Teach yoga with water: Q & A with Anna Levesque

Anna Lesquesk is spending a considerable part of her life on water. She was elected as the most inspirational outdoor person at Blue Ridge 2017 at the international paddling, yoga, Ayurvedic wellness coach, and one of the most inspirational paddler living by canoes and kayak magazine People were chosen. This Q & A will talk about skills and surrender to support yoga teachers when taking students from mats to paddle boards.

In addition to practical knowledge such as water safety, what is the main skill to teach Stand Up Paddle Board (SUP) Yoga that is not offered in traditional yoga training?

In the teacher training course of SUP Yoga, the awareness of both the group and the environment increases. When you teach outside the water and water, you broaden your vision, project your voice and learn what is happening to the students to be aware of what is going on in nature. You learn to know clues from the natural environment and to acquire your inner knowledge.

I recently heard an excerpt from a lecture by Ayurvedic doctor and yoga practitioner Robert E. Svoboda. During the teacher training of SUP Yoga, you will learn how to integrate with nature and incorporate messages from the natural world at the instant you can teach the whole class.

How do yoga teachers need to change their way of thinking about yoga and posture to adapt to this new environment?

One thing that I love about SUP Yoga is that you practice naturally not only by referring to nature and five elements but also immersed in five elements. This gives us the truth of being nature and the opportunity to tie students with the truth that everyone is tied to each other and all the beings calling the earth as home. This is an easy shift for making water when the floor and ceiling ceiling "studio"!

SUP Yoga is an effective way to raise awareness of the imbalance of the body and move the body to the optimum position. In addition to noticing how the teacher exercises excessive use or missing muscles in a particular pose of the land, it not only learns how to compensate, but also learn how to recognize it in the student. For example, in land it might be easier to stand back with a pose like Side Angle or Triangle, but when you practice these poses on the board you will fall pretty fast if you return your weight! If you have this awareness, the pose can be more powerful and balanced, as you learn to push down your feet and find the perfect balance and strength without compensating by tilting back. SUP Yoga incorporates the concept of sthira and sukha.

Also, SUP Yoga Balance Piece is a totally new world discovered by bringing "easy" poses more difficult, such as low ranging, bringing greater power, balance, and ease of pose, .

When teaching SUP Yoga it is important to abandon the principles of strict alignment and placement of feet and hands. For example, some students need to extend the stance of Warrior I so that they can balance on the board. We do not want to force along the arches of the warrior I's hind legs to bring their forehead heels. If they can not carry around without falling down, falling is part of the deal. Flexible and adaptable to succeed SUP Yoga teacher training will learn how to explore poses in a completely new balance.

As long as safety is ensured, it is important for SUP yoga teachers to think that teaching with SUP yoga classes is not appropriate, such as head stands, shoulder stands, handstands, or poses that may hurt the neck or head. For some reason, many people come to SUP Yoga and want to try their pose, not tried or practiced on land! Training in traditional yoga does not support SUP Yoga teacher training will learn effective group management in outdoor areas and watersheds.

Do you have completely or substantially different postures, sequences, transitions when practicing on paddle boards and mats?

Yes! The lower the point where the pose contacts the board, the harder the board becomes. Sabbathanas, cobra, poses of many hands and knees, sitting poses are different but I feel different, but there is no difference. Moving from all four to the tabletop (4 points of contact with the board, 2 points of contact) makes it much harder to pose and you can see that big muscle tends to take over to your heart I will. Re again on your mat. When you are on the board, this muscle grips even stronger but it also does not work so learn how to go to the sauce and learn the core more effectively.

Poses like Dancer and Tree with the only contact point become very difficult, not recommended for professors, but I am playing together with teacher training of SUP Yoga!

How do the SUP yoga practical practices affect the experience?

By essentially practicing, you can give great insight into the level of stress response, help you to develop a higher level of internal focus, and receive messages from the natural world that will help us in our spiritual journey I will.

If you are surprised by all the bugs we encounter, or you are surprised by the noise that you hear during practice, the tension may increase. It is a beautiful habit to feel insects reaching you, to hear fish jumps and voices at a distance, to react even if nothing happens, and to hijack your attention. Because the environment is very controlled, we can not do this in the studio.

The guidance from the outside brings a new meaning to "the moment that can be taught". When an eagle and a hawk fly overhead, I remind you to pay attention and listen to our inner wisdom, which leads to the source of God. As water drains water from the head, we are able to have a playful spirit in our lives and practices. When we listen to bees, it reminds me of impossibility. If the deer is raging in the woods, we may be urged to gently but certainly walk on the earth. Exercising and adjusting messages from the natural world that surround us is very powerful.

Does the SUP Yoga teacher need special skills to deal with the fear and nervousness of the students?

I do not think that special skills are necessary, but I think that teaching SUP yoga really increases the awareness that I do not really know the story or experience of others. Fear may exist more in the SUP yoga class than in the studio, due to the water element and the extra balance due to the fear of water, the fear of failure, the fear of bad view, the fear of falling, the fear of not doing it There is an opportunity for teachers to train their compassion muscles and we remember that we do not teach paddling and yoga, so we teach people.

Can the skills learned by teacher training of SUP yoga be returned to traditional mat classes by yoga teachers?

In addition to improving group awareness and group management, I believe that one of the most transformational aspects of teacher training in SUP Yoga is working towards perfection. SUP Yoga teachers are effective for professors outside the environment they can not control (not able to raise the fever, lower the fever, turn on music, etc.), and the micro and macro They have the ability to escape from thinking that the class must see certain ways and have a certain thing (props like). SUP Yoga teachers are very effective at emulating water in the stream. By doing so, they can teach from a very intuitive place.

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