Restorative Class Themes by Mary Irby, MS, ERYT-500 www.WhiteCrowYoga.com

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Contents Introduction ...... 3 Theme 1: Authenticity ...... 5 Theme 2: Contentment ...... 6 Theme 3: Gratitude ...... 7 Theme 4: Self-Care ...... 8 Theme 5: Manifesting our Desires ...... 9 Theme 6: Right Knowledge ...... 10 Theme 7: Manipura/Third ...... 11 Theme 8: Acceptance ...... 12 Theme 9: Humility ...... 13 Theme 10: Love ...... 14

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Introduction Welcome to Restorative Yoga Class Themes! We sincerely hope you enjoy this material. At

White Crow Yoga, we train our students to implement class themes into their teaching. We believe this helps instructors be true yoga teachers and not simply leaders. To truly teach yoga, we must dig deep and share a philosophy, encouraging much more than physical strength, flexibility and endurance. Yoga is about so much more!

Please note that throughout this book, you will notice that much of it is written from the standpoint of being used by a teacher. However, you can easily modify this for your own personal practice. You don’t have to be a teacher to benefit from this material. Even if you are planning to teach with the material, it’s best to first use it in your personal practice to get a feel for the material and be able to present it in a polished manner.

A way to use class themes is to pick a yoga-centered theme such as love, joy, peace, gratitude, empathy, strength, beauty, letting go, being present, awareness, consciousness, higher power, dedication, listening determination, bravery, confidence, will-power, surrender, giving, receiving, balance, miracles, integrity or devotion. You could select one of the , or any of the 8 Limbs of Yoga. You could focus on a Chakra, , or Gita verse. The 5 , kleshas and 5 elements also provide a lot of theme material. As you can see, there are endless choices.

In addition to finding short pieces to read or sharing your own reflections, it’s nice to find

Sutras or verses from the Gita to connect to a pose within the theme. Another option is simply to speak from the heart about the theme in a pose. Using class themes is also a great way to use some of the history of the . For example, the story behind (Splits) speaks

3 of bravery and confidence. If our theme was either of these two, while practicing this pose we could share with our students that, just as demonstrated bravery and confidence as he lept thousands of miles to save a friend, so we must show bravery and confidence as we attempt this challenging posture, and in our everyday lives – living our yoga off the mat.

Using class themes is a great way to help teach your students more than just physical postures and to infuse this into our personal practices. If we teach only the asanas, we are doing a great disservice to our students and ourselves, because without the other 7 limbs, the asanas look more like an exercise class than yoga. Once we know how to use class themes, the challenge becomes finding the time to put everything down on paper so we can refer to it, helping us find organization in our teaching. That’s why we’ve written this collection of yoga class themes.

Using these pre-written themes saves you the time of putting pen to paper and it is our hope that it will make your practice more enjoyable and/or your teaching experience even more pleasant.

Of course, we encourage you to write your own themes and to modify these themes to fit your own needs.

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Theme 1: Authenticity

First reading: Being true to yourself both on and off the mat is the essence of Yoga. Even though we all wear many masks in one day, there is always a part of ourselves that is constant. See if you can honor yourself by connecting to this authentic part of you.

Second reading (early in the class): Depending on what you need, any pose can be Authentic for you today – Child’s pose to find restoration, a Warrior pose to build strength or a Chest Expansion to open your heart to love and acceptance. Ask yourself, “What do I need in my practice today? Can I be Authentic and true to myself, letting go of expectations?”

Read in Child’s or other restorative posture:

In the third book of the Gita, there is a conversation about being true to ourselves. It states that it is better to fail at our than follow someone else’s – trying to become someone else takes more work and is not authentic to our hearts. If you are unsure if you are being true to yourself, then allow yourself to become quiet and just ask. There will always be a response.

Teacher’s note: During any posture, you can talk about how that particular pose may be used to find our authenticity. Here are examples:

Pose reading: Let’s search for our true, authentic inner child who wants to find happiness and playfulness in each day.

Pose reading: Find our authentic love for ourselves as we open the heart.

Pose reading: Let’s find our authentic voices and live from our hearts, knowing we are building strength every day

Pose reading: If we are not being true to our hearts, we should seek to forgive ourselves and take action to nurture ourselves, making the changes needed to become our authentic selves on and off the mat. On the mat today, that means no competition, but finding our edge while honoring our bodies.

* Dharma - path of righteousness

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Theme 2: Contentment

Opening Comment: Let’s strive to find contentment, both in our practice and in our lives off the mat. Today, we’ll talk about how our yoga practice can help us find this state of happiness.

First Reading: , Chapter 3, Verse 17

One who is, however, taking pleasure in the self, who is illuminated in the self, who rejoices in and is satisfied with the self only, is fully satiated--for him there is no duty.

In postures that your students may find challenging, such as the splits, crow pose, lifted lotus, , etc., the following are nice readings:

Pose reading: Contentment or Santosha is not synonymous with complacency where we accept or tolerate unhealthy situations. Nor does it mean that we allow our growth to lie dormant. But rather it is practicing patience and making the most of our hardships while striving to better them. (Source: Laura Baker - http://exploringyogawithlaura.blogspot.com/2007/11/santosha-contentment.html)

Pose reading (maybe such as restorative pigeon or one where we might find some challenge): Wherever we are in this posture, let’s find contentment, practicing Santosha, without the need to be competitive or concerned over how far we go into the pose.

Pose reading (again, use this in a pose such as restorative heroes pose, where even the restorative version may be challenging): When we understand that challenges, both on and off the mat, are opportunities for growth, we can more easily find ways to cultivate contentment with the situation. If you’re not where you want to be in this posture, ask yourself why it is so important to you to go further? Is your ego getting involved? If so, let it go and find satisfaction with the process of the posture instead of the end result.

Final Reading: “Most of us believe that contentment will come once we achieve something. It could be financial success, finding a companion, having a child, retirement, owning certain material items, reaching a goal, being a certain weight, having a certain status, recognition, etc.

Santosha means practicing contentment in all things. It is the active practice of accepting the way things are. Peace cannot rely on ever changing external circumstances, often beyond our control. Santosha encourages us to be satisfied with whatever each day brings, welcoming what we get.” (Elizabeth Beard: http://www.joythruyoga.com/1/post/2013/03/santosha-contentment.html)

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Theme 3: Gratitude

First Reading: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” Melody Bettie

Second Reading: “In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

Read during any Chest Expansion pose: As we open our hearts, allowing ourselves to feel gratitude for all that we experience.

Read during any Chest Expansion pose: Allowing the heart center to lift toward the heavens, reminding ourselves to remain grateful in our hearts.

Any pose reading: As we breathe into this pose, let’s see if we can really feel gratitude for the opportunity to come to our mats today. If there is an image that helps you feel gratitude, bring that image to mind now.

Final Reading: “Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.” Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear

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Theme 4: Self-Care

First reading: Today, we’ll practice a gentle class to show love to ourselves. Before we can love others, we must love ourselves. Whenever we feel less than loving towards ourselves, remember that Yoga Sutra 2.33 tells us, “Thoughts of uncertainty, doubt (or negativity, pertaining to the Yamas and Niyamas), are removed by [contemplating] the opposite.”

Second reading: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” ~ Steve Jobs

Read during Child’s Pose or other restorative posture: Your breathing is your greatest friend. Return to it in all your troubles and you will find comfort and guidance. (Source: http://kirriwhitecoaching.com/2012/08/21/33-quotes-to-inspire-self-care-self-knowledge-and- self-love/)

Read during any restorative posture The Dalia Lama tells us, ”In dealing with those who are undergoing great suffering, if you feel “burnout” setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself. The point is to have a long-term perspective.”

Read during a chest opening posture : Find our authentic love for ourselves as we open the heart.

Final Reading: We probably think, on some level, that being harsh on ourselves is good for us, that if we punish ourselves for “not being good enough,” we’ll start being “good enough.” But if this works at all, it comes at a price. Just as making colleagues or family members fearful, tense, or angry in response to your harshness doesn’t make life pleasant for you in the long term, so making yourself fearful, tense, or angry in response to your harshness isn’t going to bring happiness.

So try loving yourself. Love yourself, and your self will love you back.

Source: (http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/love-yourself-and-your-self-will-love-you- back)

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Theme 5: Manifesting our Desires

First reading: On some level, you've asked for everything that happens in your life. Your intentions create your reality. There's no need to beat yourself up: Simply recognizing how your low-level thoughts negatively affect your life is the first powerful step toward changing your experiences. Begin your manifesting process by getting honest about how your low-level thoughts, energy and feelings of disbelief block you from receiving what you desire. Once you get clear about the blocks, you can begin to clean them up to clear space for positive manifestations to occur.

(Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabrielle-bernstein/manifest-desires_b_1404543.html)

Second reading: Never let life impede on your ability to manifest your dreams. Dig deeper into your dreams and deeper into yourself and believe that anything is possible, and make it happen.

(Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/manifest.html#21qpygZRDjGofIL6.99)

Read in any posture: To manifest our desires, we must have an open and balanced root chakra. Ground down through the earth with any part of the body that is in contact with the mat right now and feel the energy that connects us to the earth, envisioning the color red shooting down through the earth from our root chakra at the base of our spine.

Read in any chest opening posture: In this posture, our hearts are opened and exposed, leaving us vulnerable. Even when we can’t see what is before us, we can trust that the Universe will serve us. As long as we do our part and believe in ourselves, we can reach our goals.

Read in restorative bridge pose: Bridge pose is a dynamic root chakra posture that allows your feet to be firmly rooted into the Earth and your spine engaged in the release of excess root chakra energy, allowing us to manifest our desires. (Source: http://life.gaiam.com/article/chakra-guide-root-chakra)

Final reading: Having the courage to express and manifest your deepest dreams takes great courage and the first step in shaping what your duty is in this life.

(Source: http://www.yogaglo.com/blog/tag/the-bhagavad-gita/#sthash.kEhfElx2.dpuf)

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Theme 6: Right Knowledge

First reading: Isvara is the source of knowledge. It is the pure light of knowledge, which we tap into through our inner awareness. Actions coming from the place of isvara create beneficial, yogic behavior patterns. In any given situation, a broader, more informed heart-mind allows us to see the whole picture, understand all points of view, and then act for the benefit of everyone. (Source: Bachman, N. 2011. The Path of the Yoga . Co: Sounds True.)

In Easy Seated Pose during Alternate Nostril Breathing or other posture that can be held for a few moments, have students silently repeat the following 3 times. You may say it the whole way through and pause, giving students time to repeat before doing the 2nd iteration, or you may it into 2 parts each time, such as, “I deeply respect the divine energy” (pause for students to silently repeat), and “untouched by the ever-changing world around me” (pause).

I deeply respect the divine energy untouched by the ever-changing world around me.

Read during any posture: I can connect to the pure inner light of knowledge by uttering the sacred source of creation.

Read during any posture: I will endeavor to make informed decisions and understand all points of view.

(Source of above is Bachman, as quoted in first reading)

Final Reading: Bhagavad Gita 5.3 tells us, “Fools say that knowledge and yoga are separate, but the wise do not. When you practice one of them deeply, you gain the rewards of both.” (Source: Mitchell, S. 2000. Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation. NY: Three Rivers Press.)

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Theme 7: Manipura/Third Chakra

First reading: Today, we will focus on the Manipura or third chakra, which is located just below your sternum, above your navel. This is related to fire, Combustion, Energy and Transformation. It’s the seat of our personal power, our Will, Passion, and Self-Esteem. Envision the color yellow around the third chakra as you breathe.

Second reading: Our current power structure is based on having “power over” meaning domination, control, and separation. You can see this in the treatment of other countries, races, ethnic and spiritual groups as well as with our insatiable materialistic desire to have and possess. With a balanced third chakra, the power dynamic changes to “power within” a self-sufficient yet cooperative and collaborative understanding of power where we can let go of the need to be superior or controlling.

Twisting Posture (any spinal twist): The life lesson given to the third chakra is in handling power for the betterment of humanity. It requires strength and vision to handle power correctly and fortunately manipura chakra is blessed with both these qualities. (Source: http://cosmothaiyoga.com/yoga/chakra-yoga/chakra-3-manipura-solar-plexus/)

Back Bending Posture (any chest expansion/back extension): When we expand the chest, we balance Chakra three and our relationship to power, resulting in a more peaceful world. (Source: http://yogawithalison.com/chakra-three/)

Final Reading: When our third chakra is out of balance, we use our power to manipulate others instead of leading with integrity. Our yoga practice gives us an opportunity to strengthen the manipura and help us experience power without the need to manipulate or control.

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Theme 8: Acceptance

First reading: Acceptance is really a part of Santosha, the second as outlined by ’s Yoga Sutras, because without acceptance we can’t find contentment. We begin by accepting ourselves and others, but we truly settle into the meaning when we accept others’ non-acceptance of us. There will always be those who disapprove of us based on our gender, religion, sexuality, parenting skills or decisions. Allow these people to process their own feelings and remind yourself that you can accept their non-acceptance without reacting to it.

Second reading: Those who go on telling you to amend your nature and improve upon yourself are very dangerous people. They are one of the basic causes for your not being enlightened. Nature cannot be amended; it has to be accepted. There is no way to be otherwise. Whosoever you are, whatsoever you are, that's how you are -- that's what you are. It is a great acceptance.

In a pose that may be somewhat challenging, such as restorative pigeon or restorative heroes: Know that wherever we are is exactly where we are supposed to be today, for our greatest lessons are learned not from those things that come easily to us, but from those things for which we must strive.

Restorative (Cobbler’s): In this posture, some of us have the ultimate opportunity to practice acceptance. If we’ve practiced this pose consistently for 6 months or more and our knees are still nowhere near the ground, we are probably limited by the external rotation allowed by our skeleton… it is how our femur head and hip socket are shaped. Let’s accept where we are in this posture without any negative self-talk and see if we can take this same acceptance into our day-to-day lives when we encounter things we can’t change, such as other people’s opinions.

Final reading: One of the greatest spiritual acts of love is to walk away from recrimination and remorse and to accept, in its place, love and your own self-worth. (Source: Meredith Young Sowers: Agartha: Journey to the Stars, Pages: 78 via http://blog.gaiam.com/quotes/topics/acceptance?page=1)

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Theme 9: Humility

First reading: In practicing yoga, we do not feel ourselves as being special or put ourselves above others. With humility, we have a sense of detachment from the world and our life experiences. With humility, we can see and appreciate the gifts of others. With humility, we can listen and give another a chance to grow, instead of overpowering them with meaningless discourse about our own greatness. (Source: http://www.journalofyoga.org/humility.pdf)

Second reading: The Third Yama of Asteya obliges us not to steal. Humility calls on us to accept help from others when we need it. To deny others the opportunity to help others steals their chance at yoga or giving back. The lesson for us is that when we allow others to help us, we both give and receive a gift – giving the gift of an opportunity for and receiving a chance to live with humility.

Read in a pose where we may have a challenge, such as restorative pigeon or restorative heroes: Practice this posture with humility and no expectation of where we should be today or what the pose should look like.

Read in any easy restorative posture: Yoga is an easy technology of the strength of life receiving the nurturing force of life. When applied correctly, without struggle or obsession, yoga produces clarity, more peace and more power, the natural form of life. In life and yoga, the feminine, the ability to receive each other, is slightly more relevant than strength. When we receive, we humble ourselves, accepting that we need others. (Source: http://www.heartofyoga.com/mark-whitwell/hridaya-yoga-sutra/)

Final reading: Thinking too much of our weakness or regarding ourselves as totally dependent upon others leads to depression and low self-esteem, which is not humility, but a mental illness, or at least a distortion of human development. On the other hand, people who attempt to do things clearly beyond their strength or who treat themselves as if they can do anything, anytime, anyplace, are equally distorted by their presumption. Humility is the balance between trust in God and the recognition of our weaknesses. When those two attitudes aren't present, there isn't true humility, which is an authentic, honest attitude toward ourselves recognizing our weaknesses and our basic goodness and an honest, authentic attitude about reality, other people, and of course, God. (Source: Thomas Keating - http://www.personaltransformation.com/thomas_keating.html)

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Theme 10: Love

First reading: For our class theme today, I’ve chosen the topic of love and how we can create more love in our lives. Let’s select a that we’ll silently repeat to ourselves during today’s practice. When we repeat a mantra, we are affirming it to ourselves and allowing its meaning to seep below the surface into our subconscious.

For today’s mantra, we may choose a simple phrase, such as “The Purpose of Life is to Expand in Love……….The Purpose of Life is to Expand in Love” or we may choose a mantra of Sitaram (pronounced sit-ah-ram).

Teacher’s note: Sitaram is pronounced sit-ah-ram, and may be heard here: http://www.spiritvoyage.com/yoga/Kirtan!--The-Art-and-Practice-of-Ecstatic-Chant/Jai-Uttal/CDS- 001295.aspx

Sitaram evokes a feeling of love and devotion. and were devoted to each other, and Hanuman felt love and devotion to them, just as God feels loved and devotion toward us.

For more info about what this mantra means, please see: http://www.spiritvoyage.com/blog/index.php/top-5-sanskrit-mantras-yo-cant-live-without/

Frequently during class, remind students to silently repeat their mantra)

Second reading: During our practice today, I’ll share 8 ways we can create more love in our lives. The first of these is be your authentic self and speak your voice, but do so with tenderness and kindness.

Teacher’s note: We’ll list the next 7 ways to create more love. You can share these during any postures you choose.

1. Practice self-. 2. Remain open and curious, rather than judgmental. 3. Assume the best of people in our lives. 4. Laugh often! 5. Apologize when you have hurt someone. 6. Forgive one who wrongs you, even if you choose to no longer have a relationship with that person. 7. Express your gratitude. Feeling gratitude without expressing it is like wrapping up a gift and never giving it.

(Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-kamen-gredinger-edd/relationship- advice_b_2573691.html)

Final/Closing: We suggest that you chant “Sitaram” (pronounced sit-ah-ram) either out loud or ask students to chant it silently, with or without playing a CD of this mantra. An alternative is to use the mantra “The Purpose of Life is to Expand in Love.”

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