Integrating Mindfulness, Movement, And Meaning In Your Yoga Class

You can feel when a class lands: the room gets quiet, the body softens, and attention holds steady even as movement continues. That shift is not magic; it’s method. We sat down with senior teacher and writer Sara-Mai Conway to unpack a practical, human way to make yoga and meditation one continuous experience rather than two separate boxes on a schedule.

Sara-Mai's website: https://www.iwriteaboutwellness.com/

We start by redefining yoga as skillful energy movement using both outer and inner methods. Ethics calm mental noise, asana prepares the body for stillness, pranayama bridges body and mind, and focused attention matures into insight and, at times, a taste of samadhi. From there, we build a class like a guided sit: set a clear intention, select poses that serve it, and let every cue point back to the thread. 

Breath-focused flows become fluid and repetitive to highlight inhale and exhale. Gratitude takes shape in bows and forward folds. Grounding becomes literal through contact with the earth. Working with non-harming or self-compassion invites challenge while naming the inner talk that shows up.

Silence becomes a teacher rather than an absence. We share how to frame quiet as safe and time-bound, when to place formal meditation inside a flow, and how to ask simple, embodied questions that turn effort into awareness. Savasana shifts from background music to true stillness, and closing with a brief dedication helps wire benefits into daily life. Along the way, we talk about teaching with authenticity, trusting students with depth, and avoiding the “spiritual sandwich” where mindfulness appears only at the beginning and end.

If you’ve ever wondered how to keep presence alive between the opening sit and the final rest, this conversation offers a clear structure, real-world cues, and permission to do less so students can feel more. Subscribe, share with a fellow teacher, and leave a review telling us the intention you’re bringing to your next class.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
So today is a very special day.
We have Sarah Make Conwayjoining us, who is a fantastic
mindfulness and meditationteacher.
Very lucky to be working withher with mindfulness exercises
for several years now.
She is one of our seniorteachers, one of our main

(00:21):
writers, and also behind some ofour offerings that we share,
including the certificationprogram and several of our
offerings.
She is a wonderful teacher,wonderful writer.
She is a yoga meditation teacherwith the Modern Elder Academy.

(00:44):
She is a regular contributorwith the blog Mind Works.
He is a very dedicated yogateacher in Baja, Mexico.
She also teaches surfing.
He completed a master's degreein sport management at the
University of San Francisco in2004.
And it's a 1999 graduate ofTexas University.

(01:26):
She's a former rowing coach NCAADivision I.
She is a practitioner of TibetanBuddhism, again, an impeccable
yoga teacher.
And yeah, I I feel very lucky tobe working with you, so I mean
you can just kind of tell thatthere's a level of integrity

(01:46):
with her words, with her being,and she walks the talk, but
she's a nice blend of likedevoutness to the practices as
well as like fun.
She's a fun person.
She likes to laugh, she lovesdoggies, she likes adventure,
she loves nature, and you neverknow what she's gonna be doing

(02:08):
next with her travels oradventures.
So it's funny because we've beenworking with Star May for years,
and I feel like it's longoverdue to have invited her to
be a guest teacher for thecertification program, and
because she has so much more tooffer with her specialties and
her unique paths that may notalways be covered in her

(02:30):
teaching for us.
And so I know many people inthis program teach yoga or you
know embodied movement practice,and so I think that Sarah May
will be able to speak to thatreally, really well and offer
some practical guidance on howto integrate these worlds of

(02:51):
mindfulness, meditation, andyoga.
And so I encourage you, youknow, if you resonate with Sarah
May, to reach out to herdirectly if you want, and maybe
go visit her at her retreats invarious places in the world and
partake in some of her offeringsoutside of mindfulness
exercises.

(03:12):
She teaches retreats, she's awriter, wellness teacher.
You can find her at bahasurfyoga.com.
Put a link in the chat section.
You can also just Google SarahMae Conway and find her socials
and other offerings online.
But Sarah May, welcome to theprogram, so to speak.

(03:32):
And it's really a pleasure towelcome you here.

SPEAKER_03 (03:36):
Thank you.
Um thanks for that really sweetintroduction.
Yeah, and I'm I'm really excitedalways to talk about mindfulness
and meditation, but I'mespecially um excited to finally
get to talk about yoga in thisspace.
So, yeah, that's what we'regonna be doing today, is just
talking about the integration ofthese, all these things, yoga,

(03:58):
mindfulness, meditation, becauseI do know we have a lot of yoga
teachers in the program.
Welcome everyone.
I I think that we'll just getsettled in as we normally do
with a little meditation.
So go ahead and wiggle yourselfinto a bit more of a comfortable
seat.

(04:19):
Um, if you're not already there.
Maybe take a few deep, fullbreaths in and out through the
nose.

(04:40):
And as you sit, just bringattention and awareness to the
body as a whole, to the body asa whole.
So like the the overall form andshape of your body right now,
maybe visualizing the body asjust a general outline.

(05:10):
And with the sense of the bodyas a whole, maybe real subtly,
perhaps just felt but unseen.
Just sort of sway the spine fromside to side, or towards the
front, or towards the back, andtry to gently sway yourself into

(05:39):
a posture where the crown of thehead feels perfectly balanced
right over the center of thepelvis.
And then when you get there,maybe a neutrality in the chin

(06:05):
so that the back of the neck canbe neutral.

(10:55):
We can wiggle around a littlebit and and find comfort again.
Come back to this space,hopefully with a little bit
greater sense of just presenceand and presence in the body.
And so, you know, we just didsomething really simple, right?
We just sat in a posture and webrought attention to the body,

(11:19):
we brought a mindfulness to theshape, we brought mindfulness to
our experience in that thatposture.
You know, it happened to perhapslook like a meditation posture,
but we could do this in any anybody position, right?
Any any yoga pose, just youknow, asking ourselves what's

(11:40):
happening in the body, how am Icoloring that experience, you
know, by giving it a certainlabel or layering on whatever
story is happening in the mind.
And then just bringing bringingawareness to the entirety, to
the fullness of that experienceas we are in this body in any

(12:01):
shape, right?
So we're gonna talk today abouthow to integrate, you know, this
practice of yoga asana of beingin all these different poses and
shapes, and how to integratemindfulness and meditation into
that practice.
Yeah, so we have yoga andmeditation, right?
Yoga and meditation, yoga andmeditation, this and that,

(12:24):
right?
We often hear these like framedas like kind of two separate
things, right?
Yoga and meditation.
And in my own experience, when Ivery first came to yoga, for me,
they were two separate things,right?
There was yoga and there wasmeditation.
And I was interested in yoga,right?
Like for health, for fitness,for strength, for flexibility,

(12:48):
for exercise, right?
But meditation was somethingelse, and I definitely had not
signed up for meditation, right?
And I know I'm not the only onewith that experience.
And I know a lot of students inour yoga classes at first might
share that same sentiment, youknow, that if the asana practice

(13:09):
is a little too slow orshivasana is a little too long,
that this is boring, right?
That I'm not getting my workout,so to speak.
And and when I first startedout, you know, I can remember
like if if your class had a hada long shavasana, like I
probably wasn't coming back,right?
Which is so funny.

(13:29):
And I I'm laughing right nowbecause now it's like, oh,
please, like, please just giveme like the 30-minute child's
pose, right?
Or the 30-minute shavasana, andI will just like happily,
blissfully lie there, you know.
So I think, but I think as asyoga teachers, you know, you
know, maybe we can recognizelike there's a lot of people for

(13:52):
which yoga and meditation arethese two separate things.
And so what I'm gonna task youwith today as a yoga teacher is
to present, you know, thisconcept that they're not two
separate things, that yoga ismeditation and meditation is
yoga.

(14:12):
And if we are siloing away yogafor meditation and vice versa,
um, we're really limiting thebenefits that we can get from
either one, right?
So, you know, for all the yogateachers in here, you know, if
if we're not already, let'sbecome evangelists for

(14:34):
meditation and let's have thecourage to do that like in our
asana-based yoga classes.
You know, we're gonna assumetoday that that meditation is a
necessary part of the yogapractice, right?
And so then it's part of our jobas yoga teachers to guide our
students toward an actual formalseated meditation practice

(14:58):
because it is part of theentirety of the yoga practice,
right?
And we'll we'll talk about waystoday to do that skillfully,
because we obviously want to dothat skillfully, you know, and
and so that's for the yogateachers and then for the
meditators here listening thatmaybe don't teach yoga, you
know, I encourage you to thinkabout your meditation practice

(15:23):
as a physical practice, not onlyjust seated meditation, just the
simple, you know, easy pose in achair, cross-legged, whatever it
is, not only is that also aphysical practice, but then
encouraging you to incorporatesome type of actual breath work
or movement into yourmindfulness meditation practice,

(15:45):
whether it's you know yoga orwhether it's like walking or
gardening or surfing orwhatever, whatever it is, right?
So, so but what we're reallygonna talk about today is you
know, how can I get themovement-oriented person, right?
The the movement addictedperson, aka the distracted

(16:07):
person, how can I get thatperson in my yoga class, like a
little more interested in movingtowards meditation and how can I
plant that that seed, right?
So I thought we would start byjust like getting all on the
same page as as in terms of likehow are we defining yoga and

(16:28):
what is the meaning of yoga?
Um and we're a lot of us areteachers in this space, so I
know we've we've probably heardof this the this yoga as a
Sanskrit word that can betranslated as union, right?
Um the union of what?
The union of body and mind, bodyand spirit, right?

(16:52):
Breath, breath and body orbreath and movement, right?
In our vinyasa classes, we bringtogether breath and movement.
It could also be the union oflike compassion and wisdom, the
union of meditation andstillness.
We can talk about the union ofdoing and being, right?
We can we can go deeper and wecan start talking about the

(17:15):
union of form and emptiness,right?
Relative and absolute reality.
We can talk about union ofdualism and non-dualism, right?
We can go as deep as we want.
And in a way, though, all thesepairings are kind of speaking to
like the result of yoga, right?

(17:37):
The we have samadhi as the theeighth limb of this eight limb
path of yoga, right?
So samadhi as being fullintegration, right?
As being union of of like ourpractice and our everyday life,
right?
Like we are we are in yoga, weare yoga, right?

(17:58):
But we can also talk about yogain terms of of practice, not not
union as in terms of result, butunion in terms of practice,
right?
And our yoga practice is reallyunifying both outer and internal
methods, right?
Outer and internal methods ofmoving energy through the body,

(18:22):
right?
So, so yoga is moving energythrough the body in a way that
promotes health and wellness andyou know, well-being and
contentment and happiness andwisdom, right?
Um, we're moving energy in thebody to literally like turn the

(18:42):
mind around, right?
To move from a state ofconfusion to a state of wisdom.
And we're we're unifying outerand inner methods for doing
that.
So, what are we what are weunifying unifying when we talk
about the union of yoga andmeditation, right?
Of course, we have the thefamous patanjali's, you know,

(19:05):
yoga is yoga is union.
We have the famous patanjali'syoga is the cessation of the
rumination of the mind, right?
And so yoga is moving energythrough the body in a way that
that you know turns the mindaround, right?

(19:25):
Helps us to see things in a newin a new way, right?
Um so how how are we doing this?
Well, we have both outer andinner methods for turning the
mind around.
And if you quickly just look atthis list, you know, it'll it'll
look a lot to you yoga teachers,um, like the the eight limbs of

(19:49):
yoga.
So we have the yamas and theniyamas, which is a very
external practice, right?
An outer method.
This is the way that we move andact in the world, right?
How we show up in the world, theactions that we're taking,
right?
If we are, for example, youknow, lying and cheating and

(20:10):
stealing and harming others,we're gonna have like a certain
trapped energy in the body,right?
Because we're going to be reallycaught up in feelings of guilt
or shame, right?
We're gonna always be likeruminating on, or is everybody
gonna find out that I've beenlying to them this whole time,

(20:30):
right?
Are people gonna find out thatI've done this bad thing, right?
So we're stuck in a certain typeof non-beneficial negative
energy, right?
So we have the yamas and theyamas, which say, you know,
here's some ethical, some moralguidelines for how to behave in
the world.
And when we behave better in theworld, guess what?

(20:51):
We change the energy within thebody, right?
The next most obvious externalmethod for moving energy in the
body is our asana practice,right?
We're literally like pushing andpulling and twisting and
compressing and stretching thebody itself to unstuck energy,

(21:16):
right?
To to move energy and to moveenergy in a new way.
And then we have we have breathwork, we have pranayama, and
this is really a bridge betweenthe outer and inner methods of
moving energy, you know.
Breath work is a is an externalphysical, outward practice,
right?
Breathing, you know, what'soutside, taking it in, but it's

(21:40):
also an internal practice aswell.
Um, we can, you know, talk aboutthe relationship between breath
and prana, but it starts movingthings inside as well, right?
Um, and then we have like theactual meditation, meditative
practices, right?
We have dharana and we havedhyana from the eight limbs.

(22:02):
And and I think for today, youknow, we can sort of see these
two meditative states, dharanaand dhyana.
We can see these as likeconcentration practices and open
awareness practices.
Or you might be familiar withlike Shamatha and Vipassyana,
and we can see see these asthose two styles of meditation.

(22:28):
And so we have, you know, theseouter and inner methods for
moving energy in the body, andthese are the eight limbs of
yoga, and and so the eight limbskind of they do move linearly,
so to speak, from the externalto the more profoundly subtle to

(22:52):
the internal, right?
Um, but also in yoga, time isnot just linear, right?
Um, and so all of these kind ofswirl around and are are and
build on each other and areinterconnected, and and you
know, we practice one, westrengthen the other, and vice

(23:13):
versa, right?
And within each of thesemethods, we can also say there's
both like a physical and like ameditative component to each
one.
But kind of go through thischart here, which kind of shows,
you know, even what we mightthink of as a physical

(23:34):
application of yoga also haslike a mindful application,
right?
This union of body and mind iswithin, within each of these
limbs of yoga.
So for example, you know, theyamas and the niamas, like how
do we show up in the world?
You know, what are we, how arewe behaving in the world?

(23:58):
Well, you know, acting ethicallyand acting morally also has
benefit to our meditationpractice because if we're not
assholes, right?
Pardon the pardon the phrase,when we sit down on our cushion
to meditate, right, there's alot less junk in the mind that

(24:19):
we have to that we're gettingdistracted by, right?
That we have to deal with,right?
Makes it easier for us tomeditate when we're we're
behaving kindly to others fromthe very, very get-go, right?
The asana practice, right?
These are physical postures,right, designed to move,
manipulate energy physically inthe body.

(24:42):
But of course, you know, theasana practice is also, you
know, a means of moving so thatwe can get better at stillness,
right?
At physically just being still.
And when we have a niceexperience of physical stillness

(25:03):
and we're comfortable in that,we tend to also have a better
experience of mental stillness,right?
So we can, yeah, talk about, youknow, the sukha and the stira,
right?
Like we want to move the bodyand and and enjoy like the bliss
of yoga and moving around, butwe want to also be able to like

(25:28):
hold all the postures in a verysteady, steady and and
consistent and still manner,right?
Pranayama, right?
We we talked about like this isreally being a bridge between
the outer and inner, uh,controlling the breath, right?
Quiets the mind, quiet mind isbetter suited for meditation.

(25:50):
You know, we didn't talk aboutpratyahara, but this is kind of
this an invitation, you know,we're always looking outside of
ourselves for the solution.
Pratyahara is the invitation toturn inward instead, right?
And we see this in our yogaclasses, right?
When we show up to do the asanaand we're like looking at what

(26:11):
the person next to us is doingand we're comparing ourselves to
others, or we're like reallyleaning on the teacher for an
understanding of what'shappening in our own body,
right?
This pratyah can show up in thatway in the outer world, but it's
really an invitation to turnwithin, turn within during your

(26:32):
yoga practice, stay within yourown mat, so to speak, right?
And also turn within in yourmeditation practice.
Like, can we look at the own ourown minds?
Can we, you know, observe ourown minds directly?
You know, then we have theseconcentrative practices of
meditation, dharana, right?

(26:52):
Um, can we in meditation hold asingle point of focus?
How steady is the mind?
But this also has you know anouter physical aspect.
Dharana is closely related toDrishti, which we know in our
yoga practice is like quiteliterally like what are you

(27:16):
looking at, right?
So there's what are you lookingat with with your eyes, right?
Where are you holding your gaze?
Um, but then there's also inyour meditation practice, how
steady is your gaze, so tospeak, right?
How steady is the mind, youknow, dhyana, we have these
these more contemplativepractices of meditation, and and

(27:38):
you know, maybe mindfulness uhspans a bit, these two
categories, you know.
But you know, as we meditate andan insight arises, and when
we're in the state of dhyana,there's still a bit of
separation between the seer andthe thing seen, right?

(28:00):
So we can have insightcontemplating energy and
sensation physically in our yogapostures, and then we can have
insight related to the mentalaspect, the mind, you know, what
is the mind contributing,layering on to our physical
experience of the pose?

(28:20):
And and at this level ofinsight, you know, I am doing
the yoga pose, or I ammeditating, or I am having this
insight, right?
There's still a doing aspect toit.
Whereas when we reach thatdeeper, deeper state of samadhi,

(28:42):
we've completely dissolved theseparation between the seer and
the thing seen.
And it's no longer, you know, Iam doing yoga or I am
meditating, there's just yoga,there's just the meditation,
right?
We've reached the full, fullintegration, the full union of

(29:05):
yoga, and we're in a state ofjust simply being, right?
Simply being in body and inmind.
So, you know, we might, youknow, when we talk about samadhi
and we talk about this directexperience, right?
We might say, like, well, youknow, that's a little woo-woo or

(29:26):
that's a little out there forsome, especially for somebody
who just came here for exercise,right?
We didn't really sign up fortalking about, you know,
non-dualism or whatever, whathave you, right?
The endpoint of yoga.
But I would also say, I think asyoga teachers, it's okay for us

(29:50):
to assume a little bit that ouryoga students do at some level
want that full.
Experience, right?
That they want that fullknowledge.
Of course, of course, we want tomeet people where they're at,
but also, and they're at a yogaclass, right?

(30:12):
I think if people really wantedjust purely a workout, they
would go to spin class or theywould go to the gym, or there's
like a hundred other ways wherethey could get a workout.
And so, you know, and I'mspeaking to myself too when I
say this, it's like I think weall we could give our students a
little more credit, right?

(30:32):
Give our students a little morecredit.
And let's not, as teachers, getcaught up in like, oh, if I slow
things down too much, if I get,you know, too deep into like
meditation in the middle of anasana class, people are gonna
think it's boring, or I gottaplay this certain kind of music

(30:54):
because that's what people likeand that's what they want for
their workout, or I've gottalike do these certain poses
because everyone wants to, youknow, learn how to do a
handstand or whatever it is.
You know, I think it's up to usto be mindful of like, what am
I?
You know, what are the anxietiesor worries or fears that I, as

(31:18):
the yoga teacher, am bringing toa group of students who show up
for usana class, right?
And and continue asking myself,you know, am I being authentic
to myself as I'm teaching?
Am I being authentic to thepractice?
You know, am I staying true towhy are we here?

(31:40):
Why am I here?
Right.
I want to help people heal, Iwant to help people, and I think
I'm then doing a disservice tothem if I if I think I know what
they want, and I just give themthat pure asana workout, right?
I I want to trust a little bitmore that there's a reason why

(32:05):
this person came to yoga insteadof spin class, right?
So assuming samadhi as the goal,I'm gonna go ahead and say, you
know, I think that's okay.
And and what do we mean when wesay that?
Like we're, you know, we're justtalking about union, union of
body and mind, right?
Like a direct experience of justcontentment.

(32:28):
I'm okay, things are good,right?
I feel calm, I feel healthy, Ifeel well, you know, freedom
from reactivity, from habits,from conditioning, all the same
things that we're after with ourmeditation practice, with our
mindfulness practice.

(32:48):
I think it's okay to assume thatour that that's what our
students are hoping to get fromtheir yoga asana practice.
Um, so why not you knowintroduce them to the fullness
of yoga, including mindfulnessand meditation?
So I want to stop there andmaybe just open it up to do we

(33:14):
so far have any burningquestions before we get a little
bit more into the nitty-grittyof like, how, how am I gonna
bring mindfulness and meditationinto my yoga class?
Yeah, Rebecca.

SPEAKER_05 (33:30):
I I appreciated the thought that you shared that
there's a hundred other waysthat people can get exercise.
And so I think there it I thinkit's also I think it's helpful
to think of them having anintention, you know, in coming
to yoga for something maybe alittle, a little different, a
little more contemplative.

SPEAKER_03 (33:50):
Yeah, yeah, something I need to remind
myself of all the time because Icome to yoga too from a very
physical athletic background.
And, you know, I think yeah,it's easy for us to get caught
up in in the asana, even as yogateachers, you know, all of us as
practitioners and as teachers.
And so yeah, I think it's anice, always good to remind

(34:13):
ourselves.
What about the full experience?
All right.
Anybody else before we move on?
Yeah, Stephanie.

SPEAKER_00 (34:20):
Hi there.
I love what you're saying.
I was over here internallyscreaming, yes, yes, yes, I love
it.
It it is how I teach, but I cameto the practice in the exact
same way you did.
It was only a physical practicefor me.
And if I look back and had noneof my teachers all those years
ago dropped in any of the otheryoga stuff that wasn't the

(34:43):
poses, then I I maybe wouldn'tbe where I am today.
And so I feel like it isincumbent on me as a yoga
teacher to give those lessons tostudents, the mindfulness stuff
and to weave that in.
And if they pick it up, they do,great.
If they don't, they don't.
But it it's somewhere it's likeplanting the seed for them.
Yeah.
So thank you.

SPEAKER_03 (35:03):
Thank you, Stephanie.
Yeah.
Yeah, it just kind of came tomind too.
Like I'm wondering, you know,you know, there's always this
balance between wanting to meetpeople where they're at, but
then also giving them thatlittle nudge, right?
Giving them the little plantingthat seed.
Um, but we have to meet themwhere they're at, or they're not
even gonna listen in the firstplace, right?

(35:24):
So we're always trying tobalance that.
And it just kind of came tomind, you know, I think maybe as
people who teach yoga asana,like there's a little more of a
struggle of like, well, I wantto give my students what I think
they came here for, which is thephysical, you know, workout.

(35:44):
And maybe that shows up a littlebit more in the yoga studio than
it would show up, for example,in like just teaching meditation
and mindfulness, you know.
But I think it's always there.
Like, I think it's still there,even just as purely mindfulness
meditation teachers.
Like, you know, I want to givethese people what I think they
showed up for, but I also like,am I being authentic and am I

(36:09):
being true to the practice, youknow?
And am I am I teachingauthentic, you know, mindfulness
meditation, or do I really justwant these people to like me,
right?
So I'm giving them what I thinkthat they want.
So anyway, yeah.
So thank you guys for sharingthat.

SPEAKER_05 (36:27):
Can I say one more thing?
Yeah.
I am I'm also a therapist and Ifind that it's kind of an it's
kind of a nice segue, I guess,to meditation to go through the
body in the way that yoga does.
Because there's a lot of timespeople have a hard time quieting
their minds, you know, and so ifyou could add the movement, then

(36:49):
it's a little, it's lessuh-regulating, you know, because
they can they can have themovement, you know, where
sometimes just sitting can belike too much, if that makes
sense.

SPEAKER_03 (37:01):
Yeah, that makes perfect sense, perfect sense.
And this I think it's really thebeauty of yoga, you know, and
and it and it makes perfectsense.
All of us are addicted tomovement, right, in one way or
another.
So it makes perfect sense thatif we're attracted to this
practice of meditationsomewhere, deep, deep, deep in

(37:24):
in the very core of our heart,right?
That we would come through thedoor of yoga, right?
Because we are addicted tomovement, right?
And so, yeah, so I think youknow, it makes sense that we
approach meditation from thatphysical, physical point of
view.
And then so as yoga teachers,we'll also teach mindfulness,

(37:46):
you know, what is ourresponsibility then to our
students?
And and yeah, I think it's to toaccept, to recognize, you know,
where we're at.
We want we want the hard work atwork out, but also to just
gently, gently be pushingtowards the the actual seated,

(38:06):
still formal, actual meditation.
It looks like meditationmindfulness practice.
So, how do we do this?
How do we do that?
You know, so first uh we can dobasically what I just did, which
is to just introduce ourstudents to the eight limbs of
yoga to, you know, to be to makeit be known that yoga is more

(38:30):
than just asana, which I think,you know, not everybody knows
when they first come to a yogastudio that yoga is more than
just asana.
And so introducing this conceptthat there's more to yoga, it
could literally be like assimple as like hanging a poster
on the wall of the yoga studio,right?

(38:52):
Um we can we can emphasizedifferent limbs of yoga in our
classes, right?
We could theme around like theyamas and the niyamas, we can
introduce pranayama.
I think sometimes just sayingthe Sanskrit name of the pose
and just using Sanskrit can kindof open someone to like, oh,

(39:14):
there's something more here,right?
It can help just drop that seedand plant the idea that there's
something more.
We can, as teachers, you know,we can quote from the Yoga
Sutra, we can bring inPatanjali, we can quote from the
Hatta Yoga Praditika or likewhatever text we're using to

(39:36):
further our own understanding,we can bring that into our
classes, you know, and we can wecan play with like, okay,
today's theme is this week'stheme is, you know, this monthly
theme is, and kind of go throughthe eight limbs using that.
Um but but to somehow introducethe the eight limbs of yoga and

(40:01):
the intent here is just todecentralize asana as the sole
aspect of the practice, right?
Like in any way that you can,bringing the the outer methods,
the inner methods forward,right?
Bringing the inner methodsforward, you know, the overall

(40:23):
goal, right?
Somehow, some way introduce theeight limbs, do it visually, do
it using intention for yourclasses, themes.
You know, you can workshop,hope, you know, maybe depending
on where you teach, you haveopportunities for workshops on
the eight limbs, but somehowplanting seeds by by

(40:43):
decentralizing asana, right?
And then, so I'm a structureperson.
I really like structure.
And, you know, in in my workshopon like dropping the script for
teaching meditation, we talkedabout just how having an overall
structure of any guidedmeditation gives you the space

(41:08):
to kind of like freeform withinthat structure and to get really
creative, right?
It's the structure itself thatlike allows for creativity that
makes sense, so to speak.
So, you know, my kind of whatI'm gonna present to you today
is like let's what if, what ifwe brought meditation into our

(41:31):
yoga classes by structuring theasana class as if it was a
meditation, right?
As if it was a meditation.
So in our meditation structure,we have like the preliminaries,
we set an intention, we have thebody of the meditation, and then

(41:52):
we have a closing and adedication, right?
So, sort of to keep thingssimple, and because it's also
just how I like to work, youknow, what I want to kind of
present today is yeah, what ifwe structured the yoga class the
same way that we would structurean a guided meditation, right?

(42:13):
And I think that when we dothis, we we solve a few
problems.
We solve this problem of whatsome of you guys might have
heard of as of the spiritualsandwich, right?
And this is when, like, we wehave a yoga class where you know
we first sit down, it's easypose or in child's pose, and we

(42:34):
kind of do what looks like ameditation and we're really
settling in, and we maybe evencall to mind an intention,
right?
And we're in, you know, perhapsa more formal meditative
practice.
And then as soon as we add inthe movement and the asana, we
completely lose that thread,right?
We never even like come back toto mentioning or referencing the

(42:57):
intention again, and then it'snot until shavasana or after
savasana that we are like, oh, Igotta go back to like whatever
my theme was, right?
Or the meditation or theintention, right?
And so we kind of have this likemeditation bread with with not
much meat in between except forthat movement, right?

(43:17):
But there's no like connection,there's no thread of intention
through the movement, right?
So so what if we taught likewe're guiding a meditation?
Um in meditation, you know, wealways start with intention,
right?
The the intention kind of setsthe boundaries of the

(43:39):
meditation, right?
If I don't have an intention,how do I know when I'm
meditating and when I'm not,right?
As a practitioner, you know, forexample, if it's if mindfulness
of breath is my intention,right?
Well, then when I'm aware of thebreath, when I'm being mindful
of the breath, I'm I'm in themeditation.

(44:01):
And when the mind has wanderedoff to something else, I know,
like, oh, I gotta come back tomindfulness of breath.
I got to come back to theintention because I'm no longer
in the meditation, right?
And as a teacher, when we'reguiding meditation, the
intention also helps us set likea boundaries for our cueing,

(44:21):
right?
Boundaries for what it is thatwe say.
Um, so if again, if it ifmindfulness of breath is the
intention, well, then everysingle thing that I say should
be bringing my students closer,holding them closer to
mindfulness of breath versus,you know, encouraging them or

(44:43):
enabling them, right?
Or pulling them, distractingthem, pulling them away, right?
So, so in in yoga, you know, wecan have fun, right?
Like we can play with all sortsof intentions, right?
We can play with breathawareness, we can play with body
awareness, we can play with youknow, awareness of how my body

(45:08):
is connected to the mat, theearth, the ground, right?
We can play with gratitudepractice, we can bring in our
themes from the eight limbs,like intention today around the
yamas and nyamas, maybenon-harming, maybe a
self-compassion practice today,right?
So intention can be, you know, ameans of bringing in, bringing

(45:31):
in the eight limbs andencouraging our students to kind
of hold like a thread throughthe practice, the same way they
would hold that point ofconcentration throughout their
meditation practice, right?
And so once we've set thatintention, then I have a really
good guide for myself as ateacher as to what type of asana

(45:58):
we're gonna we're gonna workwith today, right?
So just like in guidedmeditation, you know, once I set
that intention, I now have havesomething that's guiding me as
to like what am I gonna say,right?
Um, but we can also say, well,what are we gonna do?
What are we, what kind of asanaare we gonna bring in?
And how is that asana, thephysical poses, how are they

(46:23):
gonna support us either stayingwith the intention or you know,
moving away from it?
When does the asana become adistraction, right?
So for example, if my intentionis like mindfulness of breath, I
might do a lot of like fluidsequencing with the asana,

(46:46):
right?
I might do a lot of likerepetitive movement, like you
know, an inhale, lift the arms,and exhale, lower the arms,
doing it again.
An inhale, you know, lift thearms and exhale, lowering the
arms.
Like if I'm gonna give mystudents through the asana
practice as much opportunity aspossible to be aware of the

(47:09):
breath, and I'm gonna cue aroundbreath all the way through the
entire class, right?
If my intention is a gratitudepractice, I might do a lot of
forward folds, a lot of likelike really bowing, you know,
prostrating, putting myself inthese like thankful, humble

(47:30):
postures, right?
And and I'm gonna draw awarenessto that with my cue.
And I'm gonna like let thestudents know this is what we're
doing.
Like the today's intention isgratitude.
We're doing these deep forwardfolds, you know, let's let's bow
as a means of giving thanks, youknow.
If my intention is likenon-harming or self-compassion,

(47:56):
right, maybe, maybe depending onon the group, you know, I turn
up the heat a little bit withthe asana practice or I present
some postures that that allow anopportunity for really big
physical challenge, right?
And then work with the class tobe like, you know, let's get

(48:18):
really honest with ourselvesabout are we pushing ourselves
into this challenge?
Are we, you know, if whathappens when we can't do it, you
know?
Are we actingself-compassionately?
You know, really being it'sbringing, guiding, mindful
attention to, you know, whathappens as we face this pose

(48:40):
that's like a little bit out ofthe range of a pose that we can
comfortably do, right?
And so that might be one way towork with the ahimsa, right?
Non-harming, or work withself-compassion.
If my intention is, you know, Iwant to teach a really grounding
yoga practice today, you know, Ican use the asana to help people

(49:03):
stay with that intention.
Maybe we're gonna do a lot ofposes that are like on the
floor, right?
Or or lying down and not justputting feet on the ground, but
like, you know, forehead down,top of the head down, hands
down, you know, whatever it is,like the relationship between
the body and the earth.
And then I'm gonna also cue alot around it so that the

(49:27):
students are aware, you know,not only are we talking about
grounding today, but we areexperiencing grounding through
the body itself with thisspecific asana or this specific
sequence that we've chosen fortoday, right?
So, you know, we can we can getreally creative in all sorts of

(49:51):
ways if we have that structureof let's set an intention, let's
use that intention to maybeinform like an actual formal, it
looks like, seated meditation atthe beginning of class, but
let's not lose that thread andlet's actually get creative
about how the asana itself cansupport that intention, right?

(50:15):
And then as a teacher, you know,also being really mindful, you
know, just as in when we'reguiding meditation, right?
I'm gonna try my best to bereally mindful to only only
speak when necessary and onlyuse cues that help people come

(50:36):
closer to the intention, right?
Even if I think of somethingthat's like seems like a really
good idea, if it's not relatedto today's intention, I'm gonna
let it go, right?
And we can do the same in ouryoga classes.
Like, for example, if if it'smindfulness of breath and my
intention is to really allow mystudents to like experience

(50:58):
fluidity and just keep themmoving and have them be in a
state of flow, you know, I Imight decide, like, I'm not
gonna correct that person onwhere their elbow is or the bend
of their knee or where theirankle is, because you know what?
Like, that's not really today'sintention.
I want them to have thisexperience of like fluidity and

(51:21):
flow in their body.
And I'm gonna interrupt thatflow by saying what I always say
in Warrior 2 just out of habit,right?
Or I'm gonna interrupt that flowby like, you know, telling them,
like, you know, turn your foot alittle more to the right or
whatever it is, like I'm gonnareally be select selectful.

(51:45):
So I'm gonna really select mycueing based on on what today's
intention is, right?
Even if that means like lettingsome things go.
So whatever we choose asintention, you know, we want to
keep we want to keep it simple,just as we would in a meditation
practice, right?

(52:05):
Don't worry, we don't want toworry about repeating ourselves,
like, oh, it's mindfulness ofbreath today.
And I I, you know, askedeverybody to come back to the
breath like a hundred timesalready in this yoga class,
right?
That's okay, right?
We can keep reminding peopleagain and again and again.
So we want to we want to keepthe focus and keep what we say

(52:28):
really simple.
We want to just like we do whenwe're guiding meditation, we
want to balance using words withtime spent in silence, right?
Put somebody in into a pose, dothe minimal cueing necessary,
and and and allow for somesilence, right?

(52:51):
Allow for people to be their ownguide a little bit, to sense
into their own body, to let goon their reliance of you as the
yoga teacher, you know, tellingthem what they should feel,
right?
Let them feel what they feel bynot talking for a little bit
here and there, you know, andthen just as we do in guiding

(53:14):
meditation, we want to remindpeople you're in charge, right?
We want to remind people you canalways choose to not listen to
me.
You can always do your ownthing, you can always, you know,
be your own guide.
And we want to remind peoplealso self-compassion, right?

(53:36):
Self-compassion has to be partof this.
We want to be aware, right?
We want to be aware, we want tobe mindful.
But if that mindfulness, if thatawareness is not imbued with
self-compassion, compassion,then that mindfulness and
awareness can start to just looklike, feel like self-criticism,

(54:01):
judgment, right?
Oh, I'm aware that this personover here is doing headstand and
I'm not, or I fell out of treepost and this other person
didn't, right?
And we want to be wanna bemindful and aware, but we have
to imbue that awareness withcompassion.
And so it's our job as as theteacher to remind people to do

(54:23):
that.
So just kind of a reveal.
So what if we guided our yogaasana class as if it was a
meditation?
We're gonna avoid the spiritualsandwich, we're gonna integrate
mindfulness throughout, we'regonna hold that thread, right?
We start with our intention.
The intention sets theboundaries of today's practice

(54:46):
and not only helps us aspractitioners, but it helps us
as teachers, right?
Can I choose asana?
Can I choose cueing thatsupports my intention and that
holds people around today'sintention, right?
How do we know when we're in themeditation and when we're not?

(55:08):
And then the body of thepractice, the actual meditation,
right?
We can select asana thatsupports whatever intention.
We can select cues that supportthat intention and let go of the
cues that might distract, right?
The things I think as yogateachers, we all have, you know,

(55:30):
the things that we mindlesslysay in every pose because it's
how we teach that pose.
But does it really need to besaid this time, this today, to
this student in this class,right?
Does it support intention?
So, and then just the same exactreminders that we apply to
guiding meditation, right?
Keep it simple, allow forsilence, right?

(55:52):
Allow for people to experiencethe meditation themselves, to
become their own guides, right?
Encourage autonomy, allow themto feel into their own bodies,
to develop like that feltknowledge, the intuition, right?
To to let their own body becometheir own guide and not my voice

(56:17):
and not my cueing and not mydirections.
And then finally to justencourage, you know, all the
time that that self-compassion,that presence of am I treating
my body, my mind, my soul, mybeing, my heart with care, with
kindness, right, with compassionin this moment, in this pose,

(56:41):
right?
So, and then what about actualmeditation?
So that's kind of how we can wecan go through a yoga class as
what's a meditation, but whatabout do we actually put in
moments of seated formalmeditation?
Um I do.
I say yes.
You know, there's there'sthere's places within a class

(57:04):
where it just makes sense to dothat.
You know, we can obviouslyarrive in meditation.
We can sit down on our mat, wecan we can sit in any easy,
comfortable posture, sukasana,easy pose or virasana on the
knees, we can, you know, child'spose even, you know, and we can

(57:25):
we can meditate before we evenmove, right?
Um, but then even throughout theclass, we can add in meditation.
We can we can pause and take ameditation break.
Anytime where you mightnaturally give people an
opportunity to rest in child'spose, for example, right?

(57:46):
Any time after like we've reallygotten the heart rate up to do
something a bit rigorous, we cantake that little break and
actually pause and and meditate.
And anytime, maybe after a peakpose, if we're working with a
challenge pose or a peakposture, we can introduce
meditation right after that, orwe can introduce meditation

(58:08):
during that.
If there's some people thatdon't want to participate in
whatever challenging pose we'rewe're working up to that day.
But anytime where it feelsnatural to take a break, and in
any pose where where the studentcan, you know, somewhat
comfortably stay in that posefor a while, why not just pause

(58:31):
and just take a break for asecond and just check in?
Like, okay, what's happening inthe body?
You know, what's happening inthe body?
What am I layering on to thisexperience?
How am I labeling it as pleasantor unpleasant?
You know, and and am I reactingto that label of pleasant or
unpleasant, or can I just bewith it?

(58:53):
Can I just be, you know, afteryou know, a big heart opener
when when the heart rate isracing and the breath is going,
can I take a pause and not apause in which I'm trying to
change this moment and likeforce the breath to calm back
down again?

(59:13):
You know, not a pause in whichI'm trying to like, you know,
fix something, but just a pauseto just be with what is, right?
Just be like, okay, my breath isis a little bit elevated right
now.
What did it feel like to justallow for it, right?
To just allow for it, whetherit's settling or whether it's

(59:35):
not, right?
What would it feel like to sitwith that energy after camel
pose, for example, and and justcheck in with it and just allow
for it?
And and what would it be like ifI dropped, you know, labeling of
that energy, right?
Um, maybe it's not tired, maybeit's not exhaustion, maybe it's

(59:56):
not out of breath, maybe it'snot, you know, maybe it's bliss,
maybe it's joy.
Maybe I can try on giving it alittle a different name, and
maybe I can just let go oftrying to name what's going on
in my body and just take thatpause and let it be, right?
Any time during the class, wecan just stop and do this and

(01:00:18):
sense into the energy that'spresent.
Um, because what are we doing inour yoga practice, right?
We're moving energy, we're we'removing energy, and and the more
we can be like aware of what itfeels like as that energy moves,

(01:00:38):
and the more that we can getcomfortable with allowing that
energy to move and just likebeing with it and observing it,
right?
The more we can then encouragethat that free flowing movement
of energy.
So we can do that like anytimeat any part of the sequence, and

(01:01:01):
then just okay, we've sat for alittle while and now we're gonna
open the eyes, or if the eyeswere closed, or or and move on,
come back to downward dog, comeback to all fours, come back to
whatever it is.
We just we just go right back,go right back to the sequence,
right?
You know, so we can we can putwhat looks like formal

(01:01:21):
meditation into the beginning ofclass, we can pause and do that
anywhere throughout the classthat we would like to.
There's no rules, um, and we cando it at the end of class,
right?
So it might feel really naturalto guide a meditation in

(01:01:42):
Shivasana.
You know, it depends on theintention, right?
Depends on the intention.
There is Shivasana is a reallygreat place for practices like a
relaxation practice, a bodyscan.
Maybe we have a more advancedgroup that where we can, you
know, it's corpse pose, right?
Maybe we have an advanced groupthat that can do some type of

(01:02:05):
dissolution practice and then beguided to come back into the
body, right?
Come back into a sense of nowembodied, connected to earth,
grounded.
But it but it is corpse pose,and it's also a really, really
wonderful place to justintroduce our students to just

(01:02:28):
total stillness in the body andtotal quiet, right?
Total quiet, even if it's alittle bit uncomfortable, and if
it's a little bit uncomfortable,I think here's where we also
have to go.
Well, who is it uncomfortablefor, right?
And this is where also I thinkour own practice as mindfulness

(01:02:51):
teachers, like a good place toremind ourselves how practic how
important our own practice is,you know, just because this is
what rises too when we'reguiding meditation, you know, in
these long periods of silence.
When I see somebody startfidgeting, you know, when I when

(01:03:12):
I sense like they'reuncomfortable, you know, do I
get uncomfortable too?
Or can I just hold space forthat discomfort and really allow
people to be to be still and togo through that experience?
Can I give them the opportunityto even come out onto the other

(01:03:35):
side of that experience ofdiscomfort with stillness,
right?
And a lot of that has to do withhow comfortable I am as a
teacher in my own body, right?
Can I, you know, can I sit hereand watch the fidgeting, see the
people in Shivasana with theireyes open, looking all around,

(01:03:56):
and be okay with it, you know?
And and the more I can be okaywith that discomfort in myself,
the more I can be okay with itfor my students as well, right?
So shivasana, a great place tointroduce people to just quiet,
just being, just lying still.
We don't have to play a goodsong, we don't have to guide,

(01:04:16):
you know, complicatedmeditation.
We can just let people be there,right?
And then of course, you know, wecan sit up from shivasana and we
can we can meditate then.
You know, we can we can closethe practice with a meditation
then.
And so again, just as we wouldwhen guiding our meditation

(01:04:38):
practice, we want to close ouryoga practice with some type of
dedication.
And when I when I use that worddedication, I'm talking about
first just bringing mindfulness,bringing awareness to what it is
that we did here today, right?
On on one of Rick Hanson's guestteacher appearances, he actually

(01:05:00):
talks about how important it islike neurologically to like
bring awareness to what it isthat we're learning.
And just by bringing mindfulnessto like, oh yeah, let's remember
what today's intention was, andlet's bring mindfulness to the
work that we did on thatintention.
And then let's now bringmindfulness to what we feel in

(01:05:22):
the body as it relates towhatever progress we've made
around that intention, that bydoing that, we we even further
ingrain those neurobiologicalpathways that change the mind,
right?
So we so we want to have sometype of opportunity after we

(01:05:44):
pull people out of shavasana,before we go about our day, to
go let's wreck, let's, let'sbring awareness to how we feel
right now.
Let's bring awareness to like atleast one benefit that we've
received.
Let's feel that in the body.
And then let's also spend alittle bit of time and it in

(01:06:06):
thinking about how we can nowcarry this forward, how we can
integrate it into the rest ofthe day, right?
What would that feel like?
What would that look like?
And it it could be as simple as,you know, I feel greater
presence right now in my body.
And so I'm gonna carry thatforward just by being me, just

(01:06:28):
by showing up in the world withthis greater presence that I've
now cultivated in my yoga class.
And I and I so I want torecognize the benefit, I want to
attribute it to my yoga class,make that connection in the
mind, and then I want to thinkabout how I'm now gonna carry
that benefit forward, right?
Maybe I carry that benefitforward by wishing that all

(01:06:51):
beings could have experiencedthis same benefit, right?
So there's there's many waysthat we can do it.
And again, it can be in externalor internal methods, right?
We can carry, we can dedicate inthe form of a wish, we can
dedicate in the form of like,you know, going out in the world
and volunteering or whatever itis.

(01:07:11):
Um, but it doesn't have to becomplicated.
All we're doing is like thatlittle extra step in the mind of
like, oh yeah, I feel better.
It's because of yoga, it'sbecause of meditation, and this
is going to help me off the mat,right?
You know, because we we want toalways bring people back to the

(01:07:33):
why, right?
If we can bring them back to thewhy, we can bring them back to
the practice again and again andagain, right?
Why are we doing this again?
Why are we here in yoga?
Yes, it's for exercise.
Maybe we feel more open or looseor stronger or spacious in the
body, but what else do we feel?

(01:07:54):
What other types of benefit havewe received, right?
And do we feel a little morecontent?
Do we feel a little happier?
Do we feel just better, right?
Whatever it is, bringing peopleback to the why as a way of
reminding this is good for you,keep coming back because it only

(01:08:16):
works if we if we keep doing it,right?
So, and I'm gonna see if anybodyhas any questions about all that
we have discussed so far, and orjust opening it up to
discussion.

SPEAKER_07 (01:08:35):
Hi, hi Sarah May.
Thank you.
That was lovely.
I was just wondering, I loved itwhen you said about the is the
silence uncomfortable forintervention because I resonate
with that myself when I'mteaching.
Particularly when I'm teachingother clients who have
experience before.
And that's when I'm a little bitaware of leaving those clients

(01:08:58):
in into who are silent.
So I'm just wondering, have youdo you have any experience or
knowledge around that?
Is it is what that changes or isit okay to be in that silent
space?

SPEAKER_03 (01:09:10):
Yeah, I guess what would come up for me is how how
can I make silence like feellike there's some structure of
safety around it, you know?
And I think just letting peopleknow I'm gonna leave you in
silence and or I'm gonna leaveyou in silence for this much

(01:09:34):
time, you know, and then this ishow I'm gonna call you back, or
you know, I'm gonna ring thisbell and this is what the bell
sounds like.
I'm gonna ring it right rightnow first, or I'm, you know, to
to inform people, like, youknow, that it's gonna be quiet
and it's gonna be quiet for acertain period of time and that

(01:09:57):
you're gonna bring them back.
I think for me would help easesome of that fear of like,
what's happening?
How long are we gonna be herefor?
We're just like in this liketotally spacious void and we
don't know when it's gonna end,right?
So I think that's one way to doit.
And then I think just if youhave an opportunity to get some

(01:10:21):
feedback from your students,like about their relationship to
quiet and silence.
Yeah.
And I think just letting peopleknow like, I'm not leaving you
alone, like I'm here, but I'mgonna let you be in quiet.
And I'd love to hear actually,you know, what anybody else
might have to add as asuggestion to that, if anybody

(01:10:44):
has, you know, because I dothink, and I think that, you
know, if you get the chance,asking, talking is really good
because again, it's like, how doI know that silence equals
scary?
You know, yeah, yeah, Denise.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 (01:11:00):
I like the idea to give given an amount of time
that the silence is going to befor.
And something that I do alreadydo is I let them know that even
if they're choosing to lie down,I'm remaining a C Toro.

SPEAKER_03 (01:11:18):
Yes.
Yeah, that's a really goodreminder.
I I I as the teacher am beingvigilant, so you don't have to
be.
Yes, yes, exactly.
Denise and then and then Sarah.

SPEAKER_06 (01:11:31):
I was just gonna add to your ending, ceremony.
I'll typically tell them, look,we're gonna be sitting in three
minutes of silence.
Allow this silence to hold youin safety and know that whatever
you feel is okay.
Give them permission to knowahead of time that they're gonna

(01:11:51):
be okay.
It's gonna be without a specificamount of time.

SPEAKER_03 (01:11:55):
Yeah, and what I love about that is that the
cueing that you just use kind ofdescribes the silence as a safe
space, you know.

SPEAKER_06 (01:12:04):
Exactly.
They're gonna be held in thatsafety of silence.

SPEAKER_03 (01:12:08):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 (01:12:09):
Let's you know, let the silence hold you in that
safety.

SPEAKER_03 (01:12:13):
Thank you.
Yeah, I like that.
Yeah, Sarah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:16):
Um mine's really just another reinforcement of
creating the expectations,drawing from my time in
healthcare.
There's a practice of telling apatient when you're bringing
them back for an exam what'sgonna happen, how long, what
they're going to come upon, sothat they can track it within
themselves.
So really just a reinforcementof giving them the tools prior

(01:12:39):
to entering in so they feelstable when the silence begins
so they can enjoy it and knowit's an enjoyable practice and
not like a sit in silence typeof struggle.
So reinforcement where I thinkwe're all on the right line.

SPEAKER_03 (01:12:53):
Yeah, thanks, Sarah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:12:55):
Yeah, Anya.
So I teach a beginner half aclass, and uh I, you know, I
have students who come to myclass or have been coming to my
class and it's online in a Zoomformat for many, many years, but
I often get new students.
So I take the time at thebeginning of each class to set
the expectation so that theyknow what to expect, and they

(01:13:15):
read the description online aswell, hopefully.
But I give just a short introabout you know how the class is
structured, that it's abeginner's class, so it's it's
it's a slow practice in which weusually hold the postures for
three, five or more breaths.
We start with the meditation, weend with shravasana.
I and I like that you knowoutline of the class because I I

(01:13:37):
think people know what to expectinstead of oh, what are what are
we doing now, right?
Why is it so quiet?
Am I supposed to be doingsomething?
Oh, she said we're gonna hold itfor three, five breaths, right?
The same the same in shavasana.
Uh I even use that phrase.
I, you know, now you can justlet go of your let your mind,
mind wander away, however, I'mdoing shivasana, and I'll come

(01:13:58):
back, I'll bring you back in afew minutes.
So hopefully that helps them.
I really, you know, whatresonates with me, what you said
uh uh Sara May today is allowingfor it's so important for me in
my classes to allow the thosemoments of stillness and quiet
when I'm not speaking.
You know, I've I took so manyclasses in the past where

(01:14:21):
especially Vinyasa classes wouldtend to which which which are
faster, busier.
But what really annoyed me in alot of those classes was very
loud music.
And you know, to a point that Ijust stopped going to those
classes because I couldn't goinward because it was just
overwhelming loud music, fastmusic, which didn't resonate

(01:14:41):
with me at all.
And so during teacher training,I don't really remember
specifically that there was afocus on that, on teaching the
you know, uh future instructorsto to allow for that space of
stillness in classes.
So that's really important.

SPEAKER_03 (01:14:56):
Yeah, yeah.
Thanks for for that comment.
Yeah, isn't it funny too?
Like the more advanced we get inour practice, like the less
complicated.
It's like we're just throwingstuff away and it gets more and
more and more and more and moresimple.
Like, like I don't want themusic anymore, you know.
I don't want like quick moving,like complicated sequences with

(01:15:19):
all these different, you know, Ijust just want to keep it
simple, you know.
But but yeah, yeah, I think, youknow, to go to this idea too of
like letting allowing forsilence, stillness, quiet, like
we can we can give that littlekind of safety reminder, like at
any point in the class where youknow, we can come into like you

(01:15:41):
know, pigeon pose and be like,okay, everybody, like get
comfortable.
We're gonna hang out here.
We're gonna hang out here foryou know X amount of time or
until the end of this song, oryou know, for for many, you
know, several breaths orwhatever, and and just let
people know, like this is gonnabe a long one, you know, or this

(01:16:03):
is gonna be like another three,four, five breaths, you know,
and and then building that, alsobuilding that trust when I say
three more breaths, you know,okay, maybe it's three more of
my breaths, and I'm a slowbreather, you know, I'm a I'm a
yoga teacher, but I'm gonnareally do a really as best as I

(01:16:26):
can do to be three breaths, youknow, because I want the
students to feel like they cantrust me, you know, I'm safe.
But yeah, we can leave thatspaciousness at any at any time
and play with, you know, maybethat the music thing, you know,
playing with the music thing,playing with maybe we have music

(01:16:46):
in our class, but then at somepoint in the class we we we go,
hey everybody, I'm gonna presspause and we're gonna do this
next five minutes in totalsilence, you know, and then
bring it back, you know, butjust just baby stepping your way
somehow into a little bit moreof an experience of quiet.

(01:17:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:17:07):
Yeah, and and further on that, which you
mentioned also today, is youknow, when especially when we
start teaching, we always worry.
We often I worried a lot aboutdoing too much of something or
not doing enough of something.
But then I realized thateverybody finds their own
favorite, their teacher, theirpractice that resonates with

(01:17:29):
them, right?
So, you know, if if you ifyou're really teaching from if
you're authentic in yourteaching and you're teaching
from your heart, from your soul,and not trying to teach like
somebody else, I think it willresonate with people.
And if it doesn't work for them,they will find another teacher
and that's okay.
Right.
So yeah, I try to remember thattoday.
There's a lot less anxiety inthat if people if people are

(01:17:52):
going to like my style or not,because I know that they will,
if they don't, they'll just findsomebody else, and that's
totally fine.

SPEAKER_03 (01:17:58):
Yeah, absolutely.
That's such a good reminder.
Yeah, yeah.
We want to be authentic, wewanna, you know, teach the
practice, teach the wholepractice in a way that is, you
know, most beneficial.