Freedom Style Yoga ~Teacher Training~ August 12-21, 2011 Erich Schiffmann ~OVERVIEW~ Yoga means to yoke, join, or unite. The implied meaning is unity, the already-existing fact. The discipline is about facilitating the realization of your conscious unity with Infinity. Yoga is a lifestyle. The main technique is meditation (inner listening, getting Online). Meditation is how you join. There are (at least) 3 good places in which to practice: 1) quiet sitting 2) asana practice 3) daily life. The idea is to be Online all the time, and to live your life with the perspective you find yourself having when you are Online. Freedom Style Yoga is an intuitive approach to yoga and life whose essence could be summarized as, “Do not decide in advance about what to do or not do. Instead, listen inwardly for guidance and trust into what you find yourself Knowing.” This is not an inherently strenuous practice, but it is advanced. It requires that you be brave enough to follow your deepest impulses about what feels right and what doesn’t. This is not always easy. It involves the development of self-trust based on the growing conviction that YOU are the specific and unique self-expression of that which is ultimately trustworthy: Life, Truth, Love. ~3 THEMES OF THIS COURSE~ 1 GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE SOURCE OF CREATIVITY: MEDITATION This is essential. If you want to be creative in your teaching and your practice, and indeed in your life—which is what “doing yoga” is really all about—then you must consciously “Get in touch with the Creative.” Do this by going within. The creative life force Principle is what brought you to life. It is the Life of life. The most direct way to get in touch with the energy of Life is by sensing deeply into yourself through the practice of meditation. 2 HOW TO PRACTICE IN A CREATIVE MANNER This, also, is essential. If you are not practicing in a creative manner, your teaching will become stale and uninspired. Instead, your personal practice should be the source or wellspring of creative teaching. It’s a time of self-renewal so you can give more fully. Be aware that as a teacher you are no longer doing yoga just for yourself. You are now also doing it for the good of others. You have become a Bodhisattva in the Yoga tradition. And so, prominent emphasis will be placed on how to learn and get inspired from your own personal practice. 3 TEACHING The art of teaching is a yoga in itself, requiring sensitivity, intelligence, skill, and guts, as well as lots of practice. The teacher must lure, prod, encourage and inspire, being sensitive both to the needs of the individual and the group. A good teacher is always learning, loves what he or she is doing, and communicates this love. ~CONTENTS~ 1 How To Get the Most Out of This Training 7 2 Yoga As Self-Transformation - Joel Kramer 8 3 Mind In Asana - Joel Kramer 24 4 Asanas To Know 30 5 Guidelines For Daily Practice 33 6 Principles Of Teaching 41 7 Creating A Routine 45 8 Suggested Sequencing of Poses 48 9 Examples 49 10 Sequence These Please 53 11 Sample (Actual) Classes 56 12 Principles Of Sequencing Verbal Instructions 63 13 Actual Teaching Bloopers 64 14 Goal Poses 65 15 Openings 66 16 Heavy-Handed Dog Pose Vinyasa 71 17 Sun Salutation Variations 72 a) Half Sun Salute b) Jumping Back Sun Salutes, c) Lunge Salutes 18 Standing Pose Subsets 73 19 Three Backbend Vinyasa’s 76 20 A Beginner’s Guide to Yoga’s Key Inversions 77 21 Inversions & Menstruation 86 22 Protect the Disks in Forward Bends and Twists 87 23 Twists 95 24 Working a Stretch from Both Ends 96 25 Working in Stages 97 26 Themes & Cycles 98 27 The Five Steps of Meditation 107 28 Counting Backward Meditation 108 29 Traffic Helicopter Homework 109 30 3-d Dot Page 110 31 Poses Tadasana - Mountain 111 Bidalasana - Cat Pose 112 Vrksasana - Tree Pose 113 Utkatasana - Powerful Squat 113 Adho Mukha Svanasana- Dog Pose 114 Utthita Trikonasana - Triangle 114 Utthita Parsvakonasana – Bent Knee Side Stretch 115 Parivrtta Trikonasana – Revolved Triangle 115 Parivrtta Parsvakonasana - Revolved Bent Knee 116 Virabhadrasana I – Warrior I 116 Virabhadrasana II – Warrior II 117 Ardha Chandrasana – Half Moon 117 Parsvottanasana - Pyramid 118 Prasarita Padottanasana – Standing Spread Leg 118 Uttanasana – Standing Forward Fold 118 Padmasana - Lotus 119 Dandasana – Staff Pose 119 Paschimottanasana – Seated Forward Fold 119 Janu Sirsasana – Head to Knee Pose 120 Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana – Revolved Head to Knee 120 Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana – Half-Lotus 120 Marichyasana I – Sage Pose 121 Supta Padangushtasana – Reclining Leg Stretch 121 Anantasana – Reclining Buddha 122 Baddha Konasana – Bound Angle 122 Upavista Konasana – Seated Spread Leg Forward Fold 122 Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana – Upward Facing 123 Virasana, Supta Virasana – Hero, Reclining Hero 123 Bhujangasana - Cobra 123 Urdhva Mukha Svanasana – Upward Facing Dog 123 Dhanurasana - Bow 124 Matsyasana - Fish 124 Ustrasana - Camel 124 Urdhva Dhanurasana – Upward Bow (Wheel) 125 Purvottanasana – East stretch 125 Adho Mukha Vrksasana - Handstand 126 Pincha Mayurasana - Forearmstand 126 Hand Balancing Poses 126 Sirsasana - Headstand 127 Sarvangasana - Shoulderstand 127 Halasana - Plow 128 Bharadvajasana – Feet to Side Twist 128 Marichyasana III – Sage Twist 128 Ardha Matsyendrasana – Seated Spinal Twist 128 Savasana – Relaxation Pose 128 32 Yoga Journal articles written by Erich: The Line of Perfect Flow – Triangle Pose 129 Like Cats and Dogs – From Cat to Cobra 135 Uncharted Territory – Upward Facing Noose Pose 142 Bend Down Low – Uttanasana 147 Cycles within Cycles – Hip Openers 152 Moving into Stillness – Mudras & Meditation 159 33 Ompage 165 34 Moving Into Stillness, The Interview - Erich 166 35 Written Exam 183 36 Certification Evaluation 186 37 Anatomy Pages 188 38 Normal Range of Joint Motion 204 39 Viniyoga Introspective 207 .