence to pursue his dreams and him helping me as well well is similar to being a guide and making suggestion but, neither of us are the true director. via our actions not just words because I feel words don’t teach. Staying consistent and dependable, unwavering. Consistency and Letting it go, I laugh out loud cause that makes no sense but, it feels like everything works out when you do it. So I set an intention most days and my favorite one is simply “chill out” and I embody it as a range of e-motion. 😎 

I've been reflecting on the group agreement and feel very grateful that we get to participate in an evolving, "living" commitment to each other, the past cohorts, and the future ones that come after us. I look forward to seeing how we add our unique touches over time. The bullet point "Why am I talking? What do I wish to say?" resonates deeply with me because I often rush to speak, specifically in online group settings. I have no idea where this comes from because in person I don't feel this way but it leads to me feeling somewhat performative. I appreciate the simplicity of the question "Why am I talking?" because it's a non-judgemental way to look inward before speaking outward. 

Wildcroft's definition of post-lineage yoga in the slides was super powerful! I love the idea of resituating yoga in community AND socio-political contexts. I think that's why I was so drawn to PYP in the first place because it finally was a place of yoga practice that didn't negate or disregard the realities/contexts that we all live in or have experiences with. It feels truly like a practice of non-harm. 

Thank you for providing us with this recording, I loved watching it after because it allowed me the space to pause and reflect on the ideas that sparked my attention. As an introvert, I valued the time to go through it as I wished and write down what I would enriching. The language and metaphors Jen uses really help me visualize the sometimes complex concepts we are learning and I loved how she alluded to her classes as a "workshop approach". This goes along with the idea that we are not following a guru and our guidance is a service we are offering focusing on the individual's needs.

This module also made me very excited to learn about regulating the nervous system- I feel like in todays modern society it is more normalized for it to be out of whack than grounded and centered. It will be interesting applying what we learn to a 9 to 5 lifestyle as I find myself craving grounding throughout my day and the though often crosses my head that we humans are not made for the world we created. It is not natural to be sitting 9 hours a day and staring at a screen or eating processed foods. I could get carried away on that idea... but the point is I am eager to learn the science behind nervous system regulation 🙂

I loved the last section too about embodiment through introspection, the word embodiment has really been powerful to me these past few months as I listened to a podcast about reconnecting to your physical self through fitness and feeling your progress. The nutritionist said we all need to be "embodied on the daily" it was in Spanish so "encuerpada" may sound better. 

So excited for tomorrow 🙂 Sending best wishes and thank you so much Jen. 

Hi all, I was able to join and then re-join the session, and then I watched the video today of what I missed. 

There was a lot in this week, and I so appreciate going back to the basics, I am finding this theme to be popping up in a lot of different ways in my life and experience. The basics can provide so much, so Jen I appreciated your demonstrations of the different types of movement, starting to build the foundation of our training, and yes I probably won't use the word abduct or adduct and it's great to have the understanding of how the body works and I am sure if I came back to planes/movement in a year or two from now I would still have more to learn. 

I appreciate the role-modeling and other people's comments about invitational language, it's something that I am continually working on and when I took the mini training from James, Ana, and Annabelle they were great about providing the same type of language and offering feedback about ways to offer options for participants in a trauma-informed way. 

I could relate to the competition aspect, I think in the past I have had the position of looking around at others and then judging myself about where I was at, not having the same strength/movement/ability as someone else which took me away from working on what I needed to work on and accept where I was at in the moment which I feel created unneeded suffering for me emotionally/mentally. 

One thing that I have been doing, particularly in weightlifting, is listening more to my body, concentrating and connecting with the different aspects of the movement, and being ok with someone else being "stronger" or doing the movement "better" than me. I also share with others when I sense that they might be comparing themselves to me,  that it's taken me a while to get to where I am at and they didn't see all of the work that went into the present moment, but it takes time and effort so it's always good to step back and realize that. 

I am interested in the themes/metaphors to utilize with people in a social-emotional way, I appreciate how we can connect to themes that we find in movement/nature and how the can reflect where we might be in our lives. 

Thanks all! excited for this week! 

Somewhere I sent a post after watching the first live session and seeing everyone's lovely faces.  I have been glad to be able to see you all live the past 2 classes.  I am excited about where we are headed together these next few months.  I also appreciate James and Vanessa being on the first session.  Peace, Catherine

Live Session Recording Module 1 (Part 2) 

This was definitely such a wonderful live and I know there only going to get better because with each lesson my understanding is growing and so is my long list of unknowings too. My working hours conflict with the zoom lives but, I am thankful for the recordings and watching the breakout session reactions. Especially  Tesha’s. Her enthusiasm just made me so happy and I felt truly connected. I took some notes from the breakout session that connected and caught my curiosity. Andy- Prison Policy Initiative, I am not sure what this entails but, being an information sponge I will try and find out more. The 36 versions of yoga, showing up for ourselves even though it may not be what others would want from us. Julia- Recognizing our space and being there in that there is, Darnell- Honoring yourself and the way you show up differently. Mindfulness and accepting all of what yoga is for each of us based on our perspective and to question out thoughts without guilt or shame. Alejandro- Showing up in the body you are in and proudly embracing the truth of your yoga and purity. Be there and show up the best you can. The yoga misconceptions with others regarding religion. Joey- The roots of yoga and how it is distorted from its true meaning, self-knowledge. Nyla- The formalities that others try to give to yoga. Letting others embrace their practice by removing expectations for each other and let them live to their own way of live without entitlements. Frank- Witnessing others experiences. Being present with ourselves and those we serve. Zach- Accessibility of the language and how it could cause misunderstanding and confusion. Being mindful of where others are showing up and where they came from and showing up top where they are going. Be patient because we are all learning. Stanley- I appreciate how he gave an introduction about everyone in his group and how we need to be able to help ourselves before we can help others. Astrid- Decompression and self-care. As for myself I am showing up in this shared space by being consistent and listening with intention to everyone. 

As I learn more about the 8 limbs of yoga, the yamas, Astey- Non-Stealing in particular. This would had been something I normally would have over looked because I physically wouldn’t take from someone. But, that isn’t the full meaning, At the time I didn’t have the awareness to understand this but, now knowing I see where there have been so many times I either discouraged myself or others in my past. Times I never gave myself the opportunity to create opportunities and up and till now I may have needed that little push to have someone tell me I was “right” for this YTT but, I am not stealing this opportunity away from myself. With the Yamas and the Niyamas I can begin to have faith in my ability and connectedness with others. As a “law of attraction” person I am going to practice contentment and experiment what it might feel like on me. 

Designing a culture of control, This left me with the question, Are we really “free”? The limitations are the ones we impose on ourselves but, the small things like brands of laundry soap and the cars we drive. Do we chose them because we want that or do we chose that because it accessible and we are designed to take what we are given? This is a self-study topic for me because I always felt I was a non-conformist and I wanted to be original as I could be. 

Very interesting zoom and it really moved my perceptions in various ways. Thank you 

I really enjoyed hearing everyone discuss Samadhi during the 1/27 live session, and I especially appreciated Jen’s explanation that Samadhi 'doesn’t need to involve happiness.' Personally, I’ve always associated contentment and happiness together, so I’m now curious to explore them as separate experiences and understand the difference in how they feel.

(Samskara & the Kleshas SHOULD be a rock band tshirt, Jen!!) 

Something I keep coming back to about this discussion is how applicable yoga philosophy is -- and religious philosophy in general -- to things that we encounter every day of our lives. This can include how religion is created and passed down (like the game of telephone), personal or societal samskaras that construct how individuals think/behave/believe, etc. The way that we react and perceive the world is so constructed by our past experiences, traumas, and own ways of 'classical conditioning'. Carrying these embodied sensations looks so incredibly different to everyone, and the mental and physical freedom that yoga encourages is not always made as accessible and equitable as it needs to be -- expanding my understanding for the need for trauma-informed yoga. 

I think these sessions are also incredibly reflective in helping me realize the samskaras and kleshas that are still clinging to me; and, in part, the things that draw me to yoga so much. Before this discussion, I had no idea what samskaras and kleshas were. I had little understanding of the things that I was still carrying from when I was very young -- and the manifestations of these in my yoga practice. It makes sense to me why I retreat to yoga in specific ways -- that some of the things I carry from lived experience have made me feel safe or unsafe inside my body. I think this discussion helped bring a much different awareness to how I show up for myself in my own yoga practice, and why. I really enjoyed this discussion, and I regret that I wasn't able to make it synchronously! 

Hi all, I am finally getting into the groove what the schedule that works for me. I am trying to aim to make it this Thursday for the live as I so deeply want to connect with all of you. I love the foundational contributions of the group agreement from other cohorts, in a way this makes me feel like we are all intertwined. Plus, I just wish every space would have a nice positive group agreement. lol. 

I was really excited to learn about the Kleshas. After all these years doing yoga, albeit hot yoga, in a fitness type studio, I had never heard the term! I had look into it further to make sure I was really grasping the concept of them. and a lot of resources I looked through use the word impurity and for some reason I feel really activated when that word is around me. I should do a deeper dive into that. But I do like the idea of a corruption, like what of my present moment is being corrupted. what emotion is being corrupted from lack of insight, lack of presence, too much shame, trauma, etc. what tools can we use to ease this ailment? 

I loved loved the flow. I am usually into really vigorous vinyasa and I loved seeing how our bodies can be in the same shape in a multitide of ways and how we can be activated with something so much more nourishing and gentle. at least it was nourishing for the moment. Also, it really made me feel grateful for my working body...like even on microcosm way. like there is so much muscle and sinew working to make sure we can incorporate this pose so we can be regulated! what a massive form of bodily collaboration! 

 I am really excited to dive deeper into this because for me as a SA survivor, trauma informed yoga makes so much sense to me. I've been institutionalized and relate so fiercely to the shame and fear that folded into myself, I would literally haunch over in group because sitting up up right connected to so many people was too overwhelming to me and the idea of letting people be where they are is so freeing. Providing them agency and language to navigate our trauma seems like such important work right now. 

I love the idea that we are facilitors helping everyone see their own agency and importance during their practice. 

Really curious about a few things. How do we navigate the world of trauma informed yoga when it is kind of being a buzz word? 

Also, I realize in many facilities we are going to provide our practice they may not allow music, but what are thoughts on music in trauma informed settings? I know many devotional yogis love music to inspire, yet some frown up on practicing yoga with music. I am just curious what everyone's thoughts are on this. 

Much love !

Howdy to my/our January PYP Yoga Cohort - 

I have been having the most fun realization on how effective these recordings are....I attended many of the live sessions during the Fall 2024 cohort and really enjoyed the love connections and breakout rooms.  Like many of you have shared, I too am juggling work Life priorities and unanticipated challenges so these recording are so valuable to me so have been a bit worried about "missing out" but only being able to watch the recordings for these first few...BUT,  as I've been watching the recording, I keep forgetting it is a recording and have actually talked out loud to the group!  haha!  

I'm so appreciative of this space....Kelisha, thank you for referring to this as a "tender time", that really hit home for me.  it's hard to watch the news right now and see/feel the oppression that Life can sometime take but, at the same time, it feels important to me to stay aware.  So much pain, fear, retrigerring, etc..... that can create what I experience as the embodiment of Klesha's....going on right now so having this community to come to is priceless.  I am inspired by the resiliency that I am feeling during this cohort/class and I need that energy to help me go out and do what I can do offer peace and acceptance.

"Sourcing my Self":  For some reason this statement really rang true to me today....I realized I could do this during yoga (I know I already do), that it is a great offering to those that I look to facilitate in the future during yoga but what feels really valuable to me is how I can take this out into my world, in my job, etc. where I will always have this Self Toolbox with me no matter where I am or where I go.  It's brings up a feeling of resiliency.

I came back to something in the first part of the class tonight:  Full Heart and eased Mind.  I kept thinking of memories of who I felt I was as a kid....I had a gentleness and kindness that was not accepted but rather rejected by society.  I build barriers and walls to protect myself....I sit in this class, listening to the healing-centered approach where we are all received as who we are, where we are in this very simple moment.  It is bring some breathe and Life back to that kid I left behind and providing some loving care for self-sourcing and self-healing.  

I'm going to sit with all these....so many great and fast feelings, so I'm practicing the movement of releasing this energy by shaking my hands, gentle twists as I regulate and process this energy.  Tonight I pan to "Honor the Rest" and let this all hang for a bit.

Namaste!  🙂