4/24/25 Live Session Recording (Module 11 Pt 2)

Hey! Hi, I can’t even wrap my head around how much I resonate with so many of the responses. From doing absolutely nothing, to releasing my own bias assumptions surrounding chair yoga, and laughing at myself too for still feeling that some of these moves look and feel weird, I’m going to be even weird-er. There is also that knowing that it’s part of the healing recipe because I don’t feel my experience would have been absorbed as much as it has been without it. I am very appreciative. The week of life balance really showed itself out and gave me some extra challenges. I don’t know if it is because I was watching out for it or if it was just happening but, I saw it and I was able to release judgment, expectation, and attachments. Some things I just found humor in “like a mad man laughing at the rain” kind of humor. I also took the opportunity to observe the life balance of others in my life. I totally feel that was the week of living the experience as it rolled in for quite a few of us. I will share this one example, Last Saturday my car was not shifting properly. I assumed it may need a transmission fluid change. The first place I took it to wasn’t equipped, the 2nd place didn’t open for 30 more min, I saw another place and went there. I guess my shift lock was malfunctioning and the part needed replaced but, the mechanic also lubricated my shifting console. I waited a while for the part to come, when it arrived it didn’t match the existing one so I told them I’d come back when they had the right one. I ended up forgetting my phone in the waiting room and had to drive back around the block to get it, then as left the shop called me saying they can used that part per Nissan, so I drove around the block again to come back to have him put it on, after leaving the part ends up falling out on my floor board. I just started laughing, I checked my brakes and made sure I could shift and just kept on going with life. These mishaps just happened all week but, I was more in tuned to my awareness than the annoyance. My tire probably could’ve rolled off and I’d be like “that’s interesting” LOL 

The movement, I had so much fun with the seated march, It reminded me of Mario cha-chinging the coin boxes. I for sure felt my heart rate rise on these I thought the pauses came in at perfect timing for that reset to transition to warrior. I also felt that using the chair and creating these shapes in particular I was less focused on is this a triggering position, but more focused on the movement and how can I hold this chair and shape. I too also enjoyed more of the physical connection to self. I appreciate Juliana for mentioning that because sometimes the physical touch from a soothing and comforting place is overlooked. 

 I am what I am , Popeyes vibes and tooting our own horn! So sweet! I have noticed when I have conversations with others now how they like to talk about future plans or run down a list of to do’s or just describe what is happening and when they do this I recognize an annoyance inside of me screaming this isn’t real life talk. Through these limbs I have discover that I want to know more about what excites people, what made them laugh or what experiences are they feeling. Just being in the now, reflecting and sharing pieces of our true lives not just tasks. I also realized that the small talk doesn’t mean that much to me either. When you talk to people who don’t have a choice to see a sunrise or find grass, or see fresh fruit in the stores it changes the way you experience conversations and the parts you crave to find out more about yourself. Especially when it comes to crying or feeling hurt, because I see the healing in it i don’t want to run from it as fast as I used to. Just by not reacting with hostility but, responding with humility, for myself and judgement towards others . Offering compassion through self talk or thoughts about others vs just waiting as if the space would create it itself. Taking the accountability to make it happen. When thinking about self study I think how we are not created by man like a table is or a car and we are the coolest real deal out there. 

I did these this Jellyfish coloring just because it always reminds me of the energetic sequences 🙂

YTT module 11 pt. 2

Times of day really make a difference to me too.  I am not good for evening meetings etc.  Maybe I overkill from first thing in the morning until around 6 and then I am ready to crash. 

I definitely need to work on being more in touch with when I need rest even in the middle of the morning or day. 

Great Chair practice.  I am always amazed at how much release I get from these very gentle practices. 

Want to check out Accessible Yoga book. 

Love Stan’s positive energy for himself.  I hope we all take that in for ourselves! 

Svadhyaya- self study for self-knowledge

Sometimes it can mean study of scripture in certain translations. 

Are considering the Yamas as we care for ourselves and those around us?  What do we want to learn more about? Why are there certain things about ourselves that we do not want to explore?

Can we let go of harm from pivotal moments and memories? We definitely need to consider our loved ones generation and how they have created our memories.  Do we go to positive thoughts or harmful places in these questions? 

Great contemplative questions.  What is our body telling us that our mind may be ignoring?  Yoga invites us to sit this turbulence and notice.  How do I show up in the community?  How do I observe others?

Contentment as we work to keep harm out of our lives and being truthful with ourselves.  We can only answer our own questions.  Identify excesses that don’t serve or are barriers.  Creating a sustainable and loving relationship with ourselves. 

Patience we have with ourselves.  What is my internal critic? 

Love the taking the digestible pieces and working one step at a time! 

Being out of balance is my norm. I am either working too much or doing nothing too much, with a touch of procrastination to keep things interesting. I am on the introvert (highly sensitive person) spectrum which requires me to spend significant time rebuilding after social intensive situations. However, I have to be super intentional to ensure rebuilding doesn't turn into isolating.

I am blessed to be doing work that satisfies my need to serve marginalized people but the work requires self-care and boundary practices so I don't succumb to trauma fatigue. Since starting this training I have become much better at these practices. Even setting aside time to study the YTT materials has been really good for me. I have learned a lot and grown in ways I didn't expect. 

It's not possible to serve people responsibly without a self-study practice. I am intentionally digging deeper into my own wounds in order to be more present for the people I serve and for my small community of friends. It's not easy. 

I am all in for chair practice as it is all that I am physically able to do in my current body. 

I've grown accustomed now to watching the recordings - it's just like the Open University Psychology degree: you watch, you read, reflect, and go at your own pace. I appreciate how I can pause, rewind, really listen and hear between the lines. It's particularly helpful and nurturing if I've had 5 counselling sessions back to back with 30 minutes break in between. I've also discovered in therapy that an ADHD or autism trait is having my camera on or off, and online engagement generally. The opening of session 11 had music that took me straight back to the movie Training Day where matey says,

'When are we going to the office?' Denzel looks at him sideways as the car jumps up and says, 'You in the office baby'. Here's the link:

https://youtu.be/PdIeHcDaSdo?si=CP8yGOeebHI5CXl-

Everyone's check-ins are lovely as usual, the group vibe is authentic and supportive. As usual I'm recognising parts of yoga philosophy and looking up the Yamas and Niyamas. I'm quite aware that yoga philosophy is everywhere, and I'm challenged to imagine who I am: the energetic, enthusiastic, loud and driven teacher, or, just a really quiet, chill, contemplative teacher. I realise I'm both! But not at the same time. I've got a bit of each of you in me and vice versa, and I guess there's the balance. 

Chair yoga I've seen advertised around and about historically, and I've always felt that it was for knackered old people who were inflexible, unfit, and lacking strength. Well, I love it. I especially respect how forgiving it is is and invites practice no matter what. I also feel that sitting in a chair encourages greater focus on movement because you're not having to be distracted by balancing on your feet or falling over. The pace is great.

Self-study for me is honest reflection, critical thinking, and encouraging that in my students and clients. I love to think that I grow with new inputs from others. Falling asleep in practice is interesting! I love that someone would feel that safe that they can do that. In a rough week I fall asleep in shavasana and I snore! I wake myself up eventually when it gets particularly loud, and Jen I think it's fabulous that you supported Darnell when he brought that up - your approach to yoga students is really, really, nice.

So, I loved the chair practice.

As I type - I'm reminded how much THIS course encourages me to study myself - my thoughts, feelings, behaviour, biases, 'isms, and connections. Yoga practice and the regularity of this course super encourages me to study myself, and mostly helps me look at childhood, parenting my 3 adult children (24, 29, and 33), grandparenting little Lottie who is 2 next week), my neighbours, and how I feel about being 2 years off 60. 60! I' still 24, surely! I am really moved at how spiritual I feel, not glitter on my sleeve (quote somewhere??) but a deep and quiet feeling of oneness. 

This course is like love personified.

Svadhyaya - self-study, this is super intense. Do you know what I realised through contemplating Svadhyaya? That I am comfortable saying to myself, 'I am my most important person'. Then! Do you know what followed? When I am comfortable embracing that, I can then say and feel, 'YOU are my most important person too', because I discover I have space in my heart for that. My God, I even feel that this course and this group is contributing to my practice as a counsellor. Just sitting in my chair for an hour, listening, hearing, connected, mindful... is yoga too. 

Thank you so much for these things, and I now finish at lunchtime on Thursday's so I can attend the live sessions in the evening at 7pm here in the UK. Lately, I would finish at 6pm or 7pm and crash over dinner. Now I tackled feeling guilty about taking a half-day mid-week and find balance, not harming myself or my practice, and accepting everything just as it is without judgement.

Isn't that great? I loved this session, thank you 🤩 

Hi everyone, ❤️ 

So sorry I couldn't make it last week, I lost a friend to a tragic accident and was traveling for a wedding. Had my heart, mind, and physical space full. I did miss you guys!

Thank you for sharing everyone, I also find that I am most productive from 7 am to 2pm haha, and I feel like my balance has a lot to do with honoring that - not pushing myself to the point of exhaustion/ burn out. 

Alejandro, I love how comfortable you are with saying you did nothing this week so you can catch up on rest. I agree it's triggering, and I am so happy you were able to nurture yourself in that space ❤️. I still feel guilty at times about my productivity and it was so refreshing to hear you share! 

Jen, you sharing that it's an honor when an individual is so relaxed that they sleep in your presence is so sweet. I find your voice so relaxing and nurturing, it makes me feel so rested. So I understand how that would happen!! 😇 

Loved the sequence for this week, very relaxing. 

Thank you as always Jen, you're the best! 

Julia

@julialibanigmail-com sending love and holding space for the life & memory of your loved one. Thank you for your trust in this cohort to be spaceholders as you navigate their passing ❤️

@jen-lindgren ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Hi Jen and all -

Catching up on the last two weeks of yogi time here. Oof! The talk about life balance hit hard for me. I think it has been a really long time since I have felt a sense of balance. I've been so hyper-focused on my career goals and it takes you down such a particular path. It's hard to see when you're in it how unbalanced you are until you start comparing your everyday life to others. I guess it my most recent stint in grad school, I didn't achieve balance in a way that kept everyone else happy while also keeping myself happy...hmmm. Gotta think on that one for a bit.

The chair yoga was exactly what I needed. Who know chair yoga was going to be my thing? I think because I work full-time Saturday through Wednesday and Thursday is my first day off, I find myself needing a more gentler practice and approach on Thursdays so that I don't push too hard and burnout. Chair yoga feels like a good balance of movement and mindfulness without over-doing it. 

As far as self-study - wow is there so much to discover here! I think when my career was so focused on learning and clinical training to support others, it was easy to avoid the work on myself. I think I was just coasting for a bit there saying to myself "I'll look into it when I'm done with my education." Little did I know that if I didn't consistently do self-study, that I wouldn't be able to do my training. It can be really humbling to take a deeper dive into yourself and put your needs above anything else. It's super scary too. <3 

Happy Monday January 2025 PYP/YTT Cohort - Feels SO good to be closing out April and that the next recording is May...at least I will be in the same month that the course is currently settling into.  I'm grateful for no live session this week since it will give me an extra boost to "catch-up".  Because I was in the last cohort before this one, Jen and the whole PYP Team helped me and modeled self-care, Svadhyaya, for myself before I even knew what to call it! Haha! 🙂 I was so Grateful that I had the opportunity to rejoin this beautiful cohort and to learn about it here.  Generally speaking, Life has supported me and guided towards the finish line here.  This niyama along with Brahmacharya, self-care/non excess, are partners this Cohort cycle and leaving such a strong impression on me....in fact, I spent yesterday afternoon and part of this morning starting to chart out how I am plan to start weaning myself off of a few of my excess work projects.  I do feel like if I just gave it all up that it would not be honor of Ahimsa either......it has the potential to do harm, and part of self-care is to proactive awareness on bring no harm to myself, even though I know I need to rebalance, which was a funny connection to the start of this class. It is all such a great reminder that many times outreach fellow humans are experiencing some of the same dynamics and challenges that we ourselves are experiencing, yet we are fearful to admit and share it with one another.  The encouragement and acknowledgment of the bravery of speaking your Truth (GO ALEJANDRO!) was really inspiring today, thank you all for that.   I too experienced the wonder of the chair practice....I have practiced chair yoga in the past so I didn't immediately connect it to seniors, although that is usually who I offer it to....a new awareness of a personal bias that was quiet?  Something for me to think about as I continue to process the various presentations from the proposed participants in the 4/17/24 practice.  Thank you for the movement practice link!  It's all starting to come together of me and I am enjoying thinking and meditating on all the various sequencing and what my own sequencing, designed by me might look like.  It did make me think during the practice today that if I simply model my own self-care through the healing-centered sequencing process if that might be a path forward in shining my Truth.  Namaste as I start to close my evening out tonight.  So grateful for this whole process every time I work on a Reflection.